There are excellent coaches in the WNBA; some are renowned for giving their teams exceptional, unmatched efforts, while others are popular for not-so-good reasons. Kim Mulkey, the head women’s basketball coach at Louisiana State University, gained notoriety for her controversy with Brittney Griner.

Now, her new team is giving her even more cause for newsworthy moments. At the beginning of their defense of the national championship, the seventh-ranked Tigers are drawing unwelcome attention due to the absence of star player Angel Reese from LSU games and the lack of explanation provided by coach Kim Mulkey.

The fact that Mulkey already has a reputation for treating her players like “trash” makes fans despise it. “First Brittney Griner, now Angel Reese,“ basketball pundits had to say on the current issue. Reese hasn’t played for the team in the two games that it has played since benching her during the second half of LSU’s victory against Kent State on Tuesday. Fans were quick enough to recognize this situation as similar to the Brittney Griner one with Mulkey.

Kim Mulkey publicly addressed Angel Reese’s absence from the court

Even during a somewhat unrivaled stretch of nonconference games, Angel Reese’s absence has garnered attention. However, the way a show discloses or fails to disclose an absence can significantly influence the conversation that follows. The head coach, Kim Mulkey, did not offer much of an explanation for the 21-year-old LSU star’s mysterious absence from the Tigers.

 

 

 

When asked about Reese’s absence, Mulkey gave a perplexing statement that didn’t reveal any further details regarding the LSU star’s location or the reason she isn’t playing for the team. “That’s just part of coaching,” was the only gist of her long, cryptic response addressing the situation.

Fans draw parallels between Brittney Griner and Angel Reese’s situation

Kim Mulkey, the then-Baylor Bears coach, coached WNBA superstar Brittney Griner, who was selected No. 1 in the 2013 WNBA draft. Despite Griner’s revelation in her book ‘In My Skin‘, Mulkey remained receptive to her sexuality, stating that she did not care as long as she performed well.

At the time, the two seemed to be close. Mulkey fiercely defended Griner when she received a two-game suspension in 2010 for punching a Texas Tech player in the nose. However, the two were reported to have an itchy relationship going forward in their careers.
Fans react to Kim Mulkey’s recent controversy (Credit- X)

Mulkey has gained a reputation for being disliked by players since then, and fans were quick enough to compare the recent conflict to the earlier one. “Kim Mulkey is the worst,” read the first line of a long opinion that he posted on X.

While another wrote, “She’s been who she’s been this whole time,” again referring to her feud with Griner. The current campaign was going well for Reese, as she was averaging 17.3 points and 10.3 rebounds in just 22.3 minutes per game in the first four games of the new season.