Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
In case you forgot what type of person she is, LSU coach Kim Mulkey sent a reminder over the weekend.
It proved once again that she’s far from being in South Carolina coach Dawn Staley’s neighborhood.
Maybe you saw clips of Sunday’s basketball game between undefeated South Carolina and bitter rival LSU, foes who have captured the last two national titles. The Gamecocks won — giving Staley four straight (second this season) against Mulkey — solidifying their No. 1 ranking in the Associated Press poll while leaving LSU unchanged at No. 8.
But most tongue-wagging afterward focused on a melee late in the fourth quarter when South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardosa shoved LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson to the floor. Players and a few fans, including Johnson’s brother, rushed toward center court as emotions flared. Some accounts described it as a brawl but nary a punch was thrown. Hardly a Malice in the Palace.
This was more of a kerfuffle than a tussle, but the shove and resulting commotion was a bad look for impressionable onlookers. Such behavior can’t be condoned by responsible adults who are charged with guiding young athletes. The incident overshadowed the game and had to be addressed.
Staley took the proper posture during a postgame on-court interview. “I just want to apologize to the basketball community,” she said. “I want to apologize for us playing a part in that. That’s not who we are and that’s not what we’re about.”
Mulkey offered her thoughts from the podium and hit the right notes … at first: “No one wants to be a part of that; no one wants to see that ugliness,” she said.
“But I can tell you this. I wish (Cardoso) would’ve pushed Angel Reese.”
Excuse me?
What matter of crass foolishness is that? Mulkey based her comment on Cardosa being nine…
Read the full article here
