Kim Mulkey feels betrayed.
On Wednesday, the LSU women's basketball coach held a press conference announcing that the team's most high-profile player, Angel Reese, would be back with the team for Thursday night's top 10 showdown against Virginia Tech.
The reasons for Reese's two-week absence from the team have gone largely unexplained, though Mulkey did hint at one point that they are disciplinary in nature. But in announcing Reese's return, Mulkey also took the opportunity to express displeasure with the scrutiny placed on why Reese was on the shelf.
"Here's my point – have I ever, ever turned down any of y'all down for an interview?," Mulkey asked the gathered reporters. "Never, unless I can't do it that day. Pretty much available, right?
"All I ask as a coach is if I don't give you the answer you want, don't attack me for that. Don't attack and make it personal. Is that fair?"
Mulkey then said she feels some reporters get a little too emotional when her response isn't what they want it to be.
"Some of you take it to a personal level, and I don't understand that," she said. "I would never attack any of you for writing a bad article about me if you didn't think I made the right call. That's fair game. But to attack somebody on a personal level, am I wrong about that? Yes or no?"
"They know who they are. Y'all know who they are," Mulkey continued without calling out anyone by name. "For not answering the question the way you should answer it, that's not journalism in my book. Maybe I'm too old. Maybe I need to get out. You get realness with me.
"I had somebody tell me, 'You're a breath of fresh air, Kim.' I said, What does that mean? 'You give us honest, real answers and we want to attack you sometimes for that.' Well, I can't sugar coat things. I feel like people want the truth, but I'm also going to protect my players. I struggle with that."
#7 LSU faces #9 Virginia Tech tonight at 8 p.m. in the PMAC. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
