SPEAKING UP

Kelli Tennant: I Thought NBA Coach Luke Walton Was ‘Going to Rape Me’

Tennant filed a lawsuit agianst Walton accusing him of sexual assault earlier this week.

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.”

SHOCKING

NBA Coach Luke Walton Accused of Sexual Assault by Reporter

Robert Silverman