New Sacramento Kings head coach, Luke Walton, finds himself in some hot water as a woman files a law suit against him for allegedly sexually assaulting her before he became the Lakers head coach. In April of 2016 Kelli Tennant, a former host on Spectrum SportsNet LA, the Lakers’ regional sports network, says in a law suit, first reported by TMZ, that she received an unwanted physical advance by Walton at a Santa Monica, California, hotel room.
According to the suit Tennant, who already had a working relationship with Walton from his time working for Spectrum as a guest analyst, met ole boy at Casa Del Mar Hotel to drop off a copy of her book. He wrote the foreword and was in town on a road trip as an assistant coach with Golden State.
The legal documents say that Walton invited Tennant up to his room so they wouldn’t be seen. Then he allegedly pinned her to the bed and forcibly kissed and groped her. It goes on to say that 13-months later in May of 2017 ole boy “forced an aggressive hug” and said something inappropriate about ole girl’s outfit at a charity event the two were attending.
The Lakers say they were never told about the incident and now that he’s with another team they’ve got no further comment. Well…they did release a statement that read as follows, “At no time before or during his employment here was this allegation reported to the Lakers. If it had been, we would have immediately commenced an investigation and notified the NBA. Since Luke Walton is now under contract to another team, we will have no further comment.”
The King have opened an investigation now that they’ve been stuck with the trick bag to figure out. Obviously, the NBA has open their own investigation of the incident. I’ll keep you posted as the investigation unfolds.