Teen Brittney Griner’s “Girlfriend Problems” and Tattoos Led to Turbulent Relationship With Ex-Coach Kim Mulkey

Before the Sweet 16 matchup against UCLA, LSU’s head coach has another problem on her plate. The most awaited Washington Post article about the life of Kim Mulkey has finally dropped. The Coach even threatened legal action after the second-round game against Middle Tennessee.

The story involved every small detail from her childhood days to her relationship with family and players. It highlights some major controversies with a lot of players. One such player is Brittney Griner, who was imprisoned in Russia for 294 days in 2022.

According to the Post, Griner wrote, “If I had shared more with her (Mulkey), but there was always a little bit of a disconnect with us, because I never really knew if Kim fully accepted me for who I am.”

Griffin and another player called out Mulkeys’s training methodology. According to them if any player gained weight at any point during the season, the strength coach of the team was told to conduct weigh-ins in front of the team. Emily Niemann and other players also called out Mulkey for insulting players openly. Using it as a coaching tool did more harm than good according to players.

Griner’s said Mulkey wasn’t too keen on her tattoo collection and required her to wear a long-sleeved t-shirt under her jersey. “It seemed like all she cared about was the image of the program as seen through the eyes of a very specific segment of the population,” Griner wrote. “Just once, I wanted her to stop worrying about what everyone else thought and stand by my side.”

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Kim Mulkey’s stance during Griner’s grim situation

Mulkey is a 4x NCAA Division I Tournament champion. With Baylor Bears women’s basketball, she won the championship thrice. During her college days, Brittney Griner attended the Baylor University. Mulkey and Griner were champions during the 2011-12 season. The Post conducted interviews with former players. The news reports described Mulkey as being “known to hold grudges and clash with players, including about their appearances and displays of their sexuality.”

After Griner’s imprisonment in Russia, many people expected Mulkey to speak publicly about the matter. Yet she made it clear that there was some bad blood between the two, by not speaking for her. The 60-year-old only spoke once about the issue at a local radio station.

Within the program, former LSU players told The Post they avoided talking about Griner on social media. Mickie DeMoss former Louisiana Tech teammate of Mulkey also spoke to The Post regarding Griner’s issue in Russia. 

She said “I really was hoping that Kim (Mulkey) would make a statement. Really hoping she would. You’ve got a kid that’s stuck in Russia; I mean, that’s bigger than any feud that y’all had. No one knew how long they were going to detain her over there. We were all hoping (Mulkey) could just rise above it for that moment. Just get her back home. But she didn’t.”

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