LSU coach Kim Mulkey allegedly disciplined a player for showing support for Brittney Griner during the WNBA star’s detainment in Russia in 2022, according to a report from the Lafayette Daily Advertiser.
Mulkey made headlines after calling out the Washington Postand reporter Kent Babb this past March for what she called a “hit piece,” threatening to sue if “a false story” was published. Babb released the article on March 30, though it did not mention the alleged incident involving the Tigers player supporting Griner.
However, the Daily Advertiser obtained via an open records request email correspondence between LSU and the Washington Post that reveal details about what was left out of the story.
One of those emails came directly from Babb, who 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.” The Daily Advertiser was unable to confirm whether this was true and the school declined to comment.
What is known is that the relationship between Griner and Mulkey, who was her college coach at Baylor, has been strained for years. Mulkey was asked to weigh in when Griner was detained in Russia on drug charges by a reporter who noted she hadn’t yet said anything. The coach cut the question off, saying “and you won’t.”
More than three months after Griner was released and made it back to the United States, Mulkey revealed to ESPN that the two still hadn’t spoken. However, she did say that she was “glad she’s back.”
The article from Babb makes heavy note of the alleged tension between Mulkey and Griner during her time in Waco. It states that Griner is gay but did not come out until 2013 after her final season at Baylor. She wrote a memoir shortly after titled “In My Skin” in which she admitted that she never felt comfortable being her true self around the coach.
“Maybe she would have understood me better,” Griner wrote, “if I had shared more with her, but there was always a little bit of a disconnect with us, because I never really knew if Kim fully accepted me for who I am.”
Griner revealed in the memoir that she wore a shirt under her jersey to cover up her tattoos, which Mulkey disapproved of.
“It seemed like all she cared about was the image of the program as seen through the eyes of a very specific segment of the population,” Griner wrote. “Just once, I wanted her to stop worrying about what everyone else thought and stand by my side.”
In spite of that, Griner is forever linked to Mulkey as a large part of her coaching success. The pair made two Final Four appearances together and won the national championship in 2012, when Griner was named the National Player of the Year after putting up 23.2 points, 9.5 rebounds and 5.2 blocks per game.
Griner was drafted No. 1 overall to the Phoenix Mercury in 2013 and has spent her entire 11-year WNBA career with the team.
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