Tony Parker vs Chauncey Billups

[Lebron23]

Who's the better player? Both won an NBA Finals MVP

[SouBeachTalents]

It's def close, but I'd go with Billups

[Gohan]

Im going with parker. Billups is one of the most overrated non superstar of all time

[FultzNationRISE]

If I have to pick one without knowing who gets put around them... it's a pretty tough call tbh. But probably Billups.

Prime Spurs Parker was better than any version of Billups, but we never saw him (until his career was basically over) play outside the Spurs system. So it's hard to say how good he looks on an average team. Whereas Billups had nice runs with Detroit and Denver, and even briefly gave a slight boost to a garbage Knicks team. Obviously his style translates well in different circumstances.

Billups is the safer pick, Parker is riskier but more upside.

[fsvr54]

If I have to pick one without knowing who gets put around them... it's a pretty tough call tbh. But probably Billups.

Prime Spurs Parker was better than any version of Billups, but we never saw him (until his career was basically over) play outside the Spurs system. So it's hard to say how good he looks on an average team. Whereas Billups had nice runs with Detroit and Denver, and even briefly gave a slight boost to a garbage Knicks team. Obviously his style translates well in different circumstances.

Billups is the safer pick, Parker is riskier but more upside.

I don't disagree. I also feel prime Parker was better by an inch but who knows how he would've played outside the Spurs.

[Horatio33]

Mr Big Shot who shot 42 percent in the playoffs.

[000]

Mr Big Shot who shot 42 percent in the playoffs.
58% ts. Meanwhile Parker was at 52% lol

[HoopsNY]

Definitely Billups

[3ba11]

Everyone in history that won 3 Finals needed a teammate to average 25 or win FMVP for at least 1 of the Finals

Except the goat, who win 6 Finals without a teammate that averaged 25 or won FMVP

[Lebron23]

Watching the 2004 NBA finals again. Chauncey Billups destroyed Gary Payton and Derek Fisher offensively and defensively.

[Reggie43]

Parker was the better talent. Billups got hugely overrated by his finals mvp. Ben and Rip were clearly better for the whole playoffs in their championship year while Billups was inefficient as hell in every series except the finals.

Still cant forget how good Rip Hamilton was in that Pacers series where we shut everyone down except him. Billups had it the worst, shooting just .308fg% and 26% from three.

[houston]

parker better for sure

[Sulico]

Billups and it's not close at all.

Parker/Billups career

BPM - 1.1/3.2
WS48 - .140/.176
TS% - .546/.580
VORP - 30.1/43.5 despite Billups playing 5000 less minutes.

Billups was best player on historically great but deep team. Parker was 3rd or sometimes 4th best player on even better team.

[tanibanana]

Both are basically almost of the same level, just different type of player.

[L.Kizzle]

For some reason I just figured Billups had better numbers. I just checked their stats and Tony has better numbers.

[HoopsNY]

Parker played alongside a top 10 player of all time with arguably a top 5 system and coach of all-time for almost all of his career.

Billups was a floor general and if we look at peak/prime years, the nod has to go to Chauncey. Parker was the more talented scorer, but Billups has him in about everything else, particularly defense.

RS Billups '03-'11: 17/3/6/1/0 (2 TOs) on 60% TS%
RS Parker '05-'14: 18/3/6/1/0 (3 TOs) on 56% TS%

Playoffs Billups '03-'11: 18/4/6/1/0 (2 TOs) on 58% TS%
Playoffs Parker: '05-14: 20/3/6/1/0 (3 TOs) on 52% TS%

Finals Billups: 21/4/6/1/0 (2 TOs) on 62% TS%
Finals Parker: 17/2/5/1/0 (2 TOs) on 50% TS%

Game 7s Billups: 20/4/6/1/0 (2 TOs) on 62% TS%
Game 7s Parker: 19/2/4/1/0 (2 TOs) on 50% TS%

I believe Billups has the edge here. Not to mention, Billups turning the Nuggets into a legit finals contender after the Nuggets got bounced in the first round just the year prior with Iverson is a testimony to his ability.

And if people remember, while the Spurs were getting bounced by the Lakers in 2004, it was the Pistons beating them in a decisive 5 games.

[HoopsNY]

Here's another interesting stat:

SA w/o Parker '05-'14: 63-35 (.642%)

DET/DEN w/o Billups '03-'10: 22-23 (.489%)

This obviously doesn't tell the entire story, but it is a feather in Billups' cap.

*Billups was traded with Melo in 2011 and the Nuggets played a lot better, largely due to the guys they got in return and Melo was a cancer honestly speaking.

[houston]

Parker better than Billups. Better numbers, more durable player, more rings etc.......

[clipps]

I don't disagree. I also feel prime Parker was better by an inch but who knows how he would've played outside the Spurs.

You're such a ****ing retard.:facepalm

[RRR3]

Billups, easily.

[RRR3]

For some reason I just figured Billups had better numbers. I just checked their stats and Tony has better numbers.
No he doesn’t wtf

[Axe]

Im going with parker. Billups is one of the most overrated non superstar of all time
You don't like billups because he wiped off the heavily favored 12thbe and the lakers in the 2004 finals while your hero ai couldn't hmm?

[L.Kizzle]

No he doesn’t wtf
Check em out right quick.

[RRR3]

Check em out right quick.
I don’t need to I know their stats roughly already. Billups’ are much better someone already posted them in the thread.

[HoopsNY]

People are saying Parker has better numbers. How is this the case prime for prime? Anything before or after is just fluff and longevity. Prime for prime, Billups has the edge, clearly.

And when you go into the numbers and see how much better he was in big spots, like the finals or game 7s, it becomes even more evident. The fact that Billups was that much more of a floor raiser and proved it on multiple teams is also a credit to his value.

[fsvr54]

You're such a ****ing retard.:facepalm

Lmao, who the hell is this guy

[Xiao Yao You]

Billups. He played both ends

[houston]

People are saying Parker has better numbers. How is this the case prime for prime? Anything before or after is just fluff and longevity. Prime for prime, Billups has the edge, clearly.

And when you go into the numbers and see how much better he was in big spots, like the finals or game 7s, it becomes even more evident. The fact that Billups was that much more of a floor raiser and proved it on multiple teams is also a credit to his value.



Billups was known a high draft bust and injury prone in his first years in the NBA. Billups didn't really start hitting his stride until 03 season with the Pistons. Parker been majority starter through out his career. Played in more playoff games,more all-nba/all-star accolades, and plus more championship rings. He have Finals MVP and won a chip as his team best player in 14 something Billups never did.

[HoopsNY]

Billups was known a high draft bust and injury prone in his first years in the NBA. Billups didn't really start hitting his stride until 03 season with the Pistons. Parker been majority starter through out his career. Played in more playoff games,more all-nba/all-star accolades, and plus more championship rings. He have Finals MVP and won a chip as his team best player in 14 something Billups never did.

The beginning of Billups' career is irrelevant. We're looking at their prime/peak years here, which are roughly the same in number.

As for accolades, this is what we have:

Parker: 6x All-Star, 4x All-NBA, 1 FMVP, 0 All-Defensive
Billups: 5x All-Star, 3x All-NBA, 1 FMVP, 2 All-Defensive

You're really splitting hairs when it comes to accolades. And while Parker won FMVP (in 2007, not 2014), Billups also won FMVP in 2004 in a legendary upset.

Furthermore, you've provided no response to my analysis of their peak/prime years, which clearly favors Billups.

[Reggie43]

Nobody is clearly better than the other and its basically a matter of what style of play you want in your lead guard because these guys are in the same tier as players prime for prime.

[HoopsNY]

Nobody is clearly better than the other and its basically a matter of what style of play you want in your lead guard because these guys are in the same tier as players prime for prime.

I disagree with this. The fact remains is that Parker played in a much better system alongside a top 10 player of all-time. Not to mention, his peak/prime years clearly favor him. I've gone through regular season, playoffs, game 7s, and finals. In addition, Billups' teams clearly faired much worse without him than Parker's teams did. So other than scoring, I'm not so sure what Parker has on Billups. And even that is splitting hairs.

Parker's FMVP comes against a weak Cleveland team, whereas Billups' FMVP comes against a Laker team that was stacked with prime Kobe and Shaq, as well as GP, being coached by a legendary coach.

I think Parker gets too much credit. The fact remains is that the Spurs were perennial contenders before he started producing at a high level. Look at what Duncan did in 2003 and what the Spurs, collectively, did 1999.

[houston]

The beginning of Billups' career is irrelevant. We're looking at their prime/peak years here, which are roughly the same in number.

As for accolades, this is what we have:

Parker: 6x All-Star, 4x All-NBA, 1 FMVP, 0 All-Defensive
Billups: 5x All-Star, 3x All-NBA, 1 FMVP, 2 All-Defensive

You're really splitting hairs when it comes to accolades. And while Parker won FMVP (in 2007, not 2014), Billups also won FMVP in 2004 in a legendary upset.

Furthermore, you've provided no response to my analysis of their peak/prime years, which clearly favors Billups.



Billups career don't count before the Pistons?? Man you killed your own argument. Parker was the better player by longshot. He been the more consistent player throughout his whole career. 2014 Spurs Parker was the team best player on championship team.

[TAZORAC]

Depends on the team, who'd I'd rather have. Parker if I need scoring, Billups if I need a true PG who plays good defense.

[HoopsNY]

Billups career don't count before the Pistons?? Man you killed your own argument. Parker was the better player by longshot. He been the more consistent player throughout his whole career. 2014 Spurs Parker was the team best player on championship team.

It's not that it doesn't count, but it doesn't speak volumes the way a player's peak/prime does.

If you want to say that Parker had better longevity, then you might be right. But the debate about who the better overall player was extends far beyond that.

Furthermore, Parker wasn't better than Kawhi in the 2014 finals. Kawhi won FMVP that series, you originally claimed Parker did.

But since you want to focus on the beginning of their careers, when they both weren't in their peak nor their prime, then lets take a look.

Parker '01-'04: 13/3/5/1/0 on 52% TS%
Billups '98-'03: 11/3/4/1/0 on 55% TS%

Here's the problem though. Parker was a starter for almost all of the games he played in that stretch vs. Billups who was only a starter in roughly 2/3 of the time. Hence their minutes look different, 32 for Parker and 27 for Billups.

So, let's adjust for PER 36:

Parker: 15/3/6/1/0 w/3 TOs
Billups: 16/3/5/1/0 w/2 TOs

Again, you're splitting hairs here. There is nothing significant about the beginning of Billups or Parker's careers, especially when you consider that Billups was not a starter for nearly 1/3 of that time.

And I laugh at the idea that Parker is the better player by a long shot. May I ask, based on what? You've literally provided nothing except that Parker had a better start to his career. Even if we concede, which is fair, the difference is so minimal.

Not to mention Billups was drafted to a horrible franchise and played for horrible franchises until he got to Minnesota. Parker found himself on a championship contending team, with a top 10 player of all-time in his peak from the very beginning.

[HoopsNY]

Depends on the team, who'd I'd rather have. Parker if I need scoring, Billups if I need a true PG who plays good defense.

I do admit that Parker is the better scorer, but not by much. Just look at their scoring throughout their primes. Parker has an edge, but it's not as drastic as some are thinking. Look at their scoring in the finals, game 7s, etc, and it's clear that the difference is too minimal to ignore Bullups' shooting, leadership, passing, and defense.

[ShawkFactory]

Billups career don't count before the Pistons?? Man you killed your own argument. Parker was the better player by longshot. He been the more consistent player throughout his whole career. 2014 Spurs Parker was the team best player on championship team.

Most ridiculous thing I've read in a while.