Tag: Sacramento Kings

Sexual assault allegations of Luke Walton puts Kings in damage control

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Photo credit: tmz.com

By: Ana Kieu

TMZ Sports first reported female sports reporter Kelli Tennant’s lawsuit against current Sacramento Kings head coach Luke Walton on Monday night. Sure, it may seem like just another headline among the tabloids, but sexual assault isn’t a joke, it’s a serious issue that has to be addressed in the general public. Some accusations may not be true, but about this accusation, we’ll have to wait and see if it turns out to be true.

Walton was hired by the Kings on April 14th. That, my friends, was only eight days ago. Before joining the Kings, Walton served as the Los Angeles Lakers head coach from 2016-19, Golden State Warriors assistant coach from 2014-16, Los Angeles D-Fenders player development coach from 2013-14 and Memphis Tigers assistant coach in 2011. Walton played in the NBA from 2003-13 after being a second-round draft pick at the 2003 NBA Draft. Walton played NCAA basketball at Arizona from 1999-2003.

Kelli Tennant is a host for the Ceremony Wellness podcast and a sports reporter who has worked for ESPN, PAC12, E! News, Fox Sports, Spectrum Sportsnet, and SportsNet LA. Tennant is a Temecula, Calif. native whose alma mater is the University of Southern California. Tennant played NCAA volleyball at USC for two seasons.

According to TMZ, Kelli Tennant claimed that before Walton became the Lakers head coach, he asked her to meet him at his Santa Monica hotel to discuss a book she was writing. She says they had a business relationship for several years and she wanted him to write a foreword.

In the suit, Tennant said when she arrived at Walton’s hotel, he convinced her to come up to his room so they could discuss the book. She claims when they got up to his room, Walton suddenly pinned her to the bed, placing his hips and legs over her body.

In the docs, Tennant claimed Walton began forcing kisses on her neck, face and chest. She claimed she screamed for him to stop and tried to free herself, but he held her down, groped her breasts and groin, and rubbed his erection on her leg.

Tennant says he eventually relented and let her get up from the bed, but as she was walking towards the door to leave, he grabbed her from behind and forced his body up against hers.

Tennant claimed when Walton finally released his grasp, she opened the door and left, but could hear him say, “Good to see you.”

Tennant claimed she did not initially report Walton’s conduct, but was forced to continually interact with him because of her job. She saied each time she saw him, he’d impose himself on her with a big hug or a kiss, even though she thought she made it clear his advances were unwanted.

In the suit, Tennant claimed on one occasion, Walton greeted her by uttering, “vulgar, guttural sounds at her” and said, “Mmmm…you’re killing me in that dress.” She says he then forced an aggressive hug on her and rubbed his body against hers.

While it’s unclear what exactly promoted Tennant to come forward, I can reassure you that the Kings are in damage control mode right now. Walton hasn’t released a statement, and it’s unclear if he’ll comment on anything. The Kings haven’t commented on the matter either. Sam Amick of The Athletic tweeted, “The Kings have issued a statement regarding sexual assault allegations against their new coach, Luke Walton, as reported by TMZ. We are aware of the report and are gathering additional information. We have no further comment at this time.”

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast with Barbara Mason: Tiger’s Masters win is confidence-building, could he win another one?; How Walton will fit in in Sacramento; plus more

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Photo credit: @Neo_Ungasabi

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast with Barbara Mason:

#1 On Sunday, Tiger Woods made a comeback and won the Masters for the first time in 11 years. What made this day so unbelievable?

#2 How do you see Luke Walton fitting in at the Sacramento Kings organization as head coach?

#3 It was a true battle between the Warriors and Clippers on Monday night as the Clips erased a 31 point deficit for a 135-131 win.

#4 After the San Francisco Giants got nearly no hit by the Colorado Rockies pitcher German Marquez, is this alarm that offense has to do something and very soon?

#5 The Oakland A’s got clobbered by the Houston Astros on Tuesday night and the A’s struggled with the Astros on the road trip earlier this month.

Barbara Mason is a freelance sports reporter for Area Grande Spanish Newspapers and is filling in for Amaury Pi-Gonzalez for News and Commentary.

Sportstalk podcast at Diplomat Steakhouse in downtown Sacramento — Monday, April 15, 2019

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Photo credit: diplomat.com

Cast: Michael Duca (mlb.com and host), Jeremy Kahn (SF Giants reporter), Jeremy Harness (SF Giants and PGA reporter), London Marq (Sacramento Kings and SJ Earthquakes reporter), Jeremiah Salmonson (Sacramento Kings reporter), Charlie O (Oakland A’s and Sacramento Kings reporter), Lee Leonard (producer). Sportstalk is proud to podcast at The Diplomat Steakhouse at 1117 11th Street in downtown Sacramento. Our thanks to our hosts: Owner Ramesh Prasad,  Pa Vang Executive Vice President, Brianna Blaschke Event Concierge and Executive Chef Chris Manning.

On the podcast, discussions of the recent Sacramento Kings season and their new head coach for the 2019-20 season, progress reports on the Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants along with the San Jose Sharks and Golden State Warriors in the playoff hunt.

The Diplomat’s statement is as follows: Being diplomatic is our brand’s core binding. We are intuitive when in conducting your dining experience, and can achieve peaceful resolutions to any quandary while facilitating intriguing discussion with anyone on the map. We broadened the scope and magnified the habitual steakhouse fare. We resolve differences by implementing international fusion cuisine to please any and all palates. We strive to achieve a peaceful atmosphere, and our ingenuity gives us the edge to connect to any guest.

Restaurateur, Ramesh Prasad, has dined worldwide in the vast-ever occurring steakhouse and knows the ins and outs of traditional fine dining concepts. Complacent with their predictability, he manifested his vision into reality. Sacramento is in the prime of revitalization, and developing a signature steakhouse is pioneering the industries’ cravings.

Headline Sports with Tony Renteria: Curry is expected back by game one of the playoffs; Kings fire Joerger, Walton most likely successor; plus more

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Photo credit: @theScore

On Headline Sports podcast with Tony:

#1 The Golden State Warriors say that Stephen Curry is day to day after he rolled his ankle in New Orleans on Tuesday night. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr says that Curry should be back by the first game of the NBA playoffs.

#2 Sacramento Kings fired head coach Dave Joerger Thursday after three losing seasons. The firing most likely will be an open door for Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton to take over the coaching job in Sacramento. Wednesday was the last day of the regular season for the Sacramento Kings. They grew, they had won 12 more games than last season, and they have a core of players that are much improved over last season. Tony tells us what the Kings will do to get a viable shot at the playoffs for next season.

#3 It was kind of historical in Boston on Tuesday night when members of the Boston Red Sox and the New England Patriots made an appearance on the field before the Sox ball game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park. Both teams were showing their Championship trophies as both teams won Championships in the first year.

#4 Two players from Bay Area schools were drafted on Wednesday by the WNBA. From Cal, Kristine Anigwe, who was named Defensive Player of the Year, and from the Stanford Cardinal, Alanna Smith. It has to be a pretty big honor for these players to get to the next level and play in the WNBA.

#5 The A’s won another series this time over the Baltimore Orioles on this current road trip after getting swept in Houston by the Astros to start the trip. The A’s defeated the O’s in the four game series and head to Texas to open a three game series with the Rangers starting on Friday night.

Tony does the Headline Sports each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Will Joerger return to Kings next season?; Kings have improved over last season

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Photo credit: @James_HamNBCS

On the Kings podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Charlie, what’s your biggest takeaway from this season as the Kings finish below .500 (39-42)?

#2 The Kings head coach Dave Joerger had been the subject of discussion. There had been talk that he will be back next season and also talk that the Minnesota Timberwolves are interested in his handy work as well. After Sunday’s game, Joerger said that while he’s a Minnesota kid, his focus is with the Kings.

#3 There is that great feel the Kings had taking 12 more wins than what they finished with from last season. Although the playoffs alluded them, they are a couple players away from the postseason next year.

#4  The Kings owner Vivek Ranadive and team general manager Vlade Divak are noted friends with Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton would he be a possibility.

#5 The Kings De’Aaron Fox finished Sunday’s game with 24 points, six rebounds and 11 assists. Charlie talks about the kind of season that Fox had.

Charlie O did the Kings podcasts each week throughout the 2018-19 season join for the Oakland A’s podcasts each Tuesday starting next week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Kings fall to Pelicans 133-129

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Photo credit: @SacramentoKings

By: London Marq

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It has been a unique season this year for the Sacramento Kings. For the first time in a long time, there is the sense that the Kings have taken a major step forward. Going into the last home game of the season, the Kings have 12 more wins than last year and a great group of young developing talent. Although the playoffs elude the team, again, there is confidence that the Kings will get back to the postseason.

Th Kings had the New Orleans Pelicans on tap for the final game of the season. Opening the game, the Kings came out with a strong first quarter that ended with the Kings leading 39-32. De’Aaron Fox made a impact early, including an impact steal for the breakaway score, Fox would end the game with a hearty 24 points, 6 rebounds and 11 assists.

The second quarter was where the Kings had some defensive woes. The Pelicans were able to capitalize and outscore the Kings 34-29 in the second, but the Kings still held a 2-point advantage going into halftime.

Unfortunately for the Kings, the defense failed to improve and they would be outscored in the both second half quarters as well. Pelicans guard Ian Clark led all scorers with 31 points. Harrison Barnes was the Kings’ leading scorer with 29 points.

The Kings wrapped up the final home game with a 4-point 133-129 loss, which was indicative of their competitive season that came up just short of the playoffs.

The Kings are looking forward to the future. They missed the playoffs this year, but next season, we will hopefully see the franchise end their playoff drought and bring the Kings back to relevance.

Final: New Orleans defeated Sacramento 133-129.

Up Next: Sacramento wraps up the 2019 season at Portland on Wednesday, April 10. Game time set for 7:30 pm PT.

Kings never trail in their 117-104 win over the Cavaliers on Thursday night

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
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Buddy Hield shoots a 3-point basket Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee

By Charlie O. Mallonee

SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento Kings won their 39th game of the 2018-19 season on Thursday night as they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 117-104. It was not an easy win. The Kings had to earn this victory. The Cavs are not a great team, but they are professional basketball players who belong on an NBA court.

The Cavs may have never held the lead in the game, but they did cut the Kings’ lead to just one point with 4:40 to go in the third quarter. Sacramento was able to make a surge in order to take a nine-point lead into the final period.

The Cavs reduced the Kings lead to just six points at the 8:03 mark in the fourth quarter, but Sacramento with the help of Marvin Bagley III and Bogdan Bogdanovic opened up a lead that would never put them in danger of losing the game again.

With the win, the Kings sweep the season series from the Cavaliers who drop to 19-60 for the campaign.

SAC is one game away from winning 40

Some fans have asked — is winning 40 a big deal? Yes, it is. The Kings won 27 games last season. Most analysts projected them win between  30-35 games this season (this reporter projected them to win 32). To improve their win-loss record by 13 wins and climb into the 40-wins stratosphere is psychologically a big deal for a young team.

As a Western Conference team, the Kings will have to win 45-47 games next season just to make it into the playoffs. If they can win 40 games, they will know what it takes to get where they need to be in order to reach the next level.

This team has already has recorded the best win total for a Kings deal team since the 2005-06 season. Winning game number 40 would make them the first Sacramento team to win at least 40 games since that 2005-06 team won 44 games.

Dave Joerger postgame thoughts

  • Thought it was a good win
  • Getting to 40 wins is a big deal
  • Tonight, it didn’t feel like we made a lot of shots; they did make a lot of shots
  • Out defensive activity was good — steals, deflections forced 22 turnovers
  • We took care of the ball — seven turnovers that resulted in just eight points
  • We scored points in the paint which was huge for us (SAC 62 CLE 54)
  • When we moved the ball and we got in the paint, we were more successful

Top Performances

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Fox takes it to the hoop Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee

Kings

  • Buddy Hield was the game’s leading scorer with 23 points shooting 9-for-16 from the field. He hit 5-of-11 from downtown. Hield needs just six 3-point baskets to beat Damian Lillard’s record of 599 three-pointers in the first three seasons of a players career.
  • Bogdan Bogdanovic had a strong game coming off the bench to score 18 points in just over 27 minutes of playing time. “Bogi” shot 7-for-13 from the floor including four 3-point baskets. He also dished out five assists. Bogdanovic seemed to play with more energy than he has in some time.
  • De’Aaron Fox bounced back nicely after having a disappointing game versus the Rockets. Fox recorded a double-double scoring 16 points and distributing 10 dimes.
  • Marvin Bagley III played only 20 minutes, but he made the most of his time on the floor. MB35 put up 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds. His play was very important to the Kings opening up their lead in the fourth quarter.
  • Odd facts: the Kings were outrebounded by the Cavs 50-36 in this game. The Kings made 12 steals while the Cavaliers managed only three steals. Sacramento only turned the ball over seven times while Cleveland turned over 22 times.

Cleveland

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Larry Nance, Jr, jams home Photo: Charlie O. Mallonee
  • Jordan Clarkson was the Cavs leading scorer with 22 points. Clarkson came off the bench to play just over 31 minutes and shoot 9-for-13 from the field.
  • Point guard Colin Sexton was very impressive in almost 38 minutes on the floor. For a player who is not supposed to shoot well, he was very impressive as a shooter. Sexton hit 8-of-14 shots overall and 3-of-5 from 3-point land.
  • Second-year player Cedi Osman recorded 17 points and three assists. He was key to the Cavs first half performance.
  • Cleveland shot 54.3-percent (44/81) for the game and hit 11-of-25 (44%) 3-point attempts.

Up Next

The Kings left immediately after the game for Salt Lake City where they will play the Jazz on Friday night.

The Cavaliers boarded their buses and headed for the Bay Area where they will face the Golden State Warriors tomorrow night.

Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria: Lechler to go into Hall as Raiders punter for 13 seasons; Raiders sign Grant at wide receiver; plus more

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Photo credit: @TDenFamilia

On the Headline Sports podcast with Tony Renteria:

#1 Former Oakland Raider Shane Lechler can look forward to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame after the five year wait . He played in 206 games for the Raiders and missed only two games in 13 seasons. In those 13 seasons, Lechler called Oakland his home. A seven-time Pro Bowler, he was one of the best punters in NFL history.

#2 Wide receiver Ryan Grant has signed with the Oakland Raiders. Grant formerly with the Indianapolis Colts signed with Oakland on Wednesday Grant’s deal is worth one year, $2.5 million.

#3 You can’t win them all the A’s, who won the first two games against the visiting Boston Red Sox on great pitching, and delivered two shutouts, but they dropped game three of the four-game series to the Red Sox. However, the A’s have been delivering excitement each night.

#4 The Giants had some troubles on this road trip, but still, they have gone 2-5 thus far. They have concluded their road series with the Dodgers with a 5-3 loss. They have their home opener on Friday, can they get back on track with some home cooking?

#5 The Sacramento Kings might be making changes again and knowing how much Kings owner Vivek Ranadive and general manager Vlade Divak like Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton. Do you see Walton getting fired by the Lakers as rumored and going to the Kings, which means Kings head coach Dave Joerger will get the boot at season’s end?

Headline Sports with Tony R is heard each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Ice meltdown in Vancouver–Sharks can’t answer Canucks’ 3 goals in third period; Quakes’ best game in 0-0 draw against Colorado so far; plus more

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Photo credit: @NBCSSharks

On the Headline Sports podcast with London:

#1 In one that you can call just a big meltdown, the San Jose Sharks started a two-game road trip in Vancouver Tuesday night, had a 2-1 lead and looked like they might actually win this one against the Canucks, but all for not as the Canucks scored three unanswered goals to hand San Jose its ninth loss in 10 games 4-2.

#2 The San Jose Earthquakes are a team that is all shook up. They have not won one a game yet this season and have played six games and their best game was against Colorado in a 0-0 draw. London tells us from he has seen of the Quakes what the problem is?

#3 The San Francisco Giants have shown some improvement on the current road trip taking the first game against the Dodgers on Monday night 4-2, thanks to Brandon Belt’s home run to help pace the win. On Tuesday night, the Giants lost by a run, but it’s been something to look forward to after they struggled in San Diego losing three out four.

#4 The Oakland A’s are getting plenty of pitching they got a 7-0 shutout over the World Champion Red Sox on Monday and then on Tuesday they got a 1-0 shutout with great A’s starting pitcher Mike Fiers and A’s reliever Blake Treinen.

#5 The Sacramento Kings just couldn’t do anything with James Harden and the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night in Golden One Center. Harden put away 36 points and he was again a scoring machine in a 130-105 win.

London Marq does the Headline Sports podcast for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Kings get plastered in 25-point loss to Rockets on Tuesday night

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Photo credit: @DreamShakeSBN

On the Kings podcast with Charlie O:

#1 The Kings (38-40) lost badly on their home floor to the Houston Rockets (50-28) 130-105. Fear the beard James Harden couldn’t be contained on Tuesday night with 36 points.

#2 The Kings were dominated by the Rockets in every quarter except for the third quarter when the Kings outscored the Rockets 31-29.

#3 How badly did Kings defense let down in this one?

#4 Harden also had help from scorers Clint Capela with 13 and Chris Paul with 12.

#5 Next up are the Cleveland Cavaliers (19-59). The Cavs are on a six-game losing streak and the Kings have lost four of their last six games as this one sets up for a 7 pm tip on Thursday night.

Charlie O does the Kings podcast each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com