{"id":440272,"date":"2026-01-31T05:28:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T05:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/440272\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T05:28:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T05:28:11","slug":"i-used-to-hate-it-angel-reese-makes-honest-admission-about-playing-for-kim-mulkey-at-lsu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/440272\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI Used To Hate It\u201d: Angel Reese Makes Honest Admission About Playing for Kim Mulkey at LSU"},"content":{"rendered":"

Honesty has always been Angel Reese\u2019s currency, but her latest admission reveals a time when she struggled to accept the brutal truth from legendary coach Kim Mulkey. Angel Reese\u2019s brand is built on being unapologetic, but on her own podcast, she revealed that the tough-love coaching style of Kim Mulkey was something she once privately hated.<\/p>\n

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In the latest episode<\/a> of her podcast, Reese invited basketball coach Teresa Weatherspoon, and they delved into several topics. A key subject was LSU Tigers head coach, Kim Mulkey. Both Reese and Weatherspoon had the chance to play under the legendary coach, and they agree she was the one who pushed them the hardest.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe played one time with us. And she said, \u2018I\u2019m going to show you all why I\u2019m Kim Mulkey. I\u2019m going show you.\u2019 We were like, \u2018Yeah, this is the time we going to beat the sh\u2013\u2026.\u2019, we were coming for her, but she showed us why she was Kim Mulkey. Oh, she was she\u2019s tough. She\u2019s greedy. She\u2019s the same way. All the energy that she coaches with, she played the same way. She\u2019s been doing that the entire time,\u201d the Vinyl BC coach said.<\/p>\n

However, for Angel Reese,\u00a0the coach\u2019s relentless standards weren\u2019t always easy for her to embrace at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe 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?\u201d she admitted. But it didn\u2019t take her long to realize that coach Mulkey was making her tough for what lay ahead.<\/p>\n

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Imago<\/p>\n

\u201cBut then, when I got to the league, I\u2019ll be like, \u2018oh okay, like this is a standard.\u2019 It was no walking in practice. It was no, not being ready to go. When you came and practice I was ready to go\u2026 But she\u2019s out of heart, out of good love,\u201d the Chicago Sky star further added.<\/p>\n

Under her guidance, Reese became a national champion and one of the most recognizable faces in women\u2019s basketball. In two seasons at LSU, Reese helped lead the Tigers to the 2023 NCAA title, while also posting historic numbers, including 34 double-doubles in a single season.<\/p>\n

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But still, this isn\u2019t the first time she has expressed how she hated playing for Mulkey. Looking back, she feels grateful for that experience.<\/p>\n

Back in 2025, Reese revealed, \u201cShe prepared me for the WNBA. I think mentally, physically, for sure \u2014 practices were very long, and it was easy for me to do training camp. There\u2019s not really anything anybody can say to me as a coaching staff that can break me, or tell me anything that I don\u2019t know about myself, or say things that get me going because I went through Kim Mulkey. She\u2019s gonna tell it like it is, she\u2019s gonna keep it real with you, and I appreciate that. At the moment, I hated it. I\u2019m not gonna lie, I hated it, and I dreaded it, and I didn\u2019t like it. But when I left, I\u2019m like, I was really thankful for that. It didn\u2019t make sense in the moment, but now it all makes sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, as Angel Reese continues to carve out her place in the WNBA, she also reflects on another pivotal coach in her life, Weatherspoon herself, who used to train the Chicago Sky.<\/p>\n

Rising Star, Tough Lessons: Angel Reese on Trust and Transition<\/p>\n

The Bayou Barbie got drafted in the WNBA as the seventh overall pick by the Chicago Sky in 2024. And if her college days were any indication, she went on to immediately become a force on the court, earning All-Star honors and dominating the glass.<\/p>\n

In her rookie season, Reese averaged 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds per game, which set the WNBA record for highest rebounding average in a single season.<\/p>\n

But while she was winning on an individual level, her team didn\u2019t see the same level of success. The Sky franchise finished 13-27, landing near the bottom of the conference, which ultimately led to the firing of head coach Teresa Weatherspoon.<\/p>\n

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USA Today via Reuters<\/p>\n

So during their conversation, they also discussed her departure from Chicago and reflected on the shared journey that helped shape Reese\u2019s professional career.<\/p>\n

Weatherspoon admitted that learning about her firing was \u201ca tremendous shock,\u201d especially given that they didn\u2019t even tell her that in person. But Angel Reese valued Weatherspoon\u2019s guidance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you move with a lot of grace, come to the situation that did happen. It was very unfortunate for a lot of us, more than you know. I kind of took from it like I always told you, people come in your life for a reason and a season. And I think you came in my life for the right reason and the right season,\u201d she said. \u201cI can\u2019t speak for anybody else, but I think you came into my life for the right reason and the right season, and we forever locked in. I\u2019m just so thankful that it was that right time. It was the perfect time.\u201d<\/p>\n

But despite the abrupt exit from the Sky, Weatherspoon has moved on and is currently coaching in the 3-on-3 league Unrivaled for Vinyl BC.<\/p>\n

In the end, if there\u2019s one thing to take from her conversations, it\u2019s how much Angel Reese values the role her coaches played in her journey, even when their lessons were tough to swallow in the moment.<\/p>\n

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