Kings, NBA investigation clears coach Luke Walton of sexual assault allegations
SACRAMENTO – After a four-month investigation, investigators hired by the NBA and the Kings said Friday there was insufficient evidence to support the allegations of sexual assault in 2014 made against new Kings coach Luke Walton by Kelli Tennant, a former Los Angeles TV reporter.
A local law firm hired by the league and the Kings interviewed more than 20 people, including friends and former colleagues of Tennant and Walton, but were not able to corroborate Tennant's claims that Walton assaulted her, pinned her down on a bed and tried to have sex with her in his Los Angeles hotel room when he was an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors.
Tennant declined to participate in the investigation, according to a joint press release by the Kings and the NBA. Tennant made her accusations against Walton in April, only a week after he had been introduced to the community as the new Kings coach. Tennant's attorney, Garo Mardirossian of Los Angeles, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Walton has not spoken publicly since Tennant made her bombshell claims, though he has continued to carry out his duties as the Kings coach by hiring a staff, conducting player workouts and preparing for what is viewed as a key season for a young team hoping to end more than a decade of losing seasons for Sacramento's NBA franchise.
"I am 100% focused on coaching the Sacramento Kings, and energized to work with this incredible group of players and coaches as we start the preseason. I will have no further comment," Walton said in a prepared statement.
The Kings organization said in a news release: "Luke Walton is our head coach and we support him and his team as they continue to prepare for the upcoming season."
The end of the internal investigation against him, carried out by the Sacramento law firm Van Dermyden Maddux, clears the way for the Kings and Walton to carry on with the work of running an NBA team. Walton participated in the investigation and still faces a civil lawsuit filed against him in Los Angeles by Tennant.
Sources close to the investigation said that since Tennant refused to cooperate, investigators focused on details in her lawsuit and her public comments.
Walton was the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers before he was fired April 12 in a front office shakeup. He was hired three days later by Kings GM Vlade Divac and touted as the man who would take an exciting young team to its next level of development – a winning season and a playoff berth.