Stephen A. Smith Reacts to Kim Mulkey's Postgame Presser Following UCLA Showdown

Kim Mulkey has cemented her status as one of the greatest head coaches in college basketball history with the Hall of Famer's resumé speaking for itself.

Mulkey, who's led the LSU Tigers to three consecutive Elite Eight appearances, including a National Championship in 2023, has a proven track record.

Following LSU's Elite Eight loss to the UCLA Bruins on Sunday, Mulkey spoke out towards a reporter during the postgame press conference.

“That’s terrible, isn’t it?” Mulkey said after the reporter pointed out LSU has lost in the Elite Eight in back-to-back seasons. “How many Final Fours you play in?”

#LSU women’s basketball head coach Kim Mulkey to reporter after Elite Eight loss to #UCLA: “How many Final Fours did you play in?” 😳 pic.twitter.com/spR8bS3mBk
— Spencer Brown (@j_spencerbrown) March 30, 2025

The moment instantly took social media by storm after circulating on multiple platforms.

During Monday’s episode of First Take, co-hosts Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe discussed Mulkey's "antics" and what it means.

“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,” Smith said. “She’s rude, she’s condescending and unnecessarily so to too many people, but it’s always with the right one.

“See, she don’t go up to the wrong ones like that. 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’re going to clap back at you. But she is a phenomenal coach, one of the best ever, but she’s just a very, very rude person.”

For Sharpe, he echoed the same sentiment on Mulkey's "behavior" following the showdown against the UCLA Bruins.

“I think he said he’s [KLSU], so that means he’s a local reporter, that he talks about the Bengals,” Sharpe said. “Now, I can only imagine, Stephen A., had John Calipari or Rick Pitino addressed a woman reporter with that same tone and said, ‘How many Final Fours have you played in?’ Holy hell would’ve broken loose.

“All he did was ask a question… [Mulkey is] not paid to do pretty good. You’re the second or third-highest-paid coach in women’s college basketball. You’re paid to win and get to the Final Four. I don’t like the way she addressed him because had that been a man addressing a woman reporter in that same tone, everybody wouldn’t have been [laughing].”

Mulkey and the LSU Tigers enter a critical offseason in Baton Rouge with the program looking to reconstruct the roster ahead of next season.

LSU will await a decision from All-American guard Flau'Jae Johnson as she mulls over a return to Baton Rouge or enter the 2025 WNBA Draft.

All eyes remain on the Tigers with an important stretch ahead for the progam in the Bayou State.

More LSU News:

Three LSU Targets to Know: Louisiana Prospects the Tigers "Must" Land

The Buzz: Latest on the No. 1 Safety in America, Five-Star LSU Target

Prized LSU Commitment '100%' Locked in with the Tigers

Join the Community:

Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and LSU Tigers On SI: @LSUTigersSI for all coverage surrounding the LSU program.