Avery Bradley accused of sexual assault; denies allegations

[KGs Knee]

Lol the woman just wants his money.

Sounds like he willingly gave her a lot of it to keep her quiet, too.

With absolutely no details about the allegations, why would you assume she’s lying?

We shouldn't assume anything until the facts are laid out (I know you know this).

And while I haven't seen but maybe one person here assume his guilt, it's blatantly unfair to the accused in these situations that our society has seemingly decided that if you're accused, your guilty and should lose your reputation, your job, ect. without any regard for due process. That is every bit as unfair as assuming the accuser is lying.

I just have never understood the rush to judgment mentality of so many in our society.

I’m going to disagree, somewhat.  Maybe Moranis, Jpotter, and any other Cleveland-based posters here should not rush to judgment, as ultimately there could be a civil or criminal proceeding in which they are potential jurors.  If you live in Northeast Ohio, the same could hold for you.  But why should I be forced to reserve all judgment, especially when one party has paid another to keep another from going to court where such due process would ultimately be relevant?  Doing as you suggest creates a system where being wealthy requires everyone to withhold judgment on everything you are accused of, until you malign someone who just wants a day in court, no matter monetary offer.

The facts that we know are that 1) the vast majority of women who make these accusations are telling the truth, and 2) Avery, very quickly, paid this woman not to go public.  So, in general she’s likely to be truthful, and Avery chose to pay money instead of defend himself against it.

The only reason I have any kind of doubt is because it seems unlike Avery for this to be true.  But at the same time, a few weeks ago James Levine was “outed” as a sex abuser and lost his job conducting the Met opera, amongst other gigs.  Classical music fans were shocked.  But as someone who used to be in the classical music world, my shock was “Really, people didn’t know about this??” I heard those rumors for so long I don’t even know when I first heard them to begin with, but as I left music almost six years ago, it had to be much longer than that.  In other words, I know I have to not let my limited knowledge of Avery as a fan cloud the judgment I might come to based on other information, the same as classical music fans had to come to terms that James Levine should not be left alone with teenage boys (and people had been keeping their sons away from him for years).

OK, so go ahead and assume Avery is guilty. Take his take job, his reputation, his potential to earn a living in the future, all without knowing the facts, simply because you choose to believe whatever you think is more likely.

And if it turns out to all be false, then what? The damage is already done.

And your statements are correct and valid EXCEPT for the fact that paying her off acknowledges guilt. And where did someone take his job or ability to earn a living in the future? And let's assume that it didn't happen. At what point does Avery have a responsibility for his actions? First putting himself in that position in the first place. Second paying her off to be quiet? HE chose to do those things that affected his reputation. Where is personal accountability in all of this? Always someone else's fault these days. Just like Harden and his blaming of the refs last night.

You're assuming an awful lot. And I'm not blaming anyone for anything, that's absurd.

I do not agree that paying someone a settlement to keep quiet is tantamount to being guilty. That's a brazen assumption no one should make. There's plenty of reasons one might take that course of action. It's a foolish course of action, in my opinion, in today's age of information, but it does not inherently imply guilt. It just doesn't.

[byennie]

I wonder if in these situations where there is a confidentiality agreement, the NBA is nonetheless privy to the details of the allegation.  If not, I feel like the NBA should be. 

I respect that people in these situations have the right to contract to a settlement of any civil claims, including a confidentiality agreement.  Still, I think when the accused is a member of a professional organization, or as here, a professional athlete in a league that relies on public good will (and makes heavy use of public funds), there should be some kind of internal oversight and review of the details of such allegations.

I don't see how the NBA has any right whatsoever to the details of a private, confidential agreement with no criminal or public component. They may have some room to react once it's made public, but prior to that, no.

The conduct of NBA athletes in public reflects on the league as a whole, and the league has a vested interest in making sure the athletes they feature in their games represent the league in a positive manner.

I think leagues like the NBA should be expected to police the public conduct of their players, and they should be empowered to do so.  That is a responsibility I feel should come along with the investiture of public trust (and money) that leagues like the NBA enjoy.

Sure, but they are still a private company which has zero LEGAL right to be "privy" to a confidential settlement. That's totally impossible to require.

Once the information is public they can invoke all the player conduct clauses they want, but my point goes back to your original assertion that the NBA should be automatically looped in.

[JSD]

advise to men in the MeToo era:

If you're alone in an elevator, and a woman steps in, get out.

[byennie]

advise to men in the MeToo era:

If you're alone in an elevator, and a woman steps in, get out.

I'm pretty sure the woman is still in more danger. Perspective.

[rondohondo]

As for as the payment making him guilty of rape. It could also be that he did have an affair with this women, and just wanted to keep it quiet for his wife and kids sake so he paid her off.

Let's not forget, there is such a thing as a gold digger/groupie. If you go to any NBA game, you can pretty much spot them out right around the team bench. Hell ,the players as rookies go to seminars telling them to be careful who they choose to spend time with. There have been stories where some of these women will take a comdom out of the trash to impregnate themselves .

That's the problem I have with this #metoo movement. As soon as you are accused , you are considered guilty.

[jpotter33]

I would imagine the fact that AB is an outspoken man of faith has a lot to do with this settlement.

I have to say that personally it’s hard for me to see AB as doing this. He seems like a genuinely good person both on and off the court.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Some alleged details from TMZ:

Here's what we know ... the allegation stems from an incident on May 23 in Cleveland, Ohio. The woman involved claimed Bradley sexually assaulted her while she was passed out drunk.

Bradley was a member of the Boston Celtics at the time of the incident. The Celtics were in Cleveland to play the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals.

After the incident, the woman contacted Bradley and accused him of assaulting her. The two sides came together to work out a deal to keep her quiet and prevent her from releasing any video, photos or audio.

At one point in the negotiations, the parties considered resolving the matter for $400,000 ... but it's unclear what number Bradley ultimately agreed to pay. We're told the final figure was high.

The alleged victim is described as a “reality star”.

This may sound stupid, but I'll ask it anyway.

1. How did she know she was sexually assaulted if she was "passed out drunk"?

2. How can she take video, photos and/or audio if she was indeed passed out? Did someone else took it for her?

I am on the side of take the accusations seriously, but if she is "passed out drunk", how did she know? This is confusing (to me at least).

As a woman, I'll answer the first question.

Without getting graphic, physically you know when something's happened to you. Also passing out doesn't mean she didn't wake up at some point during.

As to the second question, we don't know the details. If this happened at someone's home, there could be security footage.

Ah. Thanks.

I'm still grasping the English language. What I understood of passed out was you're completely out, which is why I asked.

Guess she had a recollection of who he was and what happened.

[JSD]

advise to men in the MeToo era:

If you're alone in an elevator, and a woman steps in, get out.

I'm pretty sure the woman is still in more danger. Perspective.

Yeah, we can agree to disagree. Most men I know love and protect women. I know I do. That said, I'm Mike Pence now.

[blink]

This is horrible for so many reasons.  AB was my fav Celtic for the last few years.  He didn't seem to have a history of getting in trouble, or legal issues.  He was a good guy off the court, did charity work and generally gave the impression that he was a good decent kid.  Most of his team mates had nothing but good things to say about him.  So in that context it is definitely surprising.  But our impressions of him are just that impressions of a public figure that we really don't know.

Like everyone else said, we have no idea what really happened yet or if Avery is guilty of any crime.  I want to think that he did nothing wrong and was just trying to stop someone from spreading false allegations and limiting bad press.   Either way his original intention of keeping it quiet wasn't successful.  What a mess.   Uggg I hate this.

[JSD]

AB had no choice. When it comes to these allegations you are guilty no matter what. All a woman has to do is point her finger. Some are celebrating the Civil Rights movement (Again), yet it seems we've gone all the way back to the Salem Witch Trials, when we have Americans playing both judge and jury, publicly crucifying men with accusations and no evidence, and ignoring the rule of law.

[kraidstar]

Best thing to do is not put yourself in these situations in the first place.

Especially during the Conference Finals, what was he thinking?

[RJ87]

advise to men in the MeToo era:

If you're alone in an elevator, and a woman steps in, get out.

I'm pretty sure the woman is still in more danger. Perspective.

Yeah, we can agree to disagree. Most men I know love and protect women.

I'm assuming you only know a minute fraction of the men in the world.

My advice to you and other men in the #metoo era: don't be a jerk. Don't grope or touch a woman without her consent. "No" isn't just a word that women use to play hard to get. Catcalling is demeaning. If you meet a woman at a bar or a party or in line at Walmart and you approach her but she's not interested in your advances, that doesn't make her a b-word or cold or uptight. On the same note, she's not "friendzoning" you, she's just not interested in you romantically; expecting her to like you because you're nice to her is creepy and guess what? It makes you a jerk.

Sorry for the rant, but I don't really appreciate when people try to make the #metoo movement into women somehow being too sensitive. Just treat people with respect.

[JSD]

advise to men in the MeToo era:

If you're alone in an elevator, and a woman steps in, get out.

I'm pretty sure the woman is still in more danger. Perspective.

Yeah, we can agree to disagree. Most men I know love and protect women.

I'm assuming you only know a minute fraction of the men in the world.

My advice to you and other men in the #metoo era: don't be a jerk. Don't grope or touch a woman without her consent. "No" isn't just a word that women use to play hard to get. Catcalling is demeaning. If you meet a woman at a bar or a party or in line at Walmart and you approach her but she's not interested in your advances, that doesn't make her a b-word or cold or uptight. On the same note, she's not "friendzoning" you, she's just not interested in you romantically; expecting her to like you because you're nice to her is creepy and guess what? It makes you a jerk.

Sorry for the rant, but I don't really appreciate when people try to make the #metoo movement into women somehow being too sensitive. Just treat people with respect.

Yeah, this wasn't directed at me. You just wanted to virtue signal.

[Erik]

Please people. You don't pay out a six figure settlement if you didn't do it. Bet if you replaced the name Avery Bradley with Donald Trump no one would be giving him the benefit of the doubt...

Perhaps he did have sex with her but it was consensual and he didn't want his family to know about it? They stated that Bradley wasn't involved in any wrongdoing. Cheating isn't against the law. This is probably going to be another one of those Kobe Bryant situations where some genius woman has sex with an athlete and then extorts him for cash.

advise to men in the MeToo era:

If you're alone in an elevator, and a woman steps in, get out.

My wife and I were discussing this recently. I basically avoid most conversation with women that I don't know. The feminists won and everyone else lost.



<Cue the white knights circling the wagons> Just wait until it happens to you. A harmless joke, asking out the wrong person, her finding out how much money you're worth.

[Kevins Gamble]

I think the payment proves something happened that Bradley valued keeping from the public more than the money sacrificed...and that's it.  For most of us here, the huge amount of money might seem like proof as to something horrific.  For people with a ton of money (especially from endorsement opportunities that depend on a good reputation, etc)...it might just seem like a smart investment to rectify an embarrassing situation.

The mindset that payment equals criminal guilt can also be flipped on the victim to assume payment indicates there is an easy price where their outrage can be purchased in place of justice.  I would be careful to make either assumption.