The word “aggressive” defines not only the LSU women’s basketball team but also its coach, Kim Mulkey, who played a very aggressive offense Saturday in talking about a rumored story about her coming from The Washington Post.
“I wouldn’t normally discuss media rumors about me, but I felt the need to publicly address what exactly this reporter for The Washington Post has been doing the past several years,” the fiery Mulkey said at a news conference Saturday, according to the New York Post.
Washington Post reporter Kent Babb confirmed to The Associated Press that he is working on a profile of Mulkey, but neither he nor the Post would comment further.
LSU coach Kim Mulkey began her press conference with an opening statement about an upcoming Washington Post article about her.
“This is exactly why people don’t trust journalists and the media anymore. … I will sue the Washington Post if they publish a false story about me.” pic.twitter.com/k13R21yoLk
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) March 23, 2024
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In her Saturday comments, a day after her team’s victory in the first round of the NCAA championship tournament, Mulkey said whatever comes out has been two years in the making, according to the New York Post.
“And the lengths he has gone to try and put a hit piece together. This reporter has been working on a story about me for two years. After two years of trying to get me to sit with him for an interview, he contacts LSU on Tuesday, as we were getting ready for the first-round game of this tournament, with more than a dozen questions, demanding a response by Thursday right before we’re scheduled to tip-off. Are you kidding me?” she said.
Mulkey said the tactic was not designed to get a response.
“This was a ridiculous deadline that LSU and I could not possibly meet, and the reporter knew it. It’s just an attempt to prevent me from commenting and an attempt to distract us from this tournament,” she said.
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“It ain’t gonna work, buddy,” she said.
“Unfortunately, this is part of a pattern that goes back years. I told this reporter two years ago that I didn’t appreciate the hit job he wrote on [LSU football coach] Brian Kelly, and that’s why I wasn’t going to do an interview with him.
“After that, the reporter called two former college coaches of mine and left multiple messages that he was with me in Baton Rouge to get them to call him back — trying to trick these coaches into believing that I was working with the Washington Post on a story,” she said.
Mulkey is in her third year at LSU. After winning the NCAA tournament last year, she signed a 10-year, $36 million extension.
Mulkey said she will take the fight to The Washington Post, according to AP.
“I’m fed up, and I’m not going to let The Washington Post attack this university, this awesome team of young women I have, or me without a fight,” Mulkey said.
“I’ve hired the best defamation law firm in the country, and I will sue The Washington Post if they publish a false story about me,” she said.
“Not many people are in a position to hold these kinds of journalists accountable, but I am, and I’ll do it,” Mulkey said.
Mulkey said the Post is trying to find negative things to say about her.
Former players said the Post “contacted them and offered to let them be anonymous in a story if they’ll say negative things about me. The Washington Post has called former disgruntled players to get negative quotes to include in their story,” Mulkey said.
Mulkey said what’s being done to her is a sad commentary on journalism, saying, “This is exactly why people don’t trust journalists and the media anymore.”
“It’s these kinds of sleazy tactics and hatchet jobs that people are just tired of,” Mulkey said, according to Forbes.
