The Post’s Steve Serby chatted with the 34-year-old point guard who came to the Knicks in the Carmelo Anthony trade.
Q: Is reaching the Eastern Conference Finals realistic?
A: I think it’s realistic. To go that deep in the playoffs, you gotta have some kind of luck. You gotta be lucky with injuries. The ball’s gotta bounce your way.
Q: Does this team play enough defense?
A: I don’t think you have to be “all defense all the time.” I like the fact our offense has the ability to be really good. Defensively, we definitely gotta get better if we’re gonna be a special team.
Q: First impressions: Landry Fields?
A: He’s a quiet guy. He reminds me of Shane Battier. He knows how to play the game. He knows how to play without the ball.
Q: What have you learned about Amar’e (Stoudemrie)?
A: I always admired his motor. He just doesn’t quit. He reminds me of KG (Kevin Garnett) in that sense. I love playing with him.
Q: How has ‘Melo adjusted to New York?
A: Honestly, I can see a new fire in ‘Melo. He’s trying hard to do the right thing. Defensively, he’s more engaged out there than he was in Denver.
Q: The Chauncey Billups All-Swagger Opponent Team?
A: Gary Payton, Kobe (Bryant), Shaq (O’Neal), KG (Kevin Garnett), ‘Melo.
Q: Amar’e?
A: He’s up there. Definitely, most certainly up there.
Q: Chauncey Billups?
A: I’m probably up there, but not on the All-Time Swagger team.
Q: Winning the Grand Junction basketball tournament in sixth grade?
A: That was like my first tournament I was outside of the city (Park Hill, Denver). My whole team was black. My coach was white, though. We were the only black team there. It was a real racial environment. Everybody couldn’t believe we were there. Everybody was against us. It taught me a lot at a young age about life and people in general.
Q : What was the worst of it?
A: I think just the people in the stands taunting us: “Go home, you all shouldn’t be here.”
Q: Did you see the movie about the all-black Texas Western team that won the national championship?
A: I loved that movie.
Q: Which nickname do you prefer: Mr. Big Shot or Smooth?
A: (Chuckles) Good question … I prefer both.
Q: Who first called you Mr. Big Shot?
A: Rick Mahorn did. It was my first year in Detroit, probably 20 games in. I’d hit four game-winners already. He just named me that.
Q: Why do you like taking the big shot?
A: I always liked that part of the game since I was in like fifth, sixth grade. It’s the most important part of the game. I’m not afraid to miss that shot. I’m not afraid to fail.
Q: They started calling you Smooth in sixth grade?
A: My coach, Bobby Wilkerson, gave everybody on the team nicknames. That’s the one he gave me. Nobody ever really calls me Chauncey. In my old neighborhood, that’s what they call me.
Q: Players you would pay to watch?
A: LeBron (James) . . . Blake Griffin . . . Derrick Rose . . . ‘Melo . . . Amar’e — even when they were on separate teams . . . (Kevin) Durant and (Russell) Westbrook . . . Kobe . . . Dwayne Wade . . . D-Will (Deron Williams), Chris Paul.
Q: Would you pay to watch Chauncey Billups play?
A: Would I pay to see me? I would personally, but only because I like the real game of basketball. If you want to see highlights, you want to see somebody going crazy on the court, you won’t see me play. I just kinda work and do my job and I go home . . . no hoopla.
Q: A throwback-type player?
A: Yeah, probably so.
Q: Who do you think you’re similar to?
A: I always liked Isiah and Joe Dumars. Rod Strickland and Sam Cassell. Guys like that who got it done. Their game was never speed or athleticism. It was mentally beating you, having an edge on you.
Q: How do you mentally beat someone?
A: You gotta watch film. You gotta know your opponent. You gotta know what they like to do. You gotta know what they don’t like to do, and you gotta make them do that.
Q: Rick Pitino (Celtics) drafted you third overall and then traded you during your rookie season?
A: It was one of the darkest times for me at that stage as far as my career. You come in the third pick of the draft, you kinda expect to be there six, seven, eight years, or your whole career maybe. All of a sudden my play wasn’t good enough. Rick came to me and said, “I need a veteran point guard.” There was so much pressure on him to get into the playoffs. He always loved Kenny Anderson.
Q: What was it like bouncing from team to team early on?
A: It was tough. I always believed I could be a great player in the NBA. It finally turned when I looked myself in the mirror and said, “I’m not as good as I think I am right now.”
Q: This was when you were sidelined in Orlando?
A: I was just like, “Man, something ain’t right. Something’s gotta change.” I kinda rededicated myself.
Q: Describe the feeling walking off as world champions with the Pistons.
A: The best ever. It was like validation for me, what I always believed I could be. I always believed I could be one of the best in the league at my position. I felt like I wanted to say: ‘I told you so.” That was like my moment.
Q: Is leadership something you’re born with?
A: I go back and forth with that. Sometimes I say you gotta learn. I would say you probably gotta be born with most of that.
Q: Do you consider yourself a leader?
A: Absolutely.
Q: Superstitions?
A: Now all I do is knock on wood . . . put my left shoe on first, tie my shoe. I used to be pretty bad, though.
Q: In what way?
A: If we won a game, I always had to have a couple of things I had on the game before. In Minnesota one time, I came off the bench and scored 20 ponts and we won the game. The rest of the season, I took the same route to games.
Q: Boyhood idol?
A: Magic (Johnson).
Q: Favorite head coach (excluding Mike D’Antoni) you’ve played for?
A: Larry Brown.
Q: Why?
A: I didn’t always like him. He was so tough and demanding on me. I learned so much from him.
Q: Favorite teammate?
A: Probably Terrell Brandon (Minnesota point guard). I owe him so much. I learned so much from him. That was the first year I went to Minnesota when I was trying to reinvent myself.
Q: The infamous Malice at the Palace Pacers-Pistons brawl?
A: It should have been a one-on-one situation with Ron (Artest) and Ben (Wallace). It was sad.
Q: You were on the bench when it began . . . then once it started?
A: At that point, I was out there trying to calm guys down. “What are you all doing out here?” That obviously didn’t work. It proceeded to get worse from there.
Q: How long do you want to play?
A: As long as I can be effective. I feel great. Really, the first five years, I didn’t play that much, anyway. I pride myself in keeping in good shape. My game is not speed and jumping. The things I can do, I can do for a long time.
Q: Would you like to end your career in New York?
A: Yes. I would love to.
Q: The talk among Knicks fans about Deron Williams and Chris Paul in 2012?
A: I’m older. Those guys are 10 years younger than me. I would say the same thing. . . . Also, I’m not done. I still got a lot of things I want to do. I still got a burning desire to be effective.
Q: How many more years can you be effective?
A: I don’t know the answer to that. I’m thinking at least three. It may be three, it might not, I don’t know.
Q: The Knicks have the option for next season . . . do you expect to be here?
A: I hope to.
Q: Playing in New York?
A: I love it. It’s been an awesome experience. I love the city of New York, period. The fans really know the game of basketball.
Q: The first time you played at the Garden?
A: I was so excited to play in there. You guys had Charlie Ward and Chris Childs. I had like eight turnovers. They just killed me, man. I’ll never forget that game, I played so bad. I was so excited.
Q: You married your high school sweetheart (Piper) and have three daughters — 13, 10 and 4. Which one is most like you?
A: The 13-year-old. She’s kinda easygoing . . . hard to rattle. Whatever happens, she’s ready for it.
Q: Fatherhood?
A: Awesome. I love being a dad. I’m all in. I do it all.
Q: You devised quite a scheme proposing to your wife, posting signs leading her from one room to the next?
A I did that two or three times. It led her down to the basement. I was already down there.
Q: That’s where she was greeted by a sign that read “Will You Marry Me?”
A: I had the ring right there (on a table in front of the sign) and everything.
Q: Your grandmother was an important figure in your life?
A: All the advice she gave me at some point or another came true. She was my hero. Anybody who came in contact with her had so much respect, love and admiration for her.
Q: Favorite New York City things?
A: New York’s great for shopping . . . coming in as an opponent, I know that. There are great restaurants in New York City.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: “Harlem Nights.”
Q: Favorite actor?
A: Denzel (Washngton).
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Mexican food.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: Muhammad Ali; Martin Luther King; Rosa Parks.