DETROIT — At the 2:39 mark of the first quarter, the Portland Trail Blazers' Toumani Camara threw up an ill-advised heave from half court as time expired on the shot clock. His attempt led to an embarrassing air-ball, which prompted fans at Little Caesars Arena to mock him.

Chauncey Billups immediately called for a timeout and walked straight over to Camara, clapping his hands to encourage his young forward after the cringeworthy mishap.

During his six-plus seasons as their start point guard, fans of the Detroit Pistons have seen Billups encourage several young players. However, the leadership he displayed during his Hall of Fame tenure in Detroit has become the foundation during his four-year coaching career at the helm in Portland.

"Him as a person, I think he just talks to us regularly — it's kind of like a big bro type of thing," Blazers guard Scoot Henderson told The Detroit News. "He respects us and our crafts. He knows how it is to be a professional athlete in this league and the ups and downs that come with it."

Being a head coach always seemed inevitable for Billups. During his career with the Pistons, he displayed all the intangibles of a coach, which is one reason for the love the franchise showed him on Monday, the night they honored his Hall of Fame enshrinement.

Despite having all of the traits, Billups sought advice from a handful of current and former coaches after the Trail Blazers hired him in June 2021. One of the coaches Billups contacted was J.B. Bickerstaff.

His longing to seek Bickerstaff's advice stemmed from their close relationship as adolescents in Denver. They were AAU teammates and became rivals in high school.

As a player who became a McDonald's All-America selection (1995) and Mr. Basketball in Colorado for three consecutive years (1993-95), Bickerstaff appreciated that Billups' success had never changed him.

"We’re close," Bickerstaff said. "We felt like he was the guy that was putting Colorado basketball on the map. The early up-and-down in his NBA career, and then on to the Hall of Fame level of his career. He never treated us any differently through all of that stuff. And he was always a guy that you could count on. You could always depend on him."

As a native of Colorado, Bickerstaff said that everyone wanted to "emulate" Billups during the early to mid-1990s. Three decades later, Billups found himself hoping to emulate the characteristics that led to Bickerstaff establishing himself as one of the NBA's most esteemed coaches.

"He has wealth of knowledge — he comes from it, and he was born into it," Billups said. "He coaches well beyond his years of experience because he has been in it his entire life. ... As kids in the neighborhood, we all looked at him as 'This is Bernie's (Bickerstaff) son, but he never acted like it. He was just a normal dude that we all appreciated and loved about him. It has always been that way."

Billups has not experienced much success during his first four years as coach of the Trail Blazers. Following Portland's 118-115 loss to the Pistons, his record is 93-188. However, similar to Bickerstaff, Billups' teachings have led to a handful of young players making significant progress in their development.

On a night when the Pistons celebrated him for his accomplishments on the court, each tribute was also a testament that Billups still possesses the same attributes that could make the next phase of his basketball career just as memorable.

"Chauncey is obviously one of the greatest point guards to play the game and one of the greatest leaders," Henderson said. "Having him as a mentor has been good. Just knowing that he went through certain things during his younger years keeps me motivated to keep grinding and establish myself as a dog in this league."

Bickerstaff for Coach of the Year?

The Pistons are nearing a winning record at the start of a new calendar year for the first time since the 2018-19 season. Their win over the Trail Blazers improved their overall record to 18-18 and extended their season-long winning streak to four.

"Being .500 is huge — we just want to keep building on it," center Jalen Duren said. "We’ve got a long season to go, but this is a great starting point for us right now. Starting the new year off undefeated. I think we’re just going to keep going, keep pushing, keep building."

Players and front-office members have been essential to the Pistons' success, but none more so than Bickerstaff. In less than a year, Bickerstaff has not only improved a dreadful franchise stuck in limbo but also the team's perspective and respect around the association. The Pistons' turnaround this season has led to his players starting a campaign for Coach of the Year honors.

"I think he deserves it," guard Cade Cunningham said. "To see the difference in this year to last year, the way that we are playing right now, throughout the whole roster, everyone is playing better. He has us executing at the end of the games. I hope we can get him into that conversation, because he deserves it.

"This was a tough job he came into. I think he did an unbelievable job making (Detroit) into somewhere people want to come and play."

In their franchise history, the Pistons have had only two coaches who won Coach of the Year honors. Ray Scott became the first coach to receive the award, in 1974. Rick Carlisle became the second during the 2001-02 season.

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