Kings, NBA begin sex-assault inquiry into coach Luke Walton

FILE – In this Oct. 20, 2018, file photo, Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton directs his team during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets in Los Angeles. A person with direct knowledge of the agreement said Saturday, April 13, 2019, that Walton will become coach of the Sacramento Kings, just a day after parting ways with the Lakers following three losing seasons. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

The Sacramento Kings and the NBA began a joint investigation Thursday into allegations that coach Luke Walton sexually assaulted a woman.

The Kings and the league said they will be looking into the accusations from a lawsuit filed this week in Los Angeles by former sportscaster Kelli Tennant.

Walton’s attorney, Mark Baute, has called the allegations “baseless” and says the coach will prove that in court.

The 31-year-old Tennant contends Walton attacked her when he was an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors, which was from 2014 to 2016.

Tennant said she confided in people at the time but never filed charges because she was scared. Her lawyer, Garo Mardirossian, said because years had passed, he believed it would be difficult now to file a police report and put together a criminal case.

Tennant said Walton continued to harass her after he became coach of the Lakers and she was working as a broadcaster in Los Angeles for Spectrum SportsNet and SportsNet LA. She now does a wellness podcast.

Tennant said she considered the 39-year-old Walton, the son of Hall of Famer Bill Walton, to be a longtime friend and mentor. The coach had written the foreword to a 2014 book she had written and she went to give him a copy while he was at a Santa Monica hotel during a Warriors road trip to Los Angeles.

Tennant said Walton met her in the lobby and invited her to his room. After discussing the book, Tennant said Walton suddenly grabbed her, pinned her to the bed and forcibly kissed her. Tennant said that when she asked him to get off “he laughed at me.”

Tennant said Walton relented and she started to leave the room when he grabbed her again and kissed her ears and neck. She said he finally stopped, laughed and said “good to see you” before she left.

The Kings investigatory team will be led by Sue Ann Van Dermyden and Jennifer Doughty. Van Dermyden is founding partner of the Sacramento law firm Van Dermyden Maddux and an expert on employment law.
Doughty is a veteran investigator and senior associate attorney at Van Dermyden Maddux.

The NBA’s investigatory team will be led by Elizabeth Maringer, the senior vice president and assistant general counsel of Integrity and Investigations. Previously, Maringer served 12 years as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.