Photo: Peter G. Aiken/Getty
Kim Mulkey, the formerBaylor Bearshead coach who won a collegiate championship alongsideBrittney Griner, shut down a reporter’s question about the detained WNBA star on Monday.
Mulkey was Griner’s college coach from 2009 to 2013 at Baylor University, and was asked about her former player’s situation during the team’s media day.Daily Advertiser reporter Cory Diazasked Mulkey to share “her thoughts on” Griner’s current situation before the collegiate coach interjected.
Mulkey’s refusal to comment led to backlash from fans and WNBA players like Queen Egbo, a standout rookie for the Indiana Fever who played for Mulkey for three years at Baylor.
“A player that built Baylor, 2 [Final Fours], & a 40-0 record. Yet her former coach refuses to say anything or simply just show any kind of support,“Egbo tweeted. “Keep that in mind when you’re choosing schools.”
Brittney Griner and Kim Mulkey at Baylor University.Paul Moseley/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty
Griner has previously said that she and Mulkey had conflicts during her time at Baylor, and that Mulkey had told players not to be open about their sexuality. Griner is openly gay and had told Mulkey that during her recruiting visit, she saidin a 2013ESPN The Magazineinterview, but she alleged that the coach instructed players against sharing that out of concern that it would hurt recruiting.
“The coaches thought that if it seemed like they condoned it, people wouldn’t let their kids come play for Baylor,” Griner said in 2013.
Collen was also asked about Griner on Monday, and unlike Mulkey, had an emotional response.
“Those that have been around me know I get pretty emotional,” Collen said,per USA Today. “I think BG, first of all, is human first. I think this is a human rights issue. No one’s saying she didn’t make a mistake. None of us are perfect.”
The formerAtlanta Dreamhead coach continued, “But I guess I would wanna know if I did something and was stuck in a foreign country, what it was, what it wasn’t. I think we all know that 10 years is a long time. I see her as a mother, as a sister, as a spouse, as a daughter, as an unbelievable ambassador for the game of basketball.”
Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison on Aug. 4 on charges of smuggling drugs into the country, just below the maximum sentence of 10 years. After the trial, Blagovolina had said the sentence was “absolutely unreasonable,” and that she and Griner’s legal team will file an appeal as soon as possible.
RELATED VIDEO: Brittney Griner Is ‘Stressed’ in Russian Prison as She Awaits the Start of Her Appeal Hearings
Blagovolina had previously told PEOPLE that they don’t know if the appeal will be successful — and historically, appeals have not done much to change Russian prison sentences — but said that they have to try. “We need to use every legal opportunity that we have, and appeal is one of these opportunities,” she said.
Once the appeal does begin, the process will also take several months, another of Griner’s lawyers, Alexander Boykov, from the Moscow Legal Center, told PEOPLE. “It’s not very fast.”
source: people.com
