Kim Mulkey told ESPN Saturday she had not read the much-anticipated Washington Post story that had prompted her to threaten legal action last week.
The LSU Tigers women’s basketball head coach talked with ESPN’s Holly Rowe on SportsCenter about 90 minutes before LSU’s Sweet 16 matchup with UCLA. Rowe informed Mulkey the story had been published.
“You’re telling me something I didn’t know … but are you really surprised? Are you really surprised by the timing of it,” Mulkey said (via The Sporting News). “But I can tell you I haven’t read it, don’t know that I will read it. I’ll leave that up to my attorneys.”
Mulkey’s response matches her initial reaction last week when a report said The Post planned to publish the article. She predicted the article would be a “hit piece,” and threatened a lawsuit against the newspaper. The veteran coach later doubled down on her angst about the article, calling out the “sleazy reporter” involved.
That all led to great speculation in sports media circles about what the article would uncover.
Rather than a “hit piece,” the article by WaPo reporter Kent Babb read like a standard profile on Mulkey’s life and career. It seemed complimentary at times, but also addressed claims by former players that she had belittled them for their weight, or treated them unfairly after learning they were gay.
Mulkey’s attorneys were involved in rebutting various claims. Mulkey, who coached at Baylor from 2000 through 2021, had one former player at that school who claimed that the coach “made my life hell,” after learning she was gay. Another former Baylor player involved in a relationship with that teammate provided an affidavit saying she had not witnessed any unfair treatment by Mulkey.
Yet overall, sports media and fans thought the article was just a standard profile piece (although as Shannon Sharpe and others predicted, Mulkey’s initial reaction last week generated far more debate and readers for the article than it would have otherwise seen.
In fact, some thought her calling attention to it Saturday might have the same effect.
https://twitter.com/VivaMattyVegas/status/1774116630391619975
[The Sporting News; Photo Credit: ESPN]
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.