Drama intensifies after it is claimed that Kim Mulkey punished a player for supporting Brittney Griner.
According to a story from the Lafayette Daily Advertiser, LSU coach Kim Mulkey allegedly punished a player for endorsing Brittney Griner during the WNBA star’s detention in Russia in 2022.
Mulkey gained notoriety in March of this year when she threatened to sue the Washington Post and reporter Kent Babb for publishing what she described as a “hit piece” and said that the Post was publishing “a false story.” Babb published the piece on March 30, but it omitted any reference to the purported incident in which the Tigers player backed Griner.
Nevertheless, the Daily Advertiser was able to gain information regarding what was omitted from the piece through an email exchange between LSU and the Washington Post that was obtained through an open records request.
“An LSU player was disciplined as a result of screenshotting and sharing a social media message of support for Griner during Griner’s detainment,” Babb stated in one of those emails. The school declined to respond, and the Daily Advertiser was unable to verify whether this was accurate.
What is known is that Griner and Mulkey, her Baylor college coach, have had a tense relationship for many years. When a reporter noticed Mulkey hadn’t yet commented, Mulkey was contacted to offer her opinion when Griner was being held in Russia on drug-related allegations. “And you won’t,” the coach said, interrupting the inquiry.
Mulkey told ESPN that the two had not spoken for more than three months after Griner was freed and returned to the United States. She did, however, express her gratitude for “being back.”
The supposed friction between Mulkey and Griner when she was in Waco is a major topic of discussion in the Babb piece. According to the statement, Griner is gay, but she didn’t come out until 2013, during her last season at Baylor. Soon after, she published a memoir titled “In My Skin,” in which she acknowledged that she had never felt at ease being who she really was around the coach.
“I never really knew if Kim fully accepted me for who I am, so there was always a little bit of a disconnect with her,” Griner wrote. “Maybe she would have understood me better if I had shared more with her.”
Mulkey disapproved of Griner’s decision to cover up her tattoos, which she disclosed in the memoir by wearing a shirt underneath her jersey.
According to Griner, “it appeared that her only concern was the program’s reputation as perceived by a very particular subset of the public.” “For once, I wanted her to stand by my side and not care what other people thought.”
Despite this, a significant portion of Griner’s coaching success will always be connected to Mulkey. Together, the two qualified for two Final Fours and emerged victorious in the national championship in 2012, when Griner won National Player of the Year honors for his 23.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 5.2 blocks per game average.
Griner has played for the Phoenix Mercury for her entire 11-year WNBA career after being selected first overall by the team in the 2013 WNBA Draft.
