Sports journalist Kelli Tennant, who accused NBA coach Luke Walton of sexual assault in a lawsuit earlier this week, spoke out Tuesday about why she decided to go public with the allegations. “This type of behavior cannot be condoned,” Tennant said during a Tuesday press conference, according to The Sacramento Bee. “And no woman should ever be made to feel like a victim.” Tennant, in her lawsuit against Walton, claimed the Sacramento Kings coach pinned her down to a bed, forcibly kissed and groped her while she was in his hotel room for a business-related matter when he was an assistant with the Golden State Warriors. “I was scared... When someone assaults you and you think you’re going to be raped, coming forward is a scary thing,” she said. “I have spent years hoping I could push it to the side and bury it, but that was not the case. I was able to muster up the courage … to feel comfortable to talk about this.” Walton's attorney, Mark Baute, told the newspaper that Tennant was an “opportunist” and her claim was “not credible.”
