Chauncey Billups announces his retirement, says ‘it’s just time’

After 17 seasons in the NBA, Detroit Pistons star Chauncey Billups announced his retirement and said that ‘it’s just time’ to end his professional basketball career.

"It's just time. I know when it's time," Billups told Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday evening. "My mind and my desire is still strong. I just can't ignore the fact that I haven't been healthy for three years. I can try again and get to a point where I think I can go, but I just can't sustain. Me not being able to play the way that I can play, that's when you kind of know it's that time.”

The 37-year-old, who played for Detroit last season, was a part of the team’s championship in 2004 and named the Finals MVP.

He spent most of his career with the Pistons but also had stints with the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Clippers.

In June, the Pistons announced that the team would not pick up the 2014-15 option on his contract. Upon Billups’ release, head coach Stan Van Gundy praised the guard.

Billups, nicknamed “Mr. Big Shot,” was a great player and a five-time All-Star, who will most likely be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

For his career, he averaged 15.2 points a game, 2.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists, Basketball-Reference.com noted.

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