Earlier this year, the college basketball world was enveloped in drama when word began leaking out that the Washington Post was preparing an in-depth profile on Kim Mulkey years in the making.
Before the piece was even published, Mulkey threatened to sue the Post for the story that was being prepared by writer Kent Babb, which only increased the speculation and intrigue around what was to come. By the time the Post story was published, people were thinking that Mulkey was preparing to turn adorable puppies into exotic sideline apparel.
In the end, the story wasn’t the shocking expose that was anticipated but looked more into Mulkey’s personal and familial history and her career in women’s basketball. The reaction was muted and any potential controversy quickly evaporated.
But now we know some other leads from the Post’s reporting that could have upped the temperature of the piece just a little bit more and perhaps led to such an intense response from Mulkey. Via a public records request, the Lafayette Daily Advertiser was able to obtain e-mails between LSU and the Washington Post in the lead-up to the story being published. Included in those leads that didn’t make final publishing was Mulkey calling the locker room “trash” after star player Angel Reese was involved in a fight in front of recruits:
One of those was information Babb wrote he received from multiple individuals regarding a team meeting in 2022 during which players were required to turn off their phones and leave them in another room while Mulkey addressed the team.
Babb wrote, “This was after a fight involving Angel Reese, witnessed by one of my sources, that occurred in front of visiting recruits. One of these individuals present in the team meeting shared that Mulkey said: ‘This entire locker room is trash.’”
The Daily Advertiser, part of the USA Today Network, has been unable to independently confirm whether Reese was involved in a fight. Efforts to get comment from Reese through her WNBA team the Chicago Sky were unsuccessful. LSU did not comment on the matter.
Another lead was Mulkey potentially disciplining a player at LSU showing support for Brittney Griner. Mulkey was Griner’s coach at Baylor and throughout her detainment in Russia, the fractured relationship between the pair was on full display. Ultimately, those details didn’t make the story and the Advertiser could not confirm either incident took place. Furthermore, LSU declined any comment.
In Babb’s e-mail, he wrote “an LSU player was disciplined as a result of screenshotting and sharing a social media message of support for Griner during Griner’s detainment.”
That was not part of the published story. The Advertiser was unable to confirm whether an LSU player was disciplined and the school declined to comment.
All of this seems perfectly normal in the reporting process. It makes complete sense that Babb and the Post would have access to many leads that ultimately could not be corroborated or confirmed that they decided to leave out of the final version of the story.
But the report from the Lafayette Daily Advertiser also gives an insight into what may have spooked Kim Mulkey so much. If there was a projection of her program being out of control or that she was punishing current players for certain stances that came out of the Washington Post piece, then it could have made things more awkward for her team and her coaching position. Alas, those reports didn’t come to pass amidst posturing about potential lawsuits, and the end result was a well-written profile that didn’t lead to much unrest or upheaval.
