Portland Trail Blazers Comment On Accusations Of Rape Against New Coach Chauncey Billups

The Portland Trail Blazers faced a decent amount of scrutiny after selecting Chauncey Billups as their next coach. Mainly, fans pointed to an alleged rape at the hands of Billups in 1997 – when he was a member of the Boston Celtics.

According to the accuser, Chauncey Billups and teammate Ron Mercer sexually assaulted her during a party at Antoine Walker’s house.

On Tuesday, Blazers general manager Neil Olshey assured fans that an investigation during the Blazers hiring of Chauncey was consistent with his account of the story.

Neil Olshey: "With all sincerity, and you have my word … We took the allegations very seriously, and we took them with the gravity that they deserved."

— Sean Highkin (@highkin) June 29, 2021

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Neil Olshey: "We commissioned our own independent investigation into the incident in 1997. Our investigation corroborated what Chauncey told us, that nothing non-consensual occurred. We stand by Chauncey."

— Sean Highkin (@highkin) June 29, 2021

Chauncey Billups also spoke on the 1997 incident during the presser.

Chauncey Billups: "There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about how every decision that we make can have a profound impact on somebody else. I learned at a young age that every decision has consequences and that's led to some really healthy but tough conversations."

— Sean Highkin (@highkin) June 29, 2021

While Chauncey Billups claimed that the rape accusation “shaped him”, a completely valid follow-up question was quickly shut down by Blazers PR.

https://twitter.com/DaveDuFourNBA/status/1409967781819342848

It seems like the Trail Blazers are hoping that they won’t have to answer any more questions about Billups’ past.

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