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“It’s just time. I know when it’s time,” Billups told Yahoo Sports. “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.

“It’s just time. I’m happy, excited. The game was very, very good to me. I felt like I was equally as good to the game the way I played it and the way I respected it and the way I carried myself through the process.”

His career spanned 17 years, with five All Star appearances and the NBA Finals MVP as a member of the 2004 Detroit Pistons. He’s finished as high as 5th in the MVP voting one year (2006). And his Boston Celtics career lasted just 51 games thanks to Rick Pi… Piti….

Aaaah, I can’t say his name anymore. That jerk in the suit pictured above.

Personally, I don’t think that’s the worst personnel decision made involving Mr. Big Shot. It was the post-lockout amnesty waiving by the Knicks that is, by far, way ahead of quick-trigger Rick.

The Knicks were fresh off a playoffs appearance. They had just picked up Chauncey’s $14 million dollar option. Then, a few weeks later, the lockout happened. After the lockout, and with Tyson Chandler suddenly available, the Knicks chose to immediately implement the amnesty provision on the option they JUST PICKED UP in order to sign Chandler.

They didn’t use it on Amar’e Stoudemire. He’s been as durable as a cardboard cutout in the middle of a thunderstorm, and the Knicks are STILL trying to find a way to get rid of his contract.

Anyway, whenever I hear Billups, I personally will have to include that Knicks debacle in the story of his career because it’s THAT laughable. And any time I can make fun of the Knicks, I will.

A for Mr. Billups the basketball player, you can make a case for him as a Hall of Famer. 5-time All Star, 3-time All-NBA, a championship, a Finals MVP, and respectable positions on career leader-boards (39th in assists, 66th in career 3-point percentage, 50th in true shooting percentage, 6th in 3-pointers made, and 5th in free throw percentage).

For a guy who’s bounced around as much as he has, he’s had a tremendous impact on his teams. Yes, he was hurt a lot later in his career, but if you toss out those late-career years, you’ll see the bulk of his career was pretty damn good. And it was better in the playoffs. He never averaged 20 points per game for a regular season, but he did it three times in the playoffs including just four years ago in the 2010 run with Denver.

There’ll be some debate, but there’s a good argument to be made for Billups in Springfield someday.

Related links: CSNNE: Former Celtic Billups retires

Page 2: The Celtics are second in the power rankings

It really doesn’t need explanation, though it’s worth considering whether we worship the Boston court as iconic because it’s beautiful, or because the Celtics finagled their way into acquiring Bill Russell and then crafted so many iconic moments on this floor.

Is the parquet look actually pleasant, or do we just think it is because it is a part of every NBA highlight package?

It’s the former, at least for me. The parquet looks nice even without the history, and we can’t penalize Boston just because you could purchase actual pieces of the floor where things like “Havlicek stole the ball!” actually happened. The logo, designed by Red Auerbach’s brother Zang, has stood the test of time; even the Celtics’ new alternate logo is just a white silhouetting of the original.

NBA Court Design power rankings

Yeah, sorry, this has nothing to do with actual basketball.

BUT IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH BETRAYAL!!!!!! (just kidding. kinda)

This list was compiled by Zach Lowe, he of former CelticsHub.com fame. He of current Grantland.com fame, run by the whether-you-like-it-or-not ESPN face of Boston Celtics fans Bill Simmons.

And he put this: