Chauncey Billups has announced this Tuesday that he is retiring after playing for 17 NBA seasons.

The former Detroit Pistons star and 2004 NBA Finals MVP told Yahoo's Marc J. Spears that he is officially calling it quits, two weeks before his 38th birthday.

The five-time All Star player said that he felt it was time to retire after missing 185 games in the past three seasons.

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"It's just time. I know when it's time," Billups said to Yahoo Sports. "My mind and my desire is still strong. I just can't ignore the fact that I haven't been healthy for three years. I can try again and get to a point where I think I can go, but I just can't sustain. Me not being able to play the way that I can play, that's when you kind of know it's that time.

"It's just time. I'm happy, excited." added Billups. "The game was very, very good to me. I felt like I was equally as good to the game the way I played it and the way I respected it and the way I carried myself through the process."

Billups is best known for his 2002-2008 stint with the Pistons. His clutch shooting in the 2004 NBA finals earned him the moniker Mr. Big Shot.  He was also part of the Piston's powerhouse along with Ben Wallace, Rip Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace.

Billups claimed that his most cherished memories are with the Pistons.

"I persevered, sustained and continued to work hard, and finally got my opportunity in Detroit, and I never turned back from that point. That's what made it so sweet to me to win a championship after what I went through. I had to scrap and fight to get through it and to reach the pinnacle made it even sweeter.

Billups started his career in 1997 as the No. 3 draft by the Boston Celtics. He was traded to the Toronto Raptors in the following year. He finally got to show his true basketball skills when he joined the Minnesota Timberwolves.

After winning the championship for the Pistons, Billups became an unrestricted free agent. He then returned to the Nuggets in 2009 which resulted to a trip to the conference finals.

However, he was again traded to the New York Knicks for the Carmelo Anthony deal and later transferred to the Los Angeles Clippers. Billups returned to the Pistons in 2013.

Billups finishes his career with an average of 15.2 points and 5.4 assists, making 38.7 percent of his three-point attempts.

He also represented the United States by playing for two gold-winning national teams (FIBA Americas Championship in 2007 and FIBA World Championship in 2010).

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