Walton's legal team is vehemently denying the claims by the former Spectrum SportsNet LA hostNBAE/getty images
The Kings and the NBA have begun a "joint investigation into allegations" that coach Luke Walton sexually assaulted a former sports reporter in a Santa Monica hotel room five years ago, according to Stanton & Anderson of the SACRAMENTO BEE. The investigation will be headed by Sacramento-based attorneys Sue Ann Van Dermyden and Jennifer Doughty, two "high-profile experts in workplace issues and sexual assault claims," along with NBA Senior VP and Assistant General Counsel Elizabeth Maringer. Today's announcement is the "first move by the Kings to address the controversy over the claims" brought forward against Walton by former Spectrum SportsNet LA reporter Kelli Tennant (SACBEE.com, 4/25). In Sacramento, Marcos Breton before news of the investigation was announced wrote under the header, "Sacramento Kings, You Are Being Held Hostage By Walton Allegations. Say Something." Since news of the allegations first came to light on Monday, all that has been "heard so far from the Kings are crickets." He wondered what the Kings could do to "regain control of this" before attorney Mark Baute, who is repping Walton, turns the case "into a sideshow that forces people to choose sides between accuser and accused" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 4/25).
