Stephen A. Smith Blasts 'Very Rude' LSU Coach Kim Mulkey in ESPN Rant

Stephen A. Smith did not mince words when discussing LSU Tiger's coach Kim Mulkey's recent viral spat with a reporter.

LSU head coach Kim Mulkey walks the court ahead of the game against the Texas Longhorns at the Moody Center on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. | Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

During LSU women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey's postgame press conference after her team lost to UCLA in the Elite Eight of the 2025 NCAA Tournament on March 30, a reporter asked her, "This is the second straight year you guys got eliminated in the Elite Eight..."

"Is that terrible or is that good?" Mulkey interrupted before the question was finished.

"Terrible," the reporter responded, seemingly joking.

"How many Final Fours you play in?" Mulkey then added while taking a drink from a Gatorade cup.

The reporter said, "None."

This prompted Mulkey to respond, "So it's probably pretty good, huh?"

An X post of this interaction went extremely viral, receiving over 1.5 million views.

#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

It also caught the attention of sports media juggernaut Stephen A. Smith, who called Mulkey out for her comments during a March 31 episode of ESPN First Take.

"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. She's very rude. She's very, very rude. I mean, she's rude, she's condescending, and unnecessarily so to too many people," Smith said, per an X post from Awful Announcing.

"But it's always with the right one. See, she don't go up to the wrong ones like that," Smith continued. "It's almost like she knows, Shannon, who to do what to and who not to do that to. Because certain people you do that to, they gonna clap back at you."

He then added, "But she is a phenomenal coach, one of the best ever. But she is just a very very rude person."

Stephen A. Smith: "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. She's very very rude. She's rude, she's condescending and unnecessarily so to too many people." pic.twitter.com/Qr0ngIdcC4

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 31, 2025

This sentiment is sure to evoke quite a response from LSU fans and the women's basketball community.