Trail Blazers’ lack of transparency over Chauncey Billups allegations only creates more questions

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When The Athletic’s Jason Quick asked Trail Blazers president of basketball operations Neil Olsheyearlier this month about the impact of a 1997 rape allegation on the team’s approach to the Head Coach candidate Chauncey Billups, Olshey replied, “I do not comment or discuss anything or speculate on our nominees until this research is complete.

Turns out Olshey didn’t want to talk much after the research was completed, either.

Portland introduced Billups as their next head coach on Tuesday, and a good chunk of the press conference was spent touching on (not dealing with) the details of the incident from more than two decades ago. In November 1997, Billups, then a rookie with the Celtics, was at a comedy club with teammates Ron Mercer and Antoine Walker. An anonymous woman alleged that after leaving the club, Billups and Mercer took her to Walker’s apartment and committed several “unwanted” sex acts to him. Billups claimed that any sexual act between him and the woman was consensual and took place in his car, not Walker’s apartment. He never faced criminal charges and he settled a civil lawsuit filed by the woman.

Olshey told reporters on Tuesday the team understood the initial backlash and concerns once reports emerged last week revealing Billups would accept the job offer. He said the Trail Blazers took the allegations “very seriously” and treated them with “the seriousness they deserved.”

“Even though other NBA organizations, business partners, television networks and regional networks have all enthusiastically offered Chauncey past and present high-level positions within their organizations, we wanted to make sure we had our own thorough process because some things are just more important than basketball, “Olshey said.” With Chauncey’s support, his encouragement, we not only did our traditional background check after we offered him the post, we also commissioned an independent investigation into the incident in 1997.

“The findings of this incident have corroborated Chauncey’s recollection of the events that nothing non-consensual happened. We stand behind Chauncey, everyone in the organization, and believe he is the right choice to be our head coach and the right choice to be the kind of ambassador in the Portland community, everyone here has gotten used to it. “

After Olshey spoke, Billups shared his thoughts on the incident as part of his opening statement:

“Not a day goes by that I don’t think about how every decision we make can have a profound impact on a person’s life. I learned at a very young age as a player not just a player but a young man, a young adult that every decision, every decision has consequences. And that led to some really, really healthy, but difficult conversations that I must have had with my wife, who was my girlfriend back home. time in 1997, and my daughters about what really happened and what they might have to read about me in the news and in the media. But this experience has shaped my life in so many different ways. . My decision making, obviously, who I allow to be in my life, the friendships and relationships I have and how I go about it. It has impacted every decision I make. it really does. It has shaped me in an incredible way. So I know how important it is to have the good support system around you, especially in difficult times. This is something that I have tried to instill in all of the players that I have played with in my career, just by sharing some of my experiences and things, that maybe it would help them one day. given moment. But I really, really look forward to providing leadership and insight to our guys, who are young and take on a lot of responsibility like I was back then, but just being able to support and guide them. in situations is something that I will take as a responsibility. And I’m grateful and happy to do it because today, today is a big day for me and my family. It really is. I mean, this is my dream job. We knew we had to fix this, but it’s my dream job. It was one of the best days of my life. It’s a big day for my family. My youngest daughter just turned 15 yesterday and she is sharing a birthday with my mom. So it’s an amazing birthday present for them to be able to come here and celebrate this. So I want to thank you once again, Neil, [Trail Blazers chair Jody] Allen, [Trail Blazers vice chair] Bert [Kolde], to have that confidence in me, and I can’t wait to get to work. “

@jwquick asked Chauncey Billups to elaborate on the 1997 sexual assault allegation and how the prosecution has shaped it in an incredible way.

Trail Blazers PR cut it off.

Here’s what Billups said in his opening statement: #RipCity pic.twitter.com/V5BO5Ye89f

Evan Schreiber (@SchreiberEvan) June 29, 2021

It looked like Billups and Olshey would be ready to tackle a difficult subject head-on, but neither offered many answers when asked for details.

Olshey said the Trail Blazers have done “everything in our power to control this incident” and have found nothing that “disqualifies [Billups]However, when asked by Sean Highkin of Bleacher Report which group the organization had hired to conduct an independent investigation and what that investigation entailed, Olshey declined to share details.

“It’s exclusive, Sean,” Olshey said. “So you’re just going to have to take our word for it that we hired an experienced company that did a survey that gave us the results we’ve already discussed. “

When Quick asked Billups how the incident had shaped him in “incredible ways,” the press conference moderator cut Billups off before he could speak.

“Jason, we appreciate your question. We’ve fixed this issue,” said the moderator. “This has been asked and answered, so happy to move on to the next question here.”

Despite what Portland’s public relations department can tell you, the key issues haven’t been addressed, not even up close.

The Trail Blazers may very well have hired an outside group to get as much information as possible about the woman’s allegations. But does the organization really deserve the benefit of the doubt if Olshey essentially says “trust me” when asked a simple question?

And if the Trail Blazers were aware of the concerns about hiring Billups, then why wouldn’t they let the man himself answer them? Why didn’t Billups tell the moderator that he understood the question and, as one of the faces of the franchise, needed to be honest and open about the incident?

Billups, Olshey and the Trail Blazers knew Portland fans wanted answers on this process. Instead, they were only left with more questions.

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