When Lindsey Harding saw Stockton Kings assistant GM Gabriel Harris walking toward the practice court on Dec. 15, 2023, she assumed he was delivering the sort of news coaches pray for — an NBA 10-day call-up for a player. Harding, in her first season as the G League’s first Black woman head coach, had learned to keep her phone loud so she wouldn’t miss life-changing opportunities amid the noise of practice.
Instead, Harris told her law enforcement officers were there to arrest center Chance Comanche. The shock was immediate and total. Four days later Comanche was extradited to Las Vegas and charged in a case that would end with murder, kidnapping and conspiracy accusations. The horrifying details — alleged involvement in the strangulation death of a 23-year-old woman — left Harding’s team reeling.
She found herself managing more than rotations and practice plans. The Kings were in the middle of a road trip when the arrest happened: a bus ride to Santa Cruz for a game, then a flight to Orlando for the G League Winter Showcase. Players and opponents peppered Stockton with questions Harding could not answer. She organized crisis support with the NBA and the Kings’ parent club, tried
