Former sportscaster who accused NBA coach Luke Walton of sexual assault drops lawsuit

Former sports reporter Kelli Tennant has dropped a lawsuit that accused NBA coach Luke Walton of the Sacramento Kings of sexual assault.

Tennant’s attorneys filed a request that the lawsuit be dismissed in Superior Court in Los Angeles County on Tuesday, according to court documents obtained by CNN.

The request asked that the lawsuit be dismissed with prejudice, meaning the accusations cannot be brought against Walton again.

Additional information about why the lawsuit was dropped or if any settlement was involved was not included in the court documents. CNN has reached out to attorneys for Tennant for comment.

In a statement released through the Kings, Walton said, “I remain 100% focused on coaching the Kings and will have no further comment.”

Walton’s attorney, Mark Baute, told CNN in a separate statement that it was “nice to see that (the lawsuit) was voluntarily and permanently dismissed by” Tennant.

The dismissal comes after the NBA and the Kings said in August that its own investigation found insufficient evidence to support the allegations against Walton. More than 20 people were interviewed as part of the inquiry, but Tennant did not participate in that investigation, the Kings said.

Tennant filed the lawsuit in April, saying she sustained physical injuries and suffered mental and emotional distress after the alleged assault in a Santa Monica, California, hotel room in 2014.

At the time, Tennant was a reporter for Spectrum SportsNet and SportsNet LA and Walton was an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors. The lawsuit claimed Walton pinned Tennant to the bed, kissed her against her will and rubbed his erection against her.

When the lawsuit was filed, Walton’s attorney called the allegations were “baseless.”