© Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
According to TMZ, former Sportsnet LA host Kelli Tennant is suing Luke Walton for a sexual assault that happened while he was a member of the Warriors coaching staff.
TMZ is reporting that they have obtained court documents that say Walton agreed to meet Tennant in a Santa Monica hotel “sometime before Walton became head coach of the Lakers” to write forward for a book she was authoring. From the article:
“In the suit, Tennant says when she arrived at Walton’s hotel, he convinced her to come up to his room so they could discuss the book. She claims when they got up to his room, Walton suddenly pinned her to the bed, placing his hips and legs over her body.”
The article goes into further detail, alleging that Walton went on to grope her breasts and groin before leaving the room.
This offseason Walton stepped down as head coach Los Angeles Lakers, but accepted the head coaching position of the Sacramento Kings some 48 hours later.
Walton got the job as the head coach of the Lakers after serving as an assistant coach for the Warriors under Steve Kerr. He was on the coaching staff from 2014-16. Walton is currently married to Bre Ladd, a former Arizona Wildcats volleyball player.
A Lakers source says that the allegations against Luke Walton, which were said to have happened before the Lakers hired him, were never reported to the Lakers, and consequently had no bearing on Walton's job status.
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) April 23, 2019
No. The lawsuit very specifically says it happened while he was an assistant coach with the Warriors. May 2017 was a different interaction mentioned in the suit that Tenant says made her uncomfortable, not the alleged assault. https://t.co/pEgGxoY6CB
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) April 23, 2019
After the news broke, both the Warriors and Lakers released statements. Neither team claims to have known about the incident until Monday evening.
The Lakers have issued a statement on Luke Walton: pic.twitter.com/AB0iUrFfAm
— Greg Beacham (@gregbeacham) April 23, 2019
Statement from the Warriors just now on the Luke Walton accusation: “We became aware of the alleged incident and story this evening and are in the process of seeking more information. We’ll have no further comment at this time.”
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) April 23, 2019
Walton’s attorney also released a strong statement, calling the accuser an opportunist and not a victim.
A statement from Luke Walton’s attorney, Mark Baute, regarding sexual assault allegations: “Luke Walton retained me to defend him against these baseless allegations. The accuser is an opportunist, not a victim, & her claim is not credible. We intend to prove this in a courtroom.”
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) April 23, 2019