Is Kim Mulkey A Controversial Figure? Amidst Angel Reese Trouble, Revisiting LSU Coach’s Past Fiascos

The Louisiana State University Lady Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey benched their star Angel Reese during the second half of their game against the Kent State. Nonetheless, the Lady Tigers won that match, but Reese was nowhere to be seen in their next outing against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions. This sparked rumors of a possible rift between Reese and Mulkey. The details are not confirmed yet, but if this is the case then it’s not the first time that Mulkey has seen herself in hot waters.

Previously during her stint as a head coach for the Baylor, Kim was embroiled in hulking controversies.

Controversially Yours: Kim Mulkey in Coach Avatar

It all started when Mulkey had tested positive for COVID-19 during the NCAA 2020-21 and her then team – Baylor’s contest against the University of Connecticut Huskies had to be canceled. However, fate had other plans since the Lady Bears met the Huskies in the Elite Eight where they lost to the UConn by a narrow margin of 69-67. The UConn advanced to the Final Four.

In the face of such a disappointing loss, Mulkey advocated to “dump the COVID testing”. She backed her idiosyncratic decision by enumerating, “Wouldn’t it be a shame to keep COVID testing, and then you got kids [testing] positive or something, and they don’t get to play in the Final Four? So you need to just forget the COVID tests and let the four teams that are playing in each Final Four go battle it out.” Her comments drew flak despite the UConn head coach Geno Auriemma backing Kim’s debatable stand professing a parlor on a number of topics.

The 4x NCAA Championship winner earlier also had some disagreements with the WNBA star Brittney Griner when the latter used to play for the Baylor. The 2012 NCAA Champion couldn’t come out in the open easily regarding her sexuality.

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According to Fagan’s article (h/t: Sporting News) Mulkey was supportive of Griner only on the outside. Griner in one of the interviews explained that a pro-homosexuality stand could have hurt the college since parents would have been skeptical about sending their children to the university. “The coaches thought if it seemed like they condoned it, people wouldn’t let their kids play for Baylor.”

In an interview with Outsports, Mulkey was asked if she had ever coached a gay player, she strongly sushed the question by asserting “Don’t ask me that. I don’t ask that. I don’t think it’s anybody’s business. Whoever you are. I don’t care to know that.”

Some sources also go onto state that Griner was forced to don long-sleeved t-shirts so that her tattoos could be hidden. As per ESPN’s Fagan post the LGBTQ question, Mulkey tried suppressing the journalist’s voice by complaining about her to higher-up authorities at the sports news broadcasting channel.

Although in her defence, Mulkey did try to support Briner by calling her a “human being” but according to Briner’s fans it all felt too shallow.

Mulkey’s sour relationship with Griner surfaced again when the latter was imprisoned in Russia last year. The coach chose not to publicly comment on the topic and divulged the same to a reporter on being asked about it.

“I apologize for the very poor choice of words”

As per LSU Reveille, Mulkey again ended up on the wrong side when she defended the Baylor in 2017. The University was caught up in a sexual assault and Title IX scandal. The contemptuous incident was triggered off in 2015 when a lot of football players faced allegations related to assault.

Starting 2011, around 31 players were accused of inhumane acts. Furthermore, 2 were convicted of the crime and 2 more were indicted.

Mulkey was embroiled in the controversy as she supported Balyor and urged people to  “knock” people who were against sending their daughters to the Baylor campus. She then solidified her stand in a post-game press conference stating that people weren’t aware enough to speak about the conflict. She even went on to remark that the problems at Baylor were “no different than the problems at any other school in America.”

She however retracted her objectionable stance enumerating that she was just asking Baylor supporters to be firm in their mind and in no way wanted to disrespect the victims. In her statement, she quipped, “I apologize for the very poor choice of words.”

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Since then, Mulkey has been part of several controversies. She has also faced backlash for the same. Fans hope she sorts her relationship with Reese and does not let it affect the Lady Tigers campaign in the current NCAA tournament.