Brittney Griner’s college coach Kim Mulkey slammed as 'heartless' for refusing to comment on jailed player
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA: American professional basketball player, Brittnay Griner, 31, was sentenced to nine years in prison after being found guilty of drug trafficking and possession by a Russian court in Februay. Now, Griner's former college coach Kim Mulkey, 60, is facing a backlash for her controversial refusal to comment on the star's detention in Russia in a recent press conference .
Kim Mulkey is currently the head coach of Louisiana State University women's basketball team and a video clip of a press conference started circulating on social media on Monday, September 26th during which a sports journalist asked her about Griner in a two-part question where she refused to comment on it.
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The WNBA star Brittney Griner was detained in Russia on February 17, 2022 for possesing cannabis oil in her luggage after arriving in Moscow from New York. In the video clip circulating, the reporter asks Mulkey "How do you describe the procces of putting that collective group together and I just wanted to know your thoughts on Brittany Griner's situation. I dont think I saw anything from you on that-"
Mulkey was stern and quick to reply "And you won't," she said "I will answer the first one for ya" she added mentioning she will only answer on his first questions and has no comments on Brittnay Griner. According to the Spun, Mulkey was previously the coach at Baylor University where she trained Griner and Griney earned Top Athlete Rank in the school's national championship team 2011-12.
Apparently they both had tremendous success together on the court but the duo didn't seem to have been on very good terms. Griner who came out as a lesbian once told ESPN that her coach Mulkey discouraged the team from talking about her sexual orientation. Journalist Kate Fagan reportedly claimed that Mulkey tried to get her fired for breaking the story.
Mulkey’s response to journalist's question about Griner was rather upsetting to some social media users who commented that Muley's behaviour towards Grinner was quite "heartless."
What an awful person indeed. I used to think Kim Mulkey was worthy of respect. She's horrible, cruel, heartless.
— Martha Nell Smith (@MarthaNellSmith) September 27, 2022
@primetimeMitch tweeted "Inexcusable, obnoxious, indefensible, absurd. Those are the first words that come to mind here, when Kim Mulkey declines to offer a comment on a player that carried her a national title, who is wrongfully imprisoned in Russia. When people tell you who they are, listen to them."
Kim Mulkey was given the opportunity to say and do the absolute *bare minimum* about Brittney Griner and instead decided it was better to lack any semblance of a soul https://t.co/MWZ0JpzV2X
— Daniel Connolly (@DanielVConnolly) September 26, 2022
American attorney Bakari Sellers tweeted "She is who she thought she was... It's more than sad. She didn't even go "thoughts and prayers" Mulkey don't gove a damn about BG. This is how she treats her former players. This is how she treats ppl"
She is who we thought she was…🤷🏾♂️ It’s more than sad. She didn’t even go “thoughts and prayers.”
— Bakari Sellers (@Bakari_Sellers) September 26, 2022
Mulkey don’t give a damn about BG. This is how she treats her former players. This is how she treats ppl. pic.twitter.com/sU3ytVyEoI
@amadahoey tweeted saying "Kim Mulkey coached Brittney Griner for 4 years. Griner led one of her teams to an undefeated season and national championship. And Mulkey can't even bring herself to offer sympathy to Griner's wife or hope that Griner is safe and will be released soon. What an awful person."
Kim Mulkey coached Brittney Griner for 4 years. Griner led one of her teams to an undefeated season and national championship. And Mulkey can't even bring herself to offer sympathy to Griner's wife or hope that Griner is safe and will be released soon. What an awful person. https://t.co/uLgOHCLqaN
— Amanda Hoey (@amandahoey) September 26, 2022