Allegations against Luke Walton (split from new coach thread)

Krunker said:
I just saw the CNN story at https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/23/sport/nba-head-coach-accused-sexual-assault/index.html
If there is enough corroborating evidence then I am sorry, Walton would need to go.
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There’s nothing new in the CNN article. Same info as released before on other outlets about the case.

Interestingly though, her lawyer is the same one that her ex-fiancé used recently to win a $27.5 million negligent injury lawsuit against CalTrans. She testified in that case on behalf of her ex-fiance.

https://heavy.com/sports/2019/04/amir-nick-ekbatani-kelli-tennant-husband-boyfriend/

https://heavy.com/sports/2019/04/kelli-tennant/

and her lawyer won a $23 million lawsuit against the L.A. Sheriffs department.

https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article229578694.html
 
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Here is an interesting tidbit. According to her lawsuit, it states the incident occurred in April 2016, while the GSW were in town to play the Lakers.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/23/sport/nba-head-coach-accused-sexual-assault/index.html

They did not specify the exact date, but the GSW never played the Lakers in April of the 2015-16 season. Here was the Warriors schedule for that time frame.

http://www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/gs/season/2016/seasontype/2

Makes you wonder about the timeline of events in her lawsuit.
 
ockingsfan said:
Here is an interesting tidbit. According to her lawsuit, it states the incident occurred in April 2016, while the GSW were in town to play the Lakers.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/23/sport/nba-head-coach-accused-sexual-assault/index.html

They did not specify the exact date, but the GSW never played the Lakers in April of the 2015-16 season. Here was the Warriors schedule for that time frame.

http://www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/gs/season/2016/seasontype/2

Makes you wonder about the timeline of events in her lawsuit.
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The last time GSW were in LA that season was on 3/6.

Walton was hired by LA in between the Warriors 1st round series with HOU and their 2nd round series with Portland. Not sure when he actually left GSW to begin his duties with LA, but he surely was busy throughout April. Doesn’t mean he didn’t have time to be in LA for other reasons between games though.

But if the timeline doesn’t end up lining up, it sure doesn’t help credibility. If the allegation is true, that’s one big problem with waiting so long to come forward.
 
OPrime said:
There won’t be court or flying to meet lawyers she’s hoping he settles. If he’s innocent I support him as our coach
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“The accuser is an opportunist, not a victim, and her claim is not credible. We intend to prove this in a courtroom,” Mark Baute, Walton’s attorney said.

If Luke settles, he's admitting guilt, even if they put a spin on it like the payment is to just so he can move on and concentrate on basketball. Because if you didn't do any of what she's claiming, you don't settle. If he is innocent, he should fight it in court.

It's a hard case for her to win, unless she has proof such as text messages where they discussed the alleged incident and witnesses for the ongoing harassment.
 
Looks like the CNN article said "no date was given"

Maybe the March 6 date When GSW was in town for laker game
 
Looks like the Kings and the NBA are jointly investigating the incident.

"We are coordinating with the Kings organization and are in the process of gathering more information."
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Also it was before April 2016 that this occurred apparently

lawsuit alleges that new Sacramento Kings coach Luke Walton sexually assaulted a woman sometime before he was named coach of the Los Angeles Lakers in April 2016.
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http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26582994/kings-walton-accused-lawsuit-sexual-assault
 
ockingsfan said:
I think it had been stated that the lawsuit said it allegedly occurred in April 2016.
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I cannot find (TMZ, CNN, Yahoo, ESPN) anything that actually pins down the date to April of 2016 - just "sometime before" that. One might note that Tennant's book in question was published on July 8th 2014, so the incident may have occurred quite a while before Walton joined the Lakers, rather than immediately before.
 
QUOTE="Capt. Factorial, post: 1459556, member: 3168"]I cannot find (TMZ, CNN, Yahoo, ESPN) anything that actually pins down the date to April of 2016 - just "sometime before" that. One might note that Tennant's book in question was published on July 8th 2014, so the incident may have occurred quite a while before Walton joined the Lakers, rather than immediately before.[/QUOTE]

I thought the info that came out yesterday said it was April 2016.

Anyways, it seems odd that they don't pinpoint a date that this allegedly occurred. I would think that would be an important fact when suing someone for allegedly doing something like this.
 
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Peter_Gibbons said:
“The accuser is an opportunist, not a victim, and her claim is not credible. We intend to prove this in a courtroom,” Mark Baute, Walton’s attorney said.

If Luke settles, he's admitting guilt, even if they put a spin on it like the payment is to just so he can move on and concentrate on basketball. Because if you didn't do any of what she's claiming, you don't settle. If he is innocent, he should fight it in court.
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Interesting; I had the opposite take RE settlement. I think if Walton's lawyers were confident that a cash payout would end this issue; they would advise him to take it. Sure; Walton's reputation gets murky, but he probably gets to keep his job and not have to admit guilt.

But if I were concerned that this is just the beginning of a Conga Line of civil cases against Walton for similar behavior; I'd want to try for a day in court; in the hopes that a brutal decisive victory in the beginning would discourage others from trying to get compensation.

IANAL
 
Serious question: They didn't have anywhere better to hold a press conference than what appears to be a sports bar somewhere?
 
Just watched entire would guess around 30 minute relatively trivial news conference. I found Tennant to be relatively believable but her attorney pathetic. He said literally they were there so "Kelli could feel better about herself." No police report then or now. No injuries occurred but she was then too scared report to her HR dept, etc. Sleazy attorney said they had "no sum in mind" as far as damages -hahaha! This is a classic he said, she said! If I was Walton I immediately sue her for defamation and tell the world this is setup money grab and nothing else. Even if he did pin her down, kiss her as alleged so trivial (not rape or anything remotely close!) to be laughable in front of a civil jury - wasting the judge and their time.
 
KingsFanSince85 said:
Regarding #2, testimony may be ‘evidence’ to a court in a civil case, but there still isn’t any direct evidence (unless camera footage somehow ever showed up). So reality is that @kb02 is right. It’s one person’s word against another. And it’s clear that one is lying.

Regarding #4, you’ve pointed out differences between criminal and civil cases, but for someone like me and likely many others, standards are very different. For me, the accuser needs to prove it. If I know both parties in a he said she said case, then I can likely be swayed to lean towards believing one over the other w/o really knowing for sure. But in a case where I don’t know the parties involved, I’m definitely an innocent until proven guilty guy.

Not referring to Kelli Tennant, who I’ve come to know on TV for many years covering Dodgers games, but I do feel we live in a day and age of opportunists and people who seek attention — good or bad. So it makes it that much harder to blindly believe everything I hear and read.

Expanding upon that, I’ve read on twitter and other sites that “the accuser has no reason to lie”. I find that POV to be extremely shortsighted and naive. Again, not referring to this Tennant/Walton case specifically, but we simply don’t have a clue about that. Lying occurs every damn day — with good reason or not. We can never know the motivations behind the decisions of others.

Conversely, when news first broke of the Mike Tyson, Kobe Bryant and Bill Cosby accusations, my initial, logical reaction was “why would they need to do something like that when they have willing participants waiting for them in every hotel lobby around the world and can get any type of woman they want?”. But that was also an extremely shortsighted and naive POV. Because it in no way means they couldn’t have done it.

People lie, cheat, steal and commit crimes all the time and quite often there’s no rhyme or logical reason for it. Fact is, we can’t ever know what someone is capable of doing or not doing. And emotions can play a huge role in someone doing something completely out of character.

So considering all that, I have a hard time damning someone I don’t have a strong personal connection to w/o hard evidence. But I’m well aware that there are many that disagree.
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I also have never bought into the accuser has no reason to lie narrative. That is even more true in a civil suit. In a civil suit, the accuser is trying to gain something.
 
John Galt said:
you can only discuss this case if you share the views of the mods, be careful
Click to expand...

Complaints about moderation are SO edgy.

The criterion stated was clear: Personal insults about Walton OR his accuser are not acceptable and will be deleted. You personally insulted the accuser and your post was deleted.
 
miltonap said:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.tmz.com/2019/04/23/luke-walton-accuser-kelli-walton-statement/

Not sure if anyone has the full press conference? Here is a 3 min snippet. I mean, I'm not going to lie, I believe her. And if true, its kind of disgusting and he should prob be fired.
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I'm on the opposite side after watching that. I find it hard to believe her. For someone who has spent years in front of a camera, she looks extremely uncomfortable there. Even when just explaining the lead up to the whole situation where nothing is going on other than meeting in the lobby at the hotel. Something just doesn't seem right about her demeanor. If I had to bet money on it from watching that clip, I'd say she's either lying or embellishing and is nervous about being in front of the camera and not telling the truth like she's used to.

I'm not trying to minimize what happened at all but she's telling what I feel like is a relatively mild story that involves the phrase "sexual assault" and she's acting almost terrified to tell it 3-5 years after it happened. Something about it just seems weird. Throw in the fact that she left her ex fiance' because he got hurt in a motorcycle crash and is now an "ex reporter" and "wellness coach"....I don't know, the alarm bells are just kind of going off on the whole situation.

I could be wrong about the whole thing. I wouldn't put it past a ton of athletes and high profile people to do things like this. They are used to getting what they want because they are who they are. I'm sure it happens way more than we would ever know and it's probably happened with players that we would never have expected in a million years. It's just so far in this particular case, I find it hard to believe her. If any facts come out and it turns out she was telling the truth, then Walton deserves to be blacklisted from the game.
 
ESP47 said:
I'm on the opposite side after watching that. I find it hard to believe her. For someone who has spent years in front of a camera, she looks extremely uncomfortable there. Even when just explaining the lead up to the whole situation where nothing is going on other than meeting in the lobby at the hotel. Something just doesn't seem right about her demeanor. If I had to bet money on it from watching that clip, I'd say she's either lying or embellishing and is nervous about being in front of the camera and not telling the truth like she's used to.

I'm not trying to minimize what happened at all but she's telling what I feel like is a relatively mild story that involves the phrase "sexual assault" and she's acting almost terrified to tell it 3-5 years after it happened. Something about it just seems weird. Throw in the fact that she left her ex fiance' because he got hurt in a motorcycle crash and is now an "ex reporter" and "wellness coach"....I don't know, the alarm bells are just kind of going off on the whole situation.

I could be wrong about the whole thing. I wouldn't put it past a ton of athletes and high profile people to do things like this. They are used to getting what they want because they are who they are. I'm sure it happens way more than we would ever know and it's probably happened with players that we would never have expected in a million years. It's just so far in this particular case, I find it hard to believe her. If any facts come out and it turns out she was telling the truth, then Walton deserves to be blacklisted from the game.
Click to expand...

Something I did catch was that she was talking about them taking the elevator to the room then all of a sudden she talked about him jumping on her on the bed. I though, hmm, she must be nervous and just following the script. You could totally be right I'll rewatch
 
PurpleHaze said:
Just watched entire would guess around 30 minute relatively trivial news conference. I found Tennant to be relatively believable but her attorney pathetic. He said literally they were there so "Kelli could feel better about herself." No police report then or now. No injuries occurred but she was then too scared report to her HR dept, etc. Sleazy attorney said they had "no sum in mind" as far as damages -hahaha! This is a classic he said, she said! If I was Walton I immediately sue her for defamation and tell the world this is setup money grab and nothing else. Even if he did pin her down, kiss her as alleged so trivial (not rape or anything remotely close!) to be laughable in front of a civil jury - wasting the judge and their time.
Click to expand...

You believe her but then you think what he allegedly did is "trivial" and "laughable"? If true, those allegations are very serious and he should be held accountable for it. Lawyers are always going to be just that, they say whatever they feel will help their case. His explanation is that it takes a lot more to prove a case like this in criminal court which is true. A lot of times crimes happen without any evidence other than the victim's word. It doesn't mean she is lying just because they want to be realistic.

The part where the attorney said "so she can feel better", I take it as so she feel she did something about it finally and that Luke was punished for it. Again, this is why they need to iron this out in court because he very well can be innocent. From watching the press conference, I do believe her that something did happen against her will. How much of it is true will likely never be known. It's a big mess for the Kings I'll say.
 
From the TMZ article
4:33 PM PT Kelli says the alleged sexual assault took place in 2014, when she was 25-years-old.
Click to expand...

So 5 years ago.

4:57 PM PT-- We asked if there was any video or photo evidence to help prove Tennant's case, and her attorney essentially told us no.
4:53 PM PT -- When asked what they want to get out of the case, Tennant's attorney says they have no particular sum in mind.
4:49 PM PT -- Tennant says she did not go to law enforcement because she feared it would jeopardize her career.
Tennant's attorney says they do not intend to file a police report because they do not want to put Walton in jail.
Click to expand...

CA AB 1619 just change the statute of limitations from 2 years to 10 years for sexual assault.
 
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KingsFanSince85 said:
Regarding #2, testimony may be ‘evidence’ to a court in a civil case, but there still isn’t any direct evidence (unless camera footage somehow ever showed up). So reality is that @kb02 is right. It’s one person’s word against another. And it’s clear that one is lying.

Regarding #4, you’ve pointed out differences between criminal and civil cases, but for someone like me and likely many others, standards are very different. For me, the accuser needs to prove it. If I know both parties in a he said she said case, then I can likely be swayed to lean towards believing one over the other w/o really knowing for sure. But in a case where I don’t know the parties involved, I’m definitely an innocent until proven guilty guy.

Not referring to Kelli Tennant, who I’ve come to know on TV for many years covering Dodgers games, but I do feel we live in a day and age of opportunists and people who seek attention — good or bad. So it makes it that much harder to blindly believe everything I hear and read.

Expanding upon that, I’ve read on twitter and other sites that “the accuser has no reason to lie”. I find that POV to be extremely shortsighted and naive. Again, not referring to this Tennant/Walton case specifically, but we simply don’t have a clue about that. Lying occurs every damn day — with good reason or not. We can never know the motivations behind the decisions of others.

Conversely, when news first broke of the Mike Tyson, Kobe Bryant and Bill Cosby accusations, my initial, logical reaction was “why would they need to do something like that when they have willing participants waiting for them in every hotel lobby around the world and can get any type of woman they want?”. But that was also an extremely shortsighted and naive POV. Because it in no way means they couldn’t have done it.

People lie, cheat, steal and commit crimes all the time and quite often there’s no rhyme or logical reason for it. Fact is, we can’t ever know what someone is capable of doing or not doing. And emotions can play a huge role in someone doing something completely out of character.

So considering all that, I have a hard time damning someone I don’t have a strong personal connection to w/o hard evidence. But I’m well aware that there are many that disagree.
Click to expand...
Well said.
 
PurpleHaze said:
Just watched entire would guess around 30 minute relatively trivial news conference. I found Tennant to be relatively believable but her attorney pathetic. He said literally they were there so "Kelli could feel better about herself." No police report then or now. No injuries occurred but she was then too scared report to her HR dept, etc. Sleazy attorney said they had "no sum in mind" as far as damages -hahaha! This is a classic he said, she said! If I was Walton I immediately sue her for defamation and tell the world this is setup money grab and nothing else. Even if he did pin her down, kiss her as alleged so trivial (not rape or anything remotely close!) to be laughable in front of a civil jury - wasting the judge and their time.
Click to expand...

The ****?
 
I feel dirty having a rooting interest in this having a negative impact on a mans career, but I still dream of Messina.

Hopefully Tennant gets closure either way if she feels slighted
 
Peter_Gibbons said:
“The accuser is an opportunist, not a victim, and her claim is not credible. We intend to prove this in a courtroom,” Mark Baute, Walton’s attorney said.

If Luke settles, he's admitting guilt, even if they put a spin on it like the payment is to just so he can move on and concentrate on basketball. Because if you didn't do any of what she's claiming, you don't settle. If he is innocent, he should fight it in court.

It's a hard case for her to win, unless she has proof such as text messages where they discussed the alleged incident and witnesses for the ongoing harassment.
Click to expand...
You're right and wrong. If he's innocent, he should fight it in court. Settling would send the wrong message. But your claim that people who are innocent don't settle is wrong. That's just not the way the world works. People settle for many reasons. Legal fees, for example, can double or triple the cost of settling. A protracted legal battle can be damaging to one's career and family. Settling can save a marriage and family (or the opposite, depending on the spouse's position). Settling might be out of the accuser's hands and in the hands of an insurance company. In my experience with being sued, I was innocent and wanted to go to court. But my insurance company claimed I was underinsured and they refused to allow it to go to court. Just sayin' that settling doesn't absolutely mean one is/was guilty.
 
SacTownKid said:
In todays climate any allegations are an uphill battle. I would assume this type of behavior is a pattern, so if others start coming out, or it does snowball then corporation gonna do what corporation gonna do.
Click to expand...
I'm sure I don't agree with you, but you made me chuckle. So you win.
 
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