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Portland Trail Blazers goalie Damian Lillard has denied knowing about any allegations of sexual assault against Chauncey Billups before endorsing him as the team’s next head coach.
Lillard replied to two tweets on the matter, saying he was unaware Billups had been the subject of a rape case 24 years ago:
Damien Lillard @Dame_Lillard
Is that so? I was asked which coaches I liked out of the names I heard and named them. Sorry I was not aware of their story, I did not read the news when I was 7/8 years old. I can’t stand these things but if it’s the road you wanna come to me say less https://t.co/N1GPkX3Ohd
Damien Lillard @Dame_Lillard
I said what I said family. https://t.co/uwgFRPS5zW
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Friday that the Blazers are “moving forward in contract talks” to make Billups their next head coach.
Earlier this month, Lillard told The Athletic’s Jason Quick and Shams Charania that he supports both Billups and Jason Kidd as options to replace Terry Stotts as head coach of the Blazers.
Kidd stepped back from consideration and accepted the Dallas Mavericks head coach job instead, while all signs are now that Billups is securing his first NBA head coaching position in Portland.
Jack Winter of Sports Illustrated provided details of the Billups rape case on Saturday, noting that Billups has denied having non-consensual sex with a woman known only as Jane Doe. Billups was not charged with a felony and he settled a civil lawsuit.
According to Winter, the woman was described as the “recurring and quirky girlfriend” of then Celtics star Antoine Walker at the time of the alleged sexual assault on November 9, 1997.
Billups said the only sexual activity he had with the woman was consensual oral sex in his car, but the woman said his Billups and Celtics teammate Ron Mercer engaged in unwanted sex on her in Walker’s apartment. She said that one of Walker’s friends had forced her to give him oral sex as well.
The woman said she passed out during the assault and woke up naked in bed with one of Walker’s friends with condom wrappers and used condoms on the floor.
She then went to Boston Medical Center where injuries to her throat, cervix and rectum were found.
After settling a civil matter with the woman, Billups continued to play with the Detroit Pistons and Denver Nuggets, earning five All-Star nominations and winning a championship in Detroit.
The Billups, 44, have entered the coaching ranks this season, serving as an assistant with the Clippers under Ty Lue. Billups and the Clippers are currently trailing the Phoenix Suns 2-1 in the Western Conference Finals.
If Billups makes a deal to become the Blazers’ head coach, he will be Portland’s first new head coach since Stotts hired in 2012.
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