Here are three Andray Blatche-related headlines since Tuesday, January 8, when news broke that Blatche had somehow been involved in an alleged rape—if in no other way, then by having rented the room in which the alleged rape took place: "Andray Blatche 'not worried at all,'" from ESPN, "Blatche Focuses on Job as Inquiry Continues," from the New York Times, and "Nets' Carlesimo: No Conversation After Blatche Questioned In Sex Assault Investigation," from CBS New York.
A little odd, no? Wouldn't you at least want to talk to your sixth man a bit about allegations that he'd witnessed and perhaps abetted a pair of serious sexual assaults? After all, the night, according to the victim herself, went like this:
At that point in the night, the 21-year-old believes she was drugged.
"I think I was already. I had to be already. Because it was like slowly...I was, I felt strange," the student said.
They then went back to Blatche's suite at the Four Seasons where the alleged victim, who admits to drinking, says she passed out on the bed.
"It was like I was asleep, but I was still conscious. I heard everything that was around me, but I couldn't, I couldn't move ...and not long after that that was when the first guy came in. It was like he rolled me over and had his way," the student said.
She says Blatche and another man watched from the door.
"And then the other guy came in, the short one with the dreads and then he had his way. It was like they kept peeking in. He went to the door a few times, opened the door, and then they were all three at the door," she said.
The alleged victim says Blatche entered next.
"He peeked in the room just like the other two. He just didn't - when he came in, he didn't have intercourse with me," the student said.
But she says, the player did nothing to stop the alleged assault.
"He was not oblivious. He was aware the whole time," she said of Blatche.
It would be tough for the league to find grounds to discipline Blatche—he hasn't been charged with anything—but the NBA apparently hasn't even coached the Nets on how to respond to inquiries regarding the case. WFAN asked Nets coach P.J. Carlesimo whether he'd discussed the allegations with Blatche, and Carlesimo said "no": "I didn't get into any of that with any - you know, my job is to coach the roster that Billy gives me"—he followed up with, " "No. Uh-uh. We just - we went and played." To the Times, Carlesimo added, "I don't liken the situations, but a lot of people wondered how he was going to play in Washington the first time back, the way it ended there, and he played very well." (In Washington, fans booed Blatche because he'd been overpaid and a pernicious influence on the Wizards.)
Blatche agreed, saying "I'm not going to let nothing distract me," and he brushed ESPN off with a flat "no" when asked "whether he needs to re-evaluate whom he associates with and whether he's concerned about further damaging his reputation."
The Nets are 7-1 under Carlesimo, and Blatche has averaged 23 minutes, 17.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in two Nets victories since the night in which he allegedly witnessed two of his friends rape someone in his hotel room. The NBA hasn't declared any further intentions with regard to Blatche, and the Philadelphia Police Commissioner said of the case, "He was there, but he was not involved."