Chris Paul Praises 'Big Brother' Chauncey Billups After Clinching Finals Berth

Chris Paul had a lot of people to thank after the Phoenix Suns beat the LA Clippers on Thursday, the future Hall-of-Famer advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time in his storied career.

An excited, emotional Paul lavished praise on his family and friends for helping him finally reach the postseason's pinnacle amid an arduous 16-year career. He feted his coaches and teammates with the Suns, especially Monty Williams—Paul's head coach a decade ago with the New Orleans Hornets—and hungry franchise cornerstones Deandre Ayton and Devin Booker.

Paul broke his series-long pledge to avoid discussing his past with the Clippers, too, graciously showing love to everyone from LA superfan Billy Crystal to team athletic trainers. But Paul saved his most fawning remarks about his former team for an assistant coach who only just joined the Clips' bench this season: Chauncey Billups.

Paul and Billups were teammates in LA in 2011-12 and 2012-13 after Neil Olshey, then general manager of the Clippers, picked up the latter star floor general off waivers from the New York Knicks. Though Billups was in the twilight of his career during their time in LA, a far cry from his All-NBA prime, he nevertheless left an indelible impression on Paul—one first celebrated in a lengthy, heartfelt post-game embrace.

Paul wasn't done thinking about Billups.

Later, on the post-game press podium, Paul was asked what it meant for the crowning achievement of his career to come against the Clippers, a franchise with which he enjoyed so much personal and collective success but never got over the postseason hump. Unprompted, he couldn't help but single out Billups again, lamenting the fact he was unable to congratulate his "brother" on being named head coach of the Trail Blazers because their teams were competing against one another.

Paul, like so many marquee names across the league, seems fully confident Billups will thrive in Portland, too.

"Chauncey is my family, like, my brother my brother, and we ain't talk this whole series," Paul said. "I'm so happy for him getting a head-coaching job, because me and him talked about it during quarantine, about what his next thing was gonna be. And when he said he was gonna be a coach, I was like, 'You're gonna be the best coach there is,' because when we played together here we used to be in our lockers right next to each other drawing up plays."

The strategic acumen to which Paul alluded is one of the many factors that made Billups a head coach in waiting long before he accepted the Blazers job. Billups has been lauded for his understanding of the game at every stop of his NBA journey.

Still, it's not the attribute of Billups' coaching profile that Neil Olshey highlighted most during Tuesday's introductory press conference. Again and again, both Olshey and Billups spoke to his ability to relate to players and hold a locker room accountable as the most important trait he's bringing to Portland.

If the nature of Billups' relationship with Paul is any indication of what's to come in Rip City, expect the Blazers to soon feel the same way.

READ MORE: The Blazers are Done Talking About Chauncey Billups' Past