Kim Mulkey bashed over ‘nasty’ treatment of reporter after March Madness exit

Following on from LSU’s NCAA Tournament exit at the hands of UCLA, Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey appeared to be in a frustrated mood as she snapped at a young reporter at Spokane Arena

LSU head coach Kim Mulkey was called out by analysts Shannon Sharpe and Stephen A. Smith after her “nasty” remarks towards a reporter following the Tigers’ NCAA Tournament exit.

The Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer’s frustration was plain to see after her team slumped to defeat at the Elite Eight stage of the March Madness. The 62-year-old boasts NCAA championships to her name across her glittering career as a coach, having led LSU to glory back in 2023.

However, the Tigers’ title charge was ended at the hands of the Bruins, who secured a memorable 72-65 victory to advance to the Final Four. After devastation at Spokane Arena, Mulkey appeared to be struggling to deal with her emotions as she proceeded to snap at a student journalist following the clash.

The reporter asked the veteran figure for her assessment of proceedings following the defeat, asking: “Is that terrible or is that good?” before Mulkey then interjected with a barbed response which has since gone viral on social media, remarking: “terrible. How many Final Fours have you played in?”

Following on from this ill-tempered comment from the former Baylor coach, a number of commentators condemned her antics, with analyst Sharpe among her detractors. Addressing her behavior during a conversation with Chad Johnson on Nightcap podcast, he aired his disapproval, asking: “Has she not lost a game before?”

I mean, Ocho, he didn’t even get a chance to finish the question. He’s asking, ‘Coach, this is the second time you’ve been eliminated’, he continued in an impassioned defense of the young reporter. “And for you to snap back and say, ‘Well, how many Final Fours have you been to?’ Really?”

Kim Mulkey appeared to be in a frustrated mood following the Tigers’ loss in the Elite Eight ( 
Image:
Tyler McFarland/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
He then posited that Mulkey has previously been let off lightly for her treatment of members of the press, suggesting: “Kim Mulkey has been nasty for a very long time and she’s gotten away with this type of behavior because she is a national champion-winning head coach.

“She has a history of doing this, the same thing with Bobby Knight. Bobby Knight had a history of bad behavior, but because he was a national champion-winning head coach, you excused said behavior. Remember, people excuse behavior if you win, if they like you

He added: “Kim Mulkey has been nasty for an extremely long period of time. If this is unacceptable for an athlete to say, ‘Well, how many times have you caught a pass in the NFL?’ ‘How many times have you scored a basket in the NBA?’ ‘How many times have you struck somebody out?’ That would be unacceptable. This is unacceptable from Kim Mulkey.”

Likewise, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith called her “rude” and “condescending”, saying: “I’m not going to take away from the fact that Kim Mulkey is a great coach and an established coach. We just need to finally say this about her – she’s very rude. She’s very, very rude. She’s rude, she’s condescending and unnecessarily so to too many people.

“And it’s always with the right one. She don’t go up to the wrong one. It’s almost like she knows, Shannon (Sharpe), who to do that to and who not to do that to. There’s certain people you do that to, they’re gonna clap back. But she is a phenomenal coach, one of the best ever, but she’s just a very, very rude person.”