LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey and the Tigers were the subject of a Los Angeles Times column that described players as “villains” and “dirty debutantes.”
Mulkey, who had been critical of The Washington Post in the days leading up to a profile by the newspaper, shredded the LA Times over the column.
She derided it as “sexist,” “awful” and “wrong.”
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LSU head coach Kim Mulkey reacts during the second quarter of a Sweet 16 game against UCLA during the NCAA Tournamen March 30, 2024, in Albany, N.Y. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)
“You can criticize coaches all you want,” she told reporters, via ESPN. “That’s our business. You can come at us and say you’re the worst coach in America. I hate you, I hate everything about you. We expect that. It comes with the territory.
“But the one thing I’m not going to let you do, I’m not going to let you attack young people, and there were some things in this commentary that you should be offended by as women. It was so sexist. It was good versus evil in that game today. Evil? Called us dirty debutantes? Are you kidding me?
“I’m not going to let you talk about 18- to 21-year-old kids in that tone.”
LSU star Angel Reese was among the players who came out in defense of Mulkey over the LA Times piece. She said she and her teammates are “good villains” who are helping the game of women’s basketball.
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LSU head coach Kim Mulkey speaks to reporters during a news conference at the NCAA Tournament in Albany, N.Y., Friday, March 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
“That’s what we’re worried about,” Reese said. “Just being able to have teammates that have my back, have teammates, have coaches just have each other’s back this whole time. I don’t care what the outside thinks. I know what’s going on in that locker room.”
Mulkey added she wasn’t going to let “sexism continue.”
“But I can’t sit up here as a mother and a grandmother and a leader of young people and allow somebody to say that. Because guys, that’s wrong. I know sexism when I see it and I read it. That was awful.”
The LA Times has since edited its story to remove some language, including “dirty debutantes.” The newspaper said it didn’t meet its “editorial standards.”
The criticism of the LA Times column came as The Washington Post released a story on Mulkey, detailing rifts during her career with players and her family.
LSU head coach Kim Mulkey hugs forward Angel Reese late in the second half of a second-round game against Middle Tennessee in the women’s NCAA Tournament in Baton Rouge, La., March 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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“I can tell you I haven’t read it. I don’t know that I will read it. I’ll leave that up to my attorneys,” she said of the Post profile.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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