The Stockton Kings players and staff were not aware when police officers and FBI agents arrested centre Chance Comanche in Las Vegas on December 15, 2023. As per a New York Times report on Saturday, they thought the 6-foot-10 youngster would go to the NBA when he left practice that day. It was not until a few hours later that their then general manager informed them of the situation.
Almost two hours after that day, Comanche's former teammate Jake Stephens gave his thoughts about what happened.
“There’s craziness out there in the world, and I guess we all came across it that season,” Stephens said.
Chance Comanche and his former girlfriend, Sakari Harnden, are facing kidnap and murder charges against the slain Marayna Rodgers earned Harnden's ire for giving the police information that resulted in the arrest of Harnden's boyfriend.
Comanche and Harnden planned the killing for a few days earlier commiting the crime on December 6 in Las Vegas. He admitted to the deed by strangling Rodgers, an act that Harnden also followed.
As per some of Comanche's teammates in the report, the Versatile forward struggled in the Kings' match less than 24 hours after leaving Las Vegas. Following that, the former Arizona Wildcats star seemed to have regained his confidence in games and his mood improved.
One unnamed teammate reportedly noticed Comanche casually "working the streets" with them and shopping for Nike Shoes. Kalob Ledoux, another former teammate, recollected no difference in their training and warmups.
Two days before Chance Comanche's arrest, the police took Sakari Harnden into custody. The former reportedly confessed to the crime while the latter chose to remain silent.