Kim Mulkey claims she had no idea that the Washington Post’s ‘hit piece’ had been published after breaking her silence on the story before LSU’s win over UCLA.
Mulkey, 61, threatened to sue the Post last week if a mystery story she insisted contains ‘false’ information was published, and the outlet did exactly that on Saturday despite her warning.
In the story, the LSU coach is accused of clashing with gay members of her former team Baylor, with ex-players Kelli Griffin and Emily Niemann opening up on their time working with her.
Griffin alleged that Mulkey made her life ‘hell’ after discovering that she was gay, while Neimann recalled her old coach telling her it wasn’t a ‘good look’ after she was spotted out in public with another woman.
Just minutes after the story was published, the three-time NCAA Championship winner stepped out of LSU’s team hotel and headed to Tiger Stadium for their Sweet 16 showdown with UCLA at March Madness.
Kim Mulkey broke her silence on the Washington Post’s ‘hit piece’ before LSU’s win over UCLA
Mulkey, 61, threatened to sue the Post last week if a mystery story she insisted contains ‘false’ information was published
The outlet did exactly that on Saturday, with the Tigers coach accused of targeting gay players
And before watching her team advance to the quarterfinals, she claimed to have been none the wiser about the Post releasing its controversial piece.
‘You’re telling me something I didn’t know,’ Mulkey told ESPN’s Sports Center when asked about the story. ‘So you’re the bearer of good news or bad news, however you wanna look at it.
‘But are you really surprised? Are you really surprised by the timing of it?
‘I can tell you I haven’t read it, I don’t know that I will read it. I’ll leave that up to my attorneys.’
Griffin, who played for Mulkey’s Baylor from 2007-10, believes her former coach only targeted her after learning that she was gay.
Despite branding her an ‘amazing coach’, and admitting that she only moved to Baylor to play under her, she claimed Mulkey drew attention to her clothes and issued her a suspension that would ultimately end her career only after learning of her sexuality.
Griffin also alleges that she began asking why she ‘dressed like a boy’ as soon as she arrived on campus at Baylor, while telling her that ‘a lady wears a dress’ as opposed to baggy jeans, basketball shorts or sweats.
‘Okay, this lady might not like gay people,’ she recalls thinking at the time.
Kelli Griffin, who played for Mulkey’s Baylor from 2007-10, claims her old coach made her life ‘hell’ and targeted her after finding out that she was gay
Griffin says the coach also urged her to dress like a ‘lady’ after drawing attention to her clothes
Mulkey is said to have had a decade-long feud with ex-Baylor star Brittney Griner, another member of the LGBTQ+ community. Griner spent 10 months in a Russian prison in 2022
Mulkey, a four-time NCAA Division 1 winner, is also accused of having a decade-long feud with Brittney Griner – once her star player at Baylor.
Griner, who spent 294 days in a Russian prison in 2022 after entering the country with a vape cartridge containing less than a gram of hash oil, is also a member of the LGBTQ+ community after coming out as lesbian in 2013.
However, even that experience wasn’t enough to ease the tension between her and Mulkey, the report continues, after the latter allegedly instructed players to hide their sexuality and ‘keep your business behind closed doors’, Griner wrote in her memoir.
Niemann, meanwhile, claims that she once urged her to ‘be careful’ after she was seen in Waco, central Texas, with a woman.
She and multiple other players also allege that ‘shame was a frequent tool in Mulkey’s coaching arsenal, whether during practice drills or in addresses to the team.’ Some spoke anonymously out of fear of retaliation in the women’s basketball community.
Yet after LSU’s 78-69 victory against UCLA, Mulkey instead targeted another news outlet, this time the LA Times, for its preview piece ahead of Saturday’s game – which branded her team ‘dirty debutantes’ and ‘basketball villains’.
Flau’jae Johnson led all scorers with 24 points at No. 3 LSU upset No. 2 UCLA 78-69
‘I’m not going to let you attack young people,’ she stressed. ‘It was so sexist, evil… Called us dirty debutantes? How dare you?’
In a contest that went down to the wire, the LSU Tigers officially advanced to the Elite Eight after upsetting the No. 2 UCLA Bruins 78-69 in their Sweet 16 matchup.
A clutch block with under two minutes to go by Angel Reese swung an advantage to the Tigers. They kept that advantage through to the end – with UCLA star Kiki Rice committing a key offensive foul down five points with about 40 seconds remaining.
It means that LSU could be on course for a re-match in the Elite Eight with Caitlin Clark and Iowa – the team they beat in last year’s national title game. That’ll happen if Iowa beats five-seed Colorado this afternoon.