NBA Players United

Checking In With Chauncey

With the Impact Basketball “Competitive Training Series” drawing more than 50 NBA players to Las Vegas for two weeks of high-level training and competitive basketball, NBPA.com sat down with five-time All-Star Chauncey Billups to hear what the buzz is all about:

*The Impact Basketball “Competitive Training Series” is an NBA player-only, two-week program created by Impact Academy Trainer Joe Abunassar and Phoenix Suns forward Jared Dudley. Teams will play daily starting Sept. 12, and the series will end with a championship game Sept. 23.

What has been your involvement with Impact?
Joe [Abunassar], the trainer for Impact, and I started our careers together. I was one of his first clients. We’ve worked together during the off-season for about 14 years now. It’s been an unbelievable thing, and he’s been great in helping me improve my game. My body is one of the strongest facets of my game, and that’s something I’ve been able to maintain over the course of time consistently, which I attribute to working with Joe…fine-tuning my game, becoming the shooter I am, coming up big late in the game.

Why is Impact any different from playing in pro-ams, pick-up games, etc?
First, guys are not getting paid to come to this. This is about training. It’s training in the morning and playing competitively in the afternoons and evenings. Pro-ams are fine, but that’s just one game a night and it’s more about having fun. This is really for perfecting your craft and working on your game.

Have you reached out to a lot of your teammates and encouraged them to attend?
I’ve talked to way more guys than just my teammates. This is not just about my team…it’s everybody in the league coming together and working on our game. So whenever we come to a new collective bargaining agreement, we are ready to go.

How does this compare to, say, training camp?
Aw no, this won’t be like training camp, which is a grueling process. There will be shooting, drills and that kind of thing…a similar schedule…but guys will enjoy this process.

Are you worried about injury?
No more than me training any other time. I could get injured playing soccer in the backyard with my kids.

What has your workout regimen looked like since the season ended?
I just started working out two weeks ago because I’ve been rehabbing my knee and getting healthy. It’s doing well, and I’m back on the court. Any other summer I would have started my off-season training in July.

Has the lockout affected your training regimen?
Nothing about the lockout has changed anything about my workout routine because during the off-season I don’t train with my NBA coaches anyway. I’m usually out in Vegas working with Joe.

Does something like Impact influence the league and union bargaining?
I would like for it to influence the league, let them know there is power in numbers. When we put our minds to something, we are able to do some great and powerful things.

How has being part of the 1998 lockout affected your outlook on the situation now?
Well, after going through that in ’98, I knew the effects it could have. I’ve been preparing for this financially for a while, so I am okay. I haven’t had to change anything about my lifestyle, especially because I live pretty practically anyway.

Any advice for young players?
My message is to be in tune with what’s going on…what happens now will affect the younger players the most. Guys like me, who don’t have many years left in the league, we aren’t going to feel this so much. So the younger guys need to get involved. And like for me, maybe there will be another lockout at some point during their career.

Also, stay ready because you never know when the season will start…you don’t want to lose an opportunity because you were sitting around waiting.

How about your thoughts on the Knicks season?
I’m just hoping to get to it and have a training camp where we can grow as a team. I believe that if we add some pieces and role players, I think we can have a special season.

ABOUT CHAUNCEY BILLUPS
A five-time NBA All-Star and NBA champion, Chauncey Billups is a 6’3” point guard for the New York Knicks. He won the NBA Finals MVP in 2004, helping the Pistons beat the Lakers in the Finals, and was given the nickname “Mr. Big Shot” for making late-game shots with Detroit. A three-time All-NBA selection, Billups was chosen third overall in the 1997 NBA Draft by the Celtics, and has also played for the Raptors, Nuggets and Timberwolves. A college basketball standout at the University of Colorado, he was honored in 2004 as the fifth player in school history to have his jersey retired.