Luke Walton, the accuser: "I thought he was going to rape me"

A former sports journalist who accused Luke Walton, a former Los Angeles Lakers coach, of sexually assaulting, publicly declared his allegations, telling reporters on Tuesday that "I thought he was going to rape me."

Kelli Tennant has filed a lawsuit against Walton, who was hired Monday night as head coach of the Sacramento Kings at the Los Angeles County Superior Court. At a press conference on Tuesday, she detailed the alleged assault on Walton in a hotel room in Santa Monica in the fall of 2014 while he was an assistant coach Golden State Warriors.

Tennant, a former USC volleyball player turned journalist for Spectrum SportsNet Los Angeles, was arrested at the hotel to give Walton a copy of his book "The Transition", for which he had written the # 39; striker. She stated that Walton had met her in the lobby and had taken her to her room because, as she said, "The players on her team [the Warriors] were in the lobby and he could not be around them. He did not want to be seen in the lobby with the players. "

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Once in his hotel room, said Tennant, Walton "settled over me and slammed me to bed while holding my arms with all his weight while he kissed my neck , my face and my chest so that it stops and goes down, he made fun of me. "She added that she could feel Walton rub her with his erect penis" and he continued to laugh at all my calls to get off and stop. "

Tennant claimed that after successfully getting out of bed, Walton "came and took me from behind and again held my arms down so that I could not move and I could not move. I started to kiss my neck again to stop him and he continued to laugh in my ear, he finally let me go and I walked out of the room. "

Tennant's attorney, Garo Mardirossian, told reporters that she had been entrusted to her close family and other people after the alleged incident, but that she was not safe. she had not told anyone about SportsNet and she had never complained.

"Our interest is not to force Mr. Walton to be jailed or to be investigated by the police," Mardirossian said. "Our interest was that Kelli feel better about herself, that she comes to talk to us about what happened to her, and that's what she's asked us to do, and that's what she's doing. that's why we decided to pursue this complaint. "

When questioned by reporters, Mardirossian said he had not closed the door on criminal charges against Walton.

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Walton's lawyer, Mark Baute, called the allegations "unfounded," saying in a statement that Tennant "is an opportunist and not a victim and that his complaint is not credible." Intended to prove it in court ".

"I was scared," said Tennant to the question of why she did not show up earlier. "When someone attacks you and you think you're going to be raped, it's scary to make yourself known … I was scared for my job, for my safety and for my livelihood." "

Walton, a son of Bill Walton, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, has won two championships with the Lakers over an 11-year career in the NBA. Tennant said the two became close when he worked as a studio analyst on the Lakers TV channels at SportsNet LA and described him as "a mentor, a friend and a person that j & # 39; admire. "

After Walton was named the Lakers head coach in 2016, Tennant was promoted to full-time Lakers reporter for the network and had to interact with him on a number of occasions at training, as well as before and after the games. She stated that "whenever I go to practice or play, [Walton] would be sure to hug and kiss my cheek … with a lot of people around me and I could not do anything. I pretended to be completely normal all this time and I felt like I had nowhere to go. "

The Warriors and Lakers said they both heard about these allegations for the first time after TMZ reported the lawsuit Monday night and made no further comment. The Kings said that they were aware of the report and the collection of information but that they did not have any other comment.

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Walton was sacked from his Lakers coaching position earlier this month after setting a 98-148 record in three seasons, missing the playoffs each season.

"This type of behavior can not be tolerated and no woman should feel victimized," said Tennant, who added that she hoped Walton would "learn a lesson and knew that he could never again make".

Associated Press contributed to this report.