According to the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand, the LA Clippers have reportedly hired Chauncey Billups as color analyst.
The LA Clippers will already be adding a new face to the booth in 2019-2020 when Brian Sieman takes over for Ralph Lawler as the team’s play-by-play announcer, and according to the New York Post‘s Andrew Marchand, he’ll be joined by another new face: Chauncey Billups.
Billups, a former five-time All-Star, has been working as an NBA analyst for ESPN since he retired from the league in 2014. According to Marchand, he will continue to work as an analyst for ESPN in addition to working for the Clippers.
The Clippers had a rotating cast of analysts last season, in what was Lawler’s farewell campaign. Corey Maggette called a majority of the games alongside Lawler, with Ryan Hollins, Don MacLean, Mike Fratello, Hubie Brown and Bill Walton all calling a number of games as well.
Because Billups will reportedly call games for ESPN in addition to the Clippers, there may be a chance that some of last year’s analysts could return to the booth. In that case, scheduling would likely be the determining factor.
Billups, like Maggette, Hollins and Walton, is also a former member of the LA Clippers. He signed with the Clippers prior to the 2011-2012 regular season, appearing in 20 games before tearing his Achilles tendon. He re-signed the following season, but was limited to 22 games due to a number of injuries. In his two seasons with Los Angeles, Billups posted averages of 11.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.
Together, Billups and Sieman will have the honor of calling what’s set up to be one of the most exciting Clippers seasons to date. With the additions of superstar forwards Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, LA is expected to be one of the top title contenders in the league this year.
Sieman, Billups’ new partner, was named the team’s newest play-by-play announcer last month. Not long after, he led the Clippers’ press conference that introduced Leonard and George to the media and fans in attendance.
Our first chance to hear Sieman and Billups call a game together will be October 3, when the LA Clippers face off with the Houston Rockets in Honolulu, Hawaii. That game will begin the Clippers’ five-game preseason stint, which ends October 17.
With nearly two months remaining until the regular season begins, Sieman and Billups will have plenty of time to get familiar before they call their first game together.