BY HENRY ABBOTT

The 1997 accusation came from a woman who said in a lawsuit that on the night of Nov. 9, following an evening at a Boston comedy club, she was raped by Billups, Ron Mercer and Michael Irvin—who is of no relation to the former N.F.L. player—at Antoine Walker’s home. Walker and Mercer were Billups’s teammates in Boston, while Irvin was Walker’s roommate. No criminal charges were filed. Billups and Mercer settled with the woman for an undisclosed amount in 2000, and Walker also settled a lawsuit with the woman soon after. Billups denied any nonconsensual contact, but said he had sex with her.

—Sopan Deb in The New York Times, writing about new Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups

It is getting tricky to feel good about being a Blazer fan—and that’s before you learn about the necklace made from the skull of a penguin. 

Let’s back up.