The Portland Trail Blazers have been on the receiving end of a lot of criticism for their decision to hire Chauncey Billups as the team's new head coach. Billups has seen his character attacked over the past few days, with his two-decade-old rape allegations recently being brought back to the surface.

In a recent press conference that unveiled him as the Blazers' new head coach, Billups was inevitably asked to address this scandalous issue. The 44-year-old had already anticipated these types of queries and he was ready with his response:

“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 a person's life,” he said, via Diwght Jaynes of NBC Sports.. “I learned at a very young age as a player and a young adult, that every decision has consequences.

“And that's led to some really, really helping with tough conversations that I've had to have with my wife, who was my girlfriend at the time in 1997, and my daughters about what actually happened.”

To this very day, Billups claims that the sexual contact he had with his accuser was consensual. For what it's worth, the case was settled outside of court for an undisclosed amount.

Billups went on to explain how that incident continues to have a significant impact on him today. He also went on to share how has used his past experiences to make him a better coach:

“This experience has shaped my life in so many different ways,” Billups said. “My decision making, obviously — who are allowed to be in my life, the friendships and the relationships that I have, and how I go about them.

“You know, it has impacted every decision that I make. It really has. And it's shaped me in some unbelievable ways.

“So, you know, I know how important it is to have the right support system around you, particularly during tough, difficult times. And it's something that I've tried to instill in all the players that I've played with over the course of my career, just sharing some of my experiences and things and maybe it will help them down the road at some point.

“I really look forward to providing insight, leadership, to our guys who are young and taking on a lot of responsibility, as I was at that time. But just being able to support them and walk them through situations is something that I'm going to take as a responsibility.”

This isn't exactly the type of start the Blazers wanted for their new regime. Then again, they must have already seen this coming and the team knew what they were getting into when they hired Chauncey Billups. The hope now is that they are able to move past this and focus on creating a culture of success within the team with Billups at the helm.