Stephen A. Smith calls Kim Mulkey ‘very rude’ after tense exchange with student reporter

Everyone is getting their licks in on Kim Mulkey.

The LSU Tigers head women’s basketball coach set herself up as a target for podcast and morning show fodder after being what Shannon Sharpe described as “nasty” to a student reporter.

Sharpe has demanded the media hold Mulkey — and her behavior — accountable, and that’s what he did on Sunday night. And it seems like his good friend, Stephen A. Smith, got the memo.

“I’m not gonna take away from the fact that Kim Mulkey is a great coach and an established coach,” Smith said on Monday morning’s First Take. “We just need to finally say this about her: she’s very rude. She’s very rude. She’s very, very rude. She’s rude, she’s condescending and unnecessarily so to too many people.”

Stephen A. Smith: “I’m not gonna 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.” pic.twitter.com/Qr0ngIdcC4

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 31, 2025

“But it’s always with the right one,” Smith continued. “See, she don’t go up to the wrong ones like that. You see what I’m saying? It’s almost like she knows, Shannon, who to do that to and who not to do that to. Because certain people you do that to, they gonna clap back at you. But she is a phenomenal coach, one of the best ever, but she is just a very, very rude person.”

So, was Mulkey’s exchange with a student reporter, Jayden Smith of KLSU Sports, a reflection of that? After Smith mentioned Mulkey’s recent shortcomings in not making the Final Four in consecutive seasons — without any ill intent — she fired back, questioning how many Final Fours Smith himself had been to.

Hmm…

It’s one thing for the public to take shots, but when even Sharpe and Smith start labeling her and her actions “nasty” and “rude,” it’s getting harder for Mulkey to fly under the radar.

Their blunt criticism isn’t something she can easily dismiss — or perhaps she will. A 62-year-old coach isn’t likely to change overnight because she’s been called a few names. But sooner or later, she’ll have to reckon with the fact that her behavior is catching the attention of the biggest voices in sports media.