Billups named MVP of NBA Finals
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-06-17 10:15

Detroit Pistons' Chauncey Billups was named Most Valuable Player Tuesday after the new "Bad Boys" stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 100-87 to win their first championship since 1990.

Billups had 14 points and six assists in Game Five, giving him an average of 21 points and 5.2 assists in the series as the Pistons completed one of the biggest upsets in NBA finals history to claim the NBA title by a 4-1 margin.

He becomes the first player to win the NBA finals MVP before being named a league All-Star since former Pistons favorite and current general manager Joe Dumars accomplished the feat in 1989, when the Pistons won the first of two back-to-back championships.

"It's unbelievable," said Billups. "Really, I'm just speechless."

It has been a tough road to the NBA finals MVP for Billups, whowas selected third overall in the draft by the Boston Celtics out of Colorado in 1997, played on four different teams in his first three seasons and developed into a front-line player in Minnesota for two seasons. He signed a six-year, US$35 million free-agent contract with Detroit before the 2002-03 season.

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