Kim Mulkey Isn't All Wrong or All Correct in Comments About the Sports Media
The four-time championship coach communicates her annoyance
Public figures have their strong, blunt opinions about the media and Kim Mulkey, a member of two basketball hall of fame’s and winner of four national championships is no different. She makes credible points and misses the mark with her criticism.
The Louisiana State University head women’s basketball coach, who led the Tigers to the 2022-23 season national title has experienced a strange start to this season.
Angel Reese, the program’s superstar (NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player and a unanimous first-team All American) has not been playing in games and the way Mulkey has kept the reason or reasons quiet has puzzled and frustrated the media.
What’s going on, the sports media and the fans have wondered.
“Reese has missed two games since being pulled from the starting line-up, with the talk on the grapevine being that she has proven problematic behind closed doors although it is not connected to her grades and academic performance,” Marca.com reports.
Mulkey is not going to communicate more than she is permitted to by the school’s rules or more than she cares to divulge.
"You always have to deal with locker room issues," Mulkey says. "That's just part of coaching. That's what coaches do. Sometimes, y'all know about them, and sometimes you don't, and sometimes you want to know more than you're entitled to know.”
She’s correct that the media may not be “entitled” to know everything. Simultaneously it is the reporter’s job to seek out facts, evidence, truth, comments and stories and decide what is and isn’t newsworthy. Mulkey knows this too, see that this is her twenty-third season as a head coach, so her being upset about it seems as if she is wishing for what isn’t reality.
"I'm going to protect my players always, they are more important. It's like a family,” Mulkey says. “If you do some discipline of your own children, do you think we're entitled to know that? That's a family in that locker room."
That’s admirable leadership, the kind that people long for and respect and value. The media, however, aren’t followers. Mulkey can do all she can to prevent certain news from coming to light and usually be protected by her bosses at LSU. She just can’t expect the media to stop asking questions about the team, players, one being an elite player in the game, like Reese is, who is not playing, without much of an explanation.
Mulkey additionally hasn’t liked what has been reported.
"It doesn't really matter what I say to you guys," she pointedly lectures. "You're going to write and interpret things the way you want to. Some of you wrote some things that I never said. I never used some of the words that y'all wrote. You interpreted it the way you wanted to. Just write what I tell you,” Mulkey complains and asserts.
Ouch! Siding with Mulkey here because what she expresses is reasonable, as is her anger at media for its misinterpreting or sloppily and inaccurately conveying information, not seeking clarification and writing what Mulkey insists she has not communicated.
Reese too expresses disbelief, hurt and advisory.
“Don’t believe everything you read,” she says.
This conversation about the media is not all in Mulkey’s favor or is what she is saying unprofessional, sour grapes or unreasonable. Of course the media can and will retort Mulkey’s claims and likely quite well. Both parties, and Reese have credible points.
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