The dream seemed impossible, especially to the skinny 9-year-old Colorado kid who sat in front of a television and imagined how fantastic it would be to wear the sneakers of Chauncey Billups, as Mr. Big Shot led the Detroit Pistons to the NBA championship in 2004.
“You watch the NBA Finals as a kid. It’s like watching a dream,” Boston Celtics guard Derrick White told me Wednesday during a telephone interview. “Watching Chauncey Billups do it was cool. He was a role model. It seemed wild to me, knowing somebody from Colorado could play basketball on the biggest stage.