A National Basketball Association (NBA) coach is being sued for the alleged sexual assault of a sports reporter, US media report.
In the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ and ESPN, Kelli Tennant alleges Sacramento Kings coach Luke Walton forced himself on her in a California hotel room.
At the time he was assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors, another California NBA team, says the lawsuit.
In a statement, Mr Walton’s lawyer called the accusations “baseless”.
According to legal documents obtained by US media, Ms Tennant met Mr Walton in his suite at the Hotel Casa Del Mar in Santa Monica to give him a copy of her 2014 book.
Mr Walton had written the foreword to the publication, The Transition: Every Athlete’s Guide to Life After Sports.
No specific date for the alleged incident was stated in the lawsuit, according to US media.
The two had reportedly had a working relationship, stemming from Mr Walton’s time as a guest on Spectrum SportsNet, a US regional cable sports channel where Ms Tennant used to work.
She also knew Mr Walton’s wife, according to US media.
The legal action says Ms Tennant had viewed Mr Walton as a “trusted mentor and colleague”, according to the Los Angeles Times.
