Angel Reese has admitted that she once hated playing for Kim Mulkey, revealing that the legendary coach’s demanding approach was difficult to accept until it prepared her for the realities of professional basketball.
Speaking on her podcast, Reese looked back on a period when Mulkey‘s constant pressure felt personal, before time and experience gave it a different meaning.
The conversation unfolded during an episode featuring Teresa Weatherspoon, with the discussion naturally turning to Mulkey, the head coach of the LSU Tigers.
Both women played under Mulkey in different eras, and both agreed that her intensity has never softened. The coach who demands relentlessly from the sideline, they said, was once the same competitor on the floor.
Weatherspoon recalled a moment that captured Mulkey‘s personality perfectly, describing a practice where the coach decided to show rather than tell.
“She played one time with us. And she said, ‘I’m going to show you all why I’m Kim Mulkey. I’m going show you.’ We were like, ‘Yeah, this is the time we going to beat the sh-….’, we were coming for her, but she showed us why she was Kim Mulkey. Oh, she was she’s tough. She’s greedy. She’s the same way. All the energy that she coaches with, she played the same way. She’s been doing that the entire time,” she said.
For Reese, that same intensity often landed hardest on her shoulders. She acknowledged that Mulkey‘s constant attention was something she struggled with while at LSU.
“She used to get on me bad, and I used to hate it in the moment. I used to like why is she always on me like that?” Reese said, admitting that frustration built even as her success on the court grew.
At the time, Reese said, it was difficult to separate criticism from care. Practices were demanding, expectations were nonnegotiable, and there was little room for comfort. It was only after she left college basketball that the reasoning behind those standards became clear.
“But then, when I got to the league, I’ll be like, ‘oh okay, like this is a standard.’ It was no walking in practice. It was no, not being ready to go. When you came and practice I was ready to go… But she’s out of heart, out of good love,” the Chicago Sky star further added.
From resistance at LSU to appreciation in the pros
That shift in perspective mirrors Reese‘s growth as a player and as a person. Under Mulkey‘s guidance, she became one of the most dominant figures in college basketball.
During her two seasons at LSU, Reese helped deliver the 2023 national championship and produced a string of historic performances, including 34 double doubles in a single season. Her confidence and physicality made her one of the most recognisable faces in the sport.
Yet success did not erase how difficult the experience felt at the time. Reese has never tried to romanticise those college years.
Instead, she has consistently acknowledged how uncomfortable the process was, particularly during long practices and moments when Mulkey‘s criticism felt relentless. What changed was not the memory but the understanding.
Read the full article here
