Knicks · Billups tired of ‘being the good guy’ after getting waived by Knicks (page 1)

As Chauncey Billups prepares to have his name entered into the NBA’s amnesty waiver wire, he has a message for teams considering putting in a bid to secure him for the rest of the season: You’ll regret it.

He wants the freedom of free agency to choose a contender, Billups says. As one of the game’s great leaders, and gentlemen, Billups warns that player will be a distant memory should a team claim him off the amnesty waiver wire.

“I’ m tired of being the good guy,” Billups told Yahoo! Sports by phone on Saturday afternoon. “I’m tired of being viewed as the guy. After a while, you just kind of get taken advantage of in these situations. I’ve been known as a leader, and I am a leader, but a leader can be as disruptive as he can be productive, especially when you carry a strong voice and people rally around you. This is about me now. This is about me, and teams should know that right now.”

The Knicks picked up Billups’ $14.2 million option for the 2011-’12 season, but used the new amnesty provision on him so that they could sign free agent Tyson Chandler. Under the new rule, the team that offers to pay the highest portion of his contract can secure him in a blind bidding process. The Knicks will be left to pay for the remainder of the deal.

If Billups goes unclaimed, he can sign as a free agent. The Miami Heat would be a strong possibility for him, among several contenders. Billups, 34, has been one of his generation’s great leaders and players, turning the Detroit Pistons and Denver Nuggets into major contenders. Billups won a title with Detroit in 2004.

“I just don’t deserve the treatment that I’ve continually gotten,” Billups said. “Historically, these things never happen to the supposed great players and good guys. They continually happen to me, and it gets old. Listen, I feel I’ve been blessed in the game, and I’ve been given back, but these things start to wear on you. But there’s not another guy in history who keeps dealing with this, getting thrown into these things to make the money right. I really believe it’s because people take my kindness and professionalism for weakness. They think I’ll be OK with this. I won’t be OK with this. I’ve saved my money. I may just retire if I don’t get my freedom here.

“I want my freedom. My goal is to control my own destiny. And as you’ve seen in my career, I’ve never been in a position to do that. I know some teams out there are saying, ‘Oh, Chauncey will be great in mentoring’ and I’m tired of that. I’ve got a few good years left to play, and I’m not trying to come in and sit on the bench, or be a mentor. I’m not going to be that guy. I want to go somewhere and win. I want to choose.”

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw...

Tell'em why you mad Billups.

Collect your 15 million and STFU.

ATrain wrote:I feel bad. I wish we could have found a trade for him instead of the amnesty.

No disrespect to the guy but the Knicks picked up his option. Vince Carter got waived and lost millions.

I have a feeling he'd head to Miami where he would likely be a starter.

y2zipper wrote:He's just trying not to get claimed, and I get it. Although I think any contender should put in a claim for him. Any contender that's under the cap should pick him up.

Yeah, I don't take it too seriously. The only way he can any sort of control of the situation is to huff and puff and hope teams buy it.

chauncey, business, never personal. (wait, with dolan...that might not be the case)

MattSuspect wrote:I kinda hope he just blasts the Knicks frontoffice something like "They knew what free agents were out there, why did they pick up my option only to put me in a bad spot and lose their amnesty" ...because honestly this is what I'm thinking. Only a big deal if Amare or Melo go down, but pretty poor planning by our FO.

They had to pick up the option by June 30th I think...the new CBA and thus the amnesty came later...Who ever thought Chandler wouldn't be resigned..

MattSuspect wrote:I kinda hope he just blasts the Knicks frontoffice something like "They knew what free agents were out there, why did they pick up my option only to put me in a bad spot and lose their amnesty" ...because honestly this is what I'm thinking. Only a big deal if Amare or Melo go down, but pretty poor planning by our FO.

That doesn't make any sense. New York wouldn't have had the cap space to sign anybody because Billups would be on the books for his buyout and caught a lucky break with the amnesty clause, which they used as an asset to upgrade the team. The Knicks shouldn't plan for a star player to go down. No team actually does that.

MattSuspect wrote:I kinda hope he just blasts the Knicks frontoffice something like "They knew what free agents were out there, why did they pick up my option only to put me in a bad spot and lose their amnesty" ...because honestly this is what I'm thinking. Only a big deal if Amare or Melo go down, but pretty poor planning by our FO.

i thought the same thing.

although, i didn't consider that the Knicks freed up $4M by picking up his option and using the amnesty. if they didn't pick up his option, he'd have a $4M buyout that would count against our cap.

changes things a little because i'm glad we kept our young guys. probably couldn't happen if we saved our amnesty and bought billups out.

eViL wrote:

MattSuspect wrote:I kinda hope he just blasts the Knicks frontoffice something like "They knew what free agents were out there, why did they pick up my option only to put me in a bad spot and lose their amnesty" ...because honestly this is what I'm thinking. Only a big deal if Amare or Melo go down, but pretty poor planning by our FO.

i thought the same thing.

although, i didn't consider that the Knicks freed up $4M by picking up his option and using the amnesty. if they didn't pick up his option, he'd have a $4M buyout that would count against our cap.

changes things a little because i'm glad we kept our young guys. probably couldn't happen if we saved our amnesty and bought billups out.

Had no clue on that the BU counted against the cap. Thanks.

He was "rescued" by Denver From DETROIT!

There is a list of places I would play in the NBA, Guess whats no. 30 on my list?

DETROIT!

Dude is posturing. Can't say I blame him.

I hope he goes to anywhere but Miami.

But He should StFU!

BigDaddyG wrote:

y2zipper wrote:He's just trying not to get claimed, and I get it. Although I think any contender should put in a claim for him. Any contender that's under the cap should pick him up.

Yeah, I don't take it too seriously. The only way he can any sort of control of the situation is to huff and puff and hope teams buy it.

Particularly for a guy who's been in the league a long time and who's been around the block.
He's just putting it out there. I'm not mad at him. U try, but at the same time, if u want that 14 mil and Minnesota picks u, uve got a decision to make. 14 mil is alot of money.

I couldnt see Minny or any other low performing team really picking him tho. Its too much money and its only 1 year. The only teams I think will pick him are teams who are good to contenders. But like if the Nets pick him up they'll be good, but they aint really in contention for a chip.

Lakers
Heat
Chicago (play him at the 2)
Nets (play him at the 2)
Boston (for the all geriatric team)
etc, etc. I really dont care either way.

realhiphop wrote:Millions of Americans unemployed and this guy is complaining. He's making $14 mil. If he doesn't want to play somewhere he doesn't choose, retire.

It sucks that millions are unemployed, and there's plenty of blame to go around corporate America and government. But making a parallel between that and Billups' career is unfair. He has a right to feel concern that teams are derailing his career when he just wants to contribute and win. He has gotten shanked a few times, and he finds it hypocritical that everyone expects him to suck it up.

Still, how unprofessional of him to get publicly snitty. I wish he would be happy about the $14mil and then back-channel his desires via whatever avenues are available to him. If he doesn't have a strong network, c'est la vie. He got too cozy over in the front range and didn't pay attention to making ties that bind.

I hope Denver picks him up because I'd hate to see him seeking revenge against us on behalf of Miami.

LOL at playing the "regular guy is suffering" card to try to denigrate Billups. All of our discussion happens within the fantasy-world bubble of pro basketball. Comparing their lives with Joe Sixpack's is irrelevant. Taken in that light, the whole league (players, teams and hype machine) is offensive.

But He should StFU!

Attitude reflects leadership, captain.

Nice.

+1 to all the STFU posts.