On a day when the basketball world was taken aback by the lack of compassion shown by former Baylor women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey regarding Brittney Griner, current Baylor coach Nicki Collen shared some thoughts on her own.
While many coaches around the women’s basketball world have shared their thoughts and feelings about Griner’s imprisonment in Russia, Mulkey, who was her head coach at Baylor where they won a national championship together in 2012, has been noticeably quiet. When a reporter asked her for any thoughts on the Griner saga, saying “I don’t think I’ve seen anything from you on that,” the current LSU women’s basketball coach bluntly responded, “and you won’t.”
Really? pic.twitter.com/ISJGuhUImE
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) September 26, 2022
Meanwhile, Baylor’s current head coach is Collen, who took over last year after Mulkey departed for LSU. When asked about the Griner situation, Collen didn’t hold back in describing how she is impacted and compassionate towards Griner and her family.
“I see her as a mother, as a sister, as a spouse, as a daughter, as an unbelievable ambassador for the game of basketball. I think there are people who have said she kneeled (for the national anthem). We can argue about kneeling or not kneeling all day long. Brittney Griner has worn that USA across her chest and won gold medals for this country. She’s represented Baylor. She was one of our first idols, she WAS Baylor. And I absolutely know there was a championship here before BG but she made Baylor a household name.”
“I think this is a humanitarian thing… I think there’s a lot of arguments at play. I think what isn’t play, in my mind, is that we shouldn’t be doing everything in our power to bring Brittney home.”
“She made Baylor a household name.” @BaylorWBB Coach @NickiCollen on #BrittneyGriner #MediaDay @TheAthleticWBB pic.twitter.com/pVJD4wNFfY
— Dorothy J. Gentry (@DorothyJGentry) September 26, 2022
Makes you wonder why Mulkey couldn’t just say something like that.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.