LSU coach Kim Mulkey has won four national championships and is enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame. Despite her on-court success, she’s been a polarizing force in women’s college basketball, frequently stirring controversy.
The Washington Post published a story on Mulkey on Saturday, hours before LSU’s Sweet 16 victory over UCLA, detailing the coach’s demeanor, playing days at Louisiana Tech and relationships with past players and family members. Lawyers for Mulkey criticized the newspaper for talking to her estranged father and her sister. Mulkey declined to speak with The Post directly, but said through her lawyers that her family members did not “relate in any way to her career,” the newspaper said in its story.
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Mulkey and her father, Les, have not spoken in 37 years, the Post said, after Les’ infidelity and eventual divorce from Mulkey’s mother. Mulkey herself wrote about the subjects in her 2007 autobiography, “Won’t Back Down.” Mulkey walked alone down the aisle at her wedding, and returned notes from Les unread as he pleaded for reconciliation, according to The Post.
“His unfaithfulness to my mother devastated our entire family,” Mulkey wrote in her autobiography.
Last week, before The Post’s story was published, Mulkey threatened to sue the paper during a news conference ahead of LSU’s second-round matchup in the NCAA Tournament. She said she had received questions from the Post, and the newspaper in its story included her objections and responses to its queries about the details of its reporting.
As the Tigers progress through the NCAA Tournament and on to the Elite Eight in a quest to repeat as national champs, Mulkey is again at the center of fans’ curiosity. Here’s a timeline of her most buzz-worthy moments as a coach:
April 2000
Mulkey earned her first head coaching job at Baylor after spending 15 years on staff at her alma mater, Louisiana Tech.
She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame for her play at Louisiana Tech, where as point guard she led the Techsters to the Final Four every season from 1980-84. She won an AIAW championship in 1981 and the NCAA title (the first in history) in 1982.
March 2001
The season before Mulkey took over, Baylor won seven games. In her first season, she led the Bears to their first NCAA Tournament appearance. The Bears missed only one tournament (2003) in her 21 seasons in Waco, Texas. (The 2020 postseason was canceled because of the pandemic.)
April 2005
In her fifth season at Baylor, Mulkey led the Bears to their first national championship. By beating Michigan State, she became the first person to win a Division I title as a player, assistant coach and head coach.
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April 2012
Baylor became the first team to go 40-0, and Mulkey won her second NCAA Tournament championship. The Bears beat Notre Dame 80-61 behind 26 points and 13 rebounds from junior Brittney Griner, who was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
During the Final Four, Mulkey vehemently defended Griner when asked about insults the center received on social media. “This is someone’s child,” she said. “This is a human being, people.”
Kim Mulkey is hoisted by her players to cut the net after winning the 2012 national championship with Baylor. (Aaron Ontiveroz / The Denver Post via Getty Images)
May 2013
In May, ESPN The Magazine and ESPNW published an article about Griner, who recently had been selected No. 1 in the WNBA Draft. Griner described her difficulties at Baylor, where she said she felt pressured to downplay her sexuality as a lesbian. A former teammate of Griner’s said, “Kim always said all of it would look bad for recruiting.” Griner’s dad also said that Mulkey never reached out to Griner after Baylor’s final loss in the tournament, an upset loss in the Sweet 16 to Louisville.
April 2014
Griner released her memoir, “In My Skin,” which detailed her strained relationship with Mulkey and Baylor.
February 2017
Mulkey won her 500th game as Baylor faced a lawsuit and federal civil rights investigation into rampant sexual assaults committed by members of the football team. She took center court after her win to address the crowd. “If somebody’s around you, and they ever say, ‘I will never send my daughter to Baylor,’ you knock them right in the face,” Mulkey said. She called Baylor “the best damn school in America.”
She apologized within the week during a tearful news conference. “I’m sorry for the choice of words,” she said. “The timing wasn’t good. Poor analogy maybe, as well.” She added: “We failed victims here. But I’m encouraged every day because I see what’s taking place to fix it.”
April 2019
Baylor went 37-1 and won its third national championship. The Bears beat Notre Dame 82-81.
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February 2020
With a 77-62 victory over Texas Tech, Mulkey became the fastest coach to win 600 games. She needed only 700 contests to reach the benchmark.
March 2021
After losing to UConn in the Elite Eight, Mulkey made an unprompted argument about ending COVID-19 testing in the Final Four. The tournament was played in a “bubble” to help limit the spread of the virus, and players and staff were frequently tested. “There’s four teams left, I think, on the men’s side and the women’s side. They need to dump the COVID testing,” she said.
Mulkey explained that she didn’t want an infected player to miss out on competing.
“Wouldn’t it be a shame to keep COVID testing and then you got kids that end up having tested positive or something, and they don’t get to play in the Final Four?” she said. “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.”
April 2021
In a move that shocked the women’s basketball world, LSU announced Mulkey as its new head coach. Mulkey compiled a 632-104 record at Baylor before moving to her native Louisiana, where she reportedly signed an eight-year, $23.6 million contract.
Her introductory news conference produced what would become a popular Mulkey meme. She emphatically tore off her LSU-designed mask and flung it aside. “Well, I’m gonna take this damn mask off, ’cause I have a lot to say,” she said.
Well, Kim Mulkey has arrived at LSU pic.twitter.com/iRvNJqObZr
— Meredith Cash (@mercash22) April 26, 2021
May 2021
Mulkey was enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame. Michael Jordan introduced her at the ceremony.
September 2022
The women’s basketball community had grown increasingly vocal about its support for the release of Griner from a Russian prison. The U.S. government had deemed her detainment as unjust. Yet, after LSU’s first practice of the season, Mulkey declined to comment when asked about Griner’s imprisonment, and she indicated she wouldn’t be lending vocal support to Griner.
Really? pic.twitter.com/ISJGuhUImE
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) September 26, 2022
The response drew rebukes from many, including some of Mulkey’s former players.
A player that built Baylor, 2 national titles, & a 40-0 record. Yet her former coach refuses to say anything or simply just show any kind of support. Keep that in mind when you’re choosing schools.
— Queen (@QueenEgbo_) September 26, 2022
And I will say it again. SILENCE SPEAKS VOLUMES, smh.
— Chloe Jackson (@Clj_0) September 26, 2022
In a radio interview a few months earlier in June, Mulkey said she chose not to speak about the situation, which she called a “personal issue.” She said, “I want her home safely.”
When Griner was released and returned to the U.S. in December 2022, Mulkey said a few months later during the Final Four that she had not spoken with Griner. She added, “I’m glad she’s safe, she’s sound. I think everybody is.”
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April 2023
Mulkey became the first women’s basketball coach to win championships with multiple programs. LSU marched through the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed to beat Iowa 102-85. The title game set a viewership record for women’s basketball.
Mulkey led the Tigers to their first women’s basketball national championship last season. (Kirby Lee / USA Today Sports)
September 2023
Mulkey signed a new 10-year, $36 million contract that made her the highest-paid women’s basketball coach.
November 2023
LSU started the season ranked No. 1, but the Tigers suffered a 92-78 upset from Colorado in the season opener.
In the second half of LSU’s victory against Kent State on Nov. 14, star forward Angel Reese was benched. She then missed the next four games without explanation from Mulkey. When asked by reporters for clarity, Mulkey was evasive. At one point, she responded, “If you do some disciplining of your own children, do you think we’re entitled to know that? That’s a family in that locker room.” Upon Reese’s return to action on Nov. 30 against Virginia Tech, she and Mulkey hugged.
Following a victory against Southeastern Louisiana during the stretch without Reese, Mulkey joked about COVID-19 as she mentioned having sniffles.
“I ain’t a sissy, I don’t have allergies,” she said. “I got some kind of cold. It might be COVID, but I ain’t testing. No, it’s sinus, I don’t know what you call it, allergies, flu, I don’t know. So if you all get the flu, blame me during Thanksgiving, alright?”
THIS IS INSANE pic.twitter.com/jgSXAhYM0Q
— reverend doctor megamind 💥 (@revdoc89) November 18, 2023
March 2024
During the SEC tournament championship between LSU and South Carolina, benches cleared and multiple players were ejected from the game. South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso shoved guard Flau’jae Johnson to the floor. At her postgame news conference, Mulkey described the incident as “ugliness.” But then she suggested that Cardoso and Reese, who had played physically against each other throughout the game, should have fought.
“I can tell you this: I wish she would’ve pushed Angel Reese,” Mulkey said, referring to Cardoso. “Don’t push a kid — you’re 6-foot-8 — don’t push somebody that little. That was uncalled for in my opinion. Let those two girls that were jawing, let them go at it.”
Kim Mulkey speaks on Kamilla Cardoso pushing Flau’jae Johnson in the scuffle 😳
(via @espn) pic.twitter.com/4qnDQsdS2X
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) March 11, 2024
As LSU began its NCAA Tournament quest to repeat, rumors swirled about a forthcoming The Washington Post article about Mulkey. She began her off-day tournament news conference on March 23 by reading a lengthy statement about the article, which had not yet been published. She threatened to sue The Washington Post “ if they publish a false story about me.”
LSU coach Kim Mulkey says a Washington Post reporter has spent the past two years working on a negative story about her.
“I will sue the Washington Post if they publish a false story about me."
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) March 23, 2024
On March 24, LSU beat No. 11 seed Middle Tennessee 83-56 to advance to the Sweet 16. It beat UCLA 78-69 on Saturday to secure a spot in the Elite Eight.
(Photo of Kim Mulkey: Eakin Howard / Getty Images)
Shannon Ryan is The Athletic’s women’s basketball managing editor. She spent the previous 13 years as a college sports reporter and columnist for the Chicago Tribune, primarily covering college basketball and football. She began her journalism career covering the NFL and college sports for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
