Everyone is weighing in on Kim Mulkey, the head women’s basketball coach for the LSU Tigers. She set herself up as a target for podcast and morning show discussions after being described as “nasty” towards a student reporter by Shannon Sharpe.
Sharpe has called for the media to hold Mulkey— and her behavior— accountable, which he reiterated on Sunday night. It seems his good friend, Stephen A. Smith, was listening. On Monday morning’s First Take, Smith said, “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 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
Smith continued, “But it’s always with the right one. 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.”
Was Mulkey’s interaction with student reporter Jayden Smith a reflection of this behavior? After Smith innocently queried about her recent inability to make the Final Four in consecutive seasons, she retorted by questioning how many Final Fours he himself had attended. Hmm…
While public criticism may come from many angles, when figures like Sharpe and Smith label her actions as “nasty” and “rude,” it becomes increasingly difficult for Mulkey to remain under the radar. Their direct criticism isn’t something she can easily brush off—though she might attempt to. At 62, it’s unlikely that a coach will change overnight simply due to some harsh words. However, she will eventually have to confront the reality that her behavior is capturing the attention of major voices in sports media.
