When Michelle Obama said:When they go low, we go high“, she wasn’t talking about Kim Mulkey. Class and decorum have never been his thing. On Sunday, No. 1 South Carolina remained undefeated and won its eighth SEC tournament title after defeating LSU, 79-72. It was a rematch of their January showdown in Baton Rouge, in which South Carolina earned a tough road victory in enemy territory, 76-70.
These are the two best teams in the SEC. They are the last two teams to win national championships. They don’t like each other. And their coaches are polar opposites. So when a fight took place on Sunday, we already knew that the responses from the women who run these programs were bound to be different.
“I just want to apologize to the basketball community” Staley told ESPN during the post-match interview. “I want to apologize for playing a part in this, it’s not who we are. This is not our objective.
Moments after a fight featuring a male fan hopping over a railing and the scorer’s table to potentially get involved, which led to multiple ejections and only 11 players combined from both teams being eligible to participate in the final minutes, Staley handled the situation like a pro. She took full responsibility for the actions of his teamadded context and nuance, did its best to protect women’s college basketball, and apologized to everyone involved on the other side, as well as to informing us that an apology has been made to him from the LSU side.
“We are going to get better at handling situations like this. So I want to apologize to our South Carolina women’s basketball team. Staley told the crowd during the trophy presentation. “LSU is a great team. These are our reigning national champions. And I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re both able to represent Cleveland for the national championship game. I am delighted about it.
Unsurprisingly, and as expected, it was a different story with Mulkey.
“It’s ugly, it’s not good, no one wants to be part of it” she said after the match. “But I’ll tell you this, I wish (Cardoso) would have pushed Angel Reese. If you are between 6 and 8 years old, don’t push someone so lightly. This was unjustified in my opinion. Let’s leave these two girls who were screaming, let them get to it.
Instead of calming things down, a white woman threw fuel into a situation involving a fight between black women. Mulkey’s privilege has somehow found a way to shine brighter than one of those cheesy outfits she wears on the sidelines. She was so bad on Sunday that she spent time in the postgame press conference informing us that she didn’t know the rules because she was wondering about potential penalties for coaches.
“But my question is: I don’t really know the rules, why weren’t the coaches kicked out if they left the bench? Wouldn’t that be a hell of an ending. But I guess it’s just the players coming off the bench. I don’t know.”
If you know anything about Mulkey or women’s college basketball, you know that she a story about saying stupid things out loud. And it’s not just mistakes of the moment, it’s just who she is. From can’t stand Brittney Griner and would have told him players should not speak publicly about their sexuality, there’s a huge pile of receipts when it comes to Mulkey. This is the same woman who defended Baylor, wanted the NCAA to do away with COVID-19 testing, and practically pleaded to be invited to the White House to see a president who had made it clear that he didn’t like inviting women’s championship teams to the Oval Office.
Who did what to whom on Sunday isn’t as important as who said what and how they said it after the game. When students struggle, we look to adults to be the leaders in the room. Dawn Staley introduced herself as an elder stateswoman of the sport. Kim Mulkey behaved like a clown. Buckle up, the NCAA tournament is going to be extremely entertaining. Happy Women’s History Month!
