Billups' patience as a player has paid off. But as an NBA head coach?

Billups is bound for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a player. But that patience as a head coach hasn't quite worked out thus far.

Former Celtic guard Chauncey Billups, now coaching the Portland Trail Blazers. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images

BOSTON — When your coverage of the NBA spans three different decades, you meet a lot of people and players along the way.

And as much as you learn how to do your job better, there are other lessons that come along the journey.

Coming to the NBA from having covered Duke basketball (awesome squad) and football (they didn’t win a single game in my last season on the beat), I felt pretty comfortable and confident that I knew all I needed to know.

And then I met Chauncey Billups, a game-changer for the Detroit Pistons and for this basketball scribe.

Billups is bound for the Naismith Hall of Fame this fall, “basketball heaven” according to Billups.

But the impact Billups made on the Pistons and the NBA, pales in comparison to what his journey has meant to so many - self included.

He has displayed a level patience with his approach to the game. And the organizations he has worked with, have all reaped the benefits of his brand of basketball.

He has gotten off to a rough start in Portland, with a losing record in each of his three seasons as the team’s head coach. Will he get a shot at a fourth season?