The LSU women’s basketball team is facing internal turmoil involving star player Angel Reese and head coach Kim Mulkey.
The 2023 NCAA championship winner was notably benched in the second half against Kent State on Tuesday (Nov. 14). She was also missing from the team’s recent win over Southeastern Louisiana. Meanwhile, Mulkey’s vague remarks did little to shed light on the situation.
“You want me to explain why? It’s very obvious Angel was not in uniform,” she told reporters after Friday’s (Nov. 17) game. “Angel is a part of this basketball team, and we hope to see her sooner than later.”
The controversy came after LSU’s unexpected defeat by No. 20 Colorado and Reese’s off-court appearances. Earlier this year, she was featured in Sports Illustrated‘s Swimsuit issue and made a cameo in Cardi B and Latto’s “Put It On Da Floor Again.”
Reese‘s former teammate, Alexis Morris, took to Twitter to seemingly address the situation. “I never ever, ever wanted to be at odds or cared about likes, media, nil none of those things,” Morris expressed. “I just wanted to hoop. I come from a different generation of players; we did not have all this when I was in HSNIL, [which] is a plus! Media coverage is a plus in my eyes.”
Morris also refrained from criticizing Mulkey. She wrote, “You can’t pay me to bash Kim!” Jasmin Carson, another former teammate, hinted at having inside information but chose to remain silent for now, posting, “Y’all better hope I don’t say nothing…”
You can’t pay me to bash Kim‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️
— Alexis Morris (@AlexisMorrisWBB) November 16, 2023
y’all better hope I don’t say nothing.. 😂🫠
— Jasmine Carson⛈ (@JazzC2_) November 16, 2023
The drama also extended to Instagram, where Reese’s mother, Angel Reese Webb, and Flau’jae Johson’s mother, Kia Brooks, exchanged words. The former said, “Folks, [please] do not send me long text [messages] with a bunch of grammatical errors. It gives me a headache.”
In response, Brooks reportedly targeted Reese‘s academic performance. She stated, “You definitely know about grammar errors when your daughter got a 2.0 or less GPA… Stop being petty, fake and hateful, and take responsibility for you and your daughter’s actions.”
Subsequently, Twitter users chimed in on the situation with memes and speculation about what happened. Check out their responses below.
Angel Reese will get through this. most of us had a shaky college semester. and we wasnt even superstars we were just fucking up. cut her some slack
— . (@NoEmmeG) November 19, 2023
Idk the full situation w angel Reese or her gpa but bro, school is hard 😂 it’s not a walk in the park for everyone and a lot of ppl genuinely struggle.. now add in the pressure from athletics, NILs and all the attention that she’s getting, i just hope she’s doing alright
— nicole💐 (@elocinicol3) November 18, 2023
y’all don’t gaf bout Angel Reese grades, y’all only care bc she confident, got a bag and enjoyed her summer as ANY other 21 year old would 😂😂
— b. (@bstunna1k) November 18, 2023
Angel Reese started making more than WNBA players and said fuck school😂
— Dom Quixote 🏴☠️ (@Nick_inyamouth) November 18, 2023
Angel Reese getting that 2022 Sha’Carri Richardson hate I see.
— MaltLiquorPapi (@LowkeyBrilliant) November 18, 2023