Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups is hoping to successfully rebuild the Blazers into a contender, but he needs guys with strong character to lead them into a new era. He hasn’t had players like that in recent years, sharing a story with Carmelo Anthony about when one of his players posted a dunk on social media at halftime while the team was losing by 18 points.
“We in New Orleans, we down 18 at the half. I had a kid, he had a nasty dunk. We coming out for the third quarter, this motherf***er posted that sh*t on his joint. At halftime. We down 18!”
Billups expressed how angry the interaction made him at the time and how he dealt with it.
“Man, you know I grinded his ass up. I get wind of it, I say, ‘Ay yo bro, get the f**k back there and take that sh*t down off your joint man, what the f**k is wrong with you?’ He’s like, ‘My bad, coach,’ and runs to the back. We getting boned, we down 18 man. He posted that at halftime. I said, ‘Man, what is going on?'”
Chauncey Billups tells the story of one of his players posting a dunk highlight on Instagram at halftime despite being down 18 points 😠pic.twitter.com/nd61YZoiiI
— 7PM in Brooklyn (@7PMinBrooklyn) July 23, 2024
The Blazers have a strong share of high-flyers on their roster, with one of the best dunkers in the NBA right now also on the team. This story is unlikely to be about Shaedon Sharpe, as he’s still on the franchise and considered a core piece of the future. If he and Billups have had a conversation about this, the coach would be unlikely to open up one of his key players to scrutiny like this.
It’s unclear to say who this is, but it could be former Blazer Keon Johnson. Johnson was a lottery pick in the 2021 NBA Draft but his career is yet to pan out. The man with the highest-recorded athleticism in NBA Draft Combine history is currently on the Brooklyn Nets.
The Blazers haven’t had a single 18-point deficit at the half against the Pelicans under Billups, but they have had multiple 20-point deficits and a 16-point deficit as well. It’s hard to pinpoint the game or the player he’s talking about.
The Blazers Have A Strong Young Core
After three consecutive seasons of missed Playoff appearances from 2021 to 2023, the Blazers decided to start rebuilding by trading away Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic last summer. They’ve built an interesting young core who could rise to championship contention in a few seasons if their development stays on track.
Point guard Scoot Henderson had a weak rookie season but proved towards the end of the season that he could be a more-than-decent NBA point guard, who came in with generational expectations. Shaedon Sharpe is a high-flying swingman ready to take a massive leap if his shot becomes more consistent.
The Blazers added 24-year-old Deni Avdija to the mix this summer, and have Deandre Ayton as their starting center, hoping to recapture the hype he had when he was drafted with the Suns. This is a solid core, but it’ll be interesting to see if Billups will be given a chance to be the coach to put it all together.
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