SecondEverything about Kim Mulkey screams “look at me” — from her flashy off-court fashion to her in-your-face coaching style to her combative media posture. But perceptions of Mulkey have never shifted as dramatically as they did during this year’s NCAA women’s basketball tournament, where the LSU coach has been subject to a different level of scrutiny than she has experienced in her long basketball career.
The roller-coaster ride began late last month, with the 61-year-old devoting the first of two post-game press conferences to lambasting an upcoming Washington Post “hot article” about her. The newspaper spent two years seeking her cooperation and gave her two days to answer a final list of questions. Markey threatened legal action and smeared respected Washington Post writer Kent Babb as two muckrakers. (“Not many people have the power to hold journalists like this accountable, but I am, and I will,” Markey said.) While his aggressive PR defense endeared Markey to legions of conservative basketball agnostics, But the media was already so wary of her that it backfired by providing free advertising for what turned out to be a fairly benign image — for those who had been expecting The Washington Post to cover her on January 6 It was a major disappointment for readers at Capitol, based on the coach’s outburst.
Just when Mulkey was beyond hope, the Los Angeles Times published an op-ed before LSU’s Sweet Sixteen showdown with UCLA, touting it as a reckoning between good and evil . Writer Ben Bolch describes UCLA as “milk and cookies” and “America’s sweethearts,” while describing LSU’s predominantly black women’s team as “Louisiana hot sauce” and “filthy debutantes.” “Newcomers”. Borch and the Times scrambled to save face, although they made no mention of the role that the paper’s massive layoffs played in helping the column get through. Although Mulkey once again defeated the media, she was still careful to characterize Bolch’s lashing out as a sexist attack and ignore the obvious racial component. “How dare people attack children like this,” she fumed. “You don’t have to like the way we play. You don’t have to like the way we talk trash… but as a mother, a grandmother and a leader of young people, I can’t sit here and allow someone to say that. Because guys, it’s wrong. ‘s. I know sexism when I see it and read it.”
When LSU was defeated by a Caitlin Clark-inspired Iowa State team on Monday night, ending their title defense, Mulkey’s arc seemed set to end with opposing fans sharing photos of her and footage of the Capitol riots The photo has the last laugh. layered over her green screen pantsuits. But a reporter noticed LSU did not play the national anthem on the field and asked Mulkey about it after the game – the most-watched women’s college game in history. “I don’t know,” Mulkey said, insisting the move was not politically motivated. “We come in and do pregame stuff. Sorry, look, it wasn’t intentional.”
Whether she was being coy or not, that hasn’t stopped Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a prominent Trump ally, from calling for student athletes who don’t stand for the national anthem to lose their scholarships. “My mother coached girls high school basketball during the heyday of desegregation,” Landry wrote on Beyond that, a deeper respect for those who protect us and unite us under one flag!”
All this only further clouds the coach’s misunderstood image. UConn’s Geno Auriemma and South Carolina’s Dawn Staley are big names in women’s basketball, while Mulkey, despite his career Started nearly 50 years ago but remains a mystery. As a 5-foot-4 point guard in the 1980s, she led Louisiana Tech to two national championships and won the 1984 Olympic gold medal with the U.S. national team. She spent the next 15 years serving as a coaching apprentice on the Lady Techsters’ bench, molding herself in the mold of her idol and mentor Pat Summitt—perhaps the best ever.
When Mulkey started her first head coaching job at Baylor, I was a student reporter covering the Missouri women’s basketball team as she shopped off the shelves and hyphenated her ex-husband’s last name. Even so, Mulkey stood out among a coaching staff that included Texas’ Jody Conradt, Texas Tech’s Marsha Sharp and other living legends. You knew it was only a matter of time before Mookie turned Waco into a championship city, starting with the signing of a standout Vincentian-American big man named Sophia Young. Within three years, Mulkey led Baylor to the 2005 national championship and Young was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
A few weeks after the 2005 confetti fell, I met Mulkey in New York as she was leaving a dinner honoring award-winning men’s and women’s college basketball coaches. She couldn’t have been nicer, more patient or gracious – maybe because she was the new kid on the block and her idol Samit was the dominant woman on the sidelines. While three more national championship successes have expanded Mulkey’s ego, part of me wonders if part of the reason she’s become a lightning rod is to fill some of the void left by Samit’s death in 2016.
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This is not to excuse Malki’s crimes. She could have vouched for Baylor superstar Brittney Griner (still the best player she ever coached) when she was stuck in a Russian prison. She could have thought twice before defending the sexual assault and Title IX scandals that rocked Baylor and toppled once-untouchable football coach Art Briles. (“If you have people around you who say, ‘I would never send my daughter to Baylor,’” she said on the court after her 500th win, “you slap them in the face.” ) She could have gone further. Reduce contempt for gay players. On Monday, she could have done more to keep Clark from leaving than just defend her with Hailey Van Lith, who is a diminutive ’s LSU linebacker, despite his best efforts, is destined to become a meme forever.If anyone at LSU is going to cover Clark one-on-one, you’d expect it to be standout Flagger Johnson — who’s not only taller and more dynamic, but also wants Clark in Monday’s game were able she Task. “There wasn’t a lot of strategy,” Mulkey said of her defense after Monday’s game. “You have to protect her. No one seems to be able to protect her. We didn’t even defend her when we beat them last year.”
Overall, Mulkey doesn’t look like a cartoon villain but a tunnel-visioned mama bear whose only concern is the cubs in her care. This was evident in her non-answer to the national anthem question (who wanted to further fan the flames after the game she just played?) and her legitimate reaction to the UCLA column. When LSU star Angel Reese broke down in tears and boldly revealed some of the horrors she’s been through since the team’s championship run last year, I couldn’t help but think of Mulkey’s presentation to the media After picking up her best player, she went to great lengths to protect Reese from the media. The first few games of the season. “Those kids are like my kids,” she said at the time, “and I’m not going to tell you things you don’t need to know. That’s how I handle things.” This goes a long way to explaining why parents still send Her daughter plays ball for her.
There’s no doubt that as interest in women’s basketball continues to grow, the focus on Mulkey will only become more intense. That scrutiny is likely to reveal a coach in an odd position: a polarizing figure who’s not quite sure of either pole. One minute, she was being touted as Magga’s darling; Next, she was beaten like an awakened warrior. On the one hand, she is not progressive on issues like sexual and gender-based violence and complains about the media and journalists in a similar way to many on the right. On the other hand, she led an LSU team made up of mostly black women to a national championship, defended her players against sexism, and now finds herself among those attacking Colin Kaepernick around the national anthem people’s goals. Perhaps this ambiguity is because all Mulkey really cares about—all she really knows—is the relentless pursuit of winning basketball games. In Malki’s world, anything else, good or bad, is superfluous.
