"He was being disrespectful": Michael Jordan’s ex-teammate Ron Harper responds as Shannon Sharpe goes in on Kim Mulkey over postgame exchange

By Ernesto Cova

Modified Mar 31, 2025 15:14 GMT

NBA: Chicago Bulls-Ring of Honor Gala - Source: Imagn — Ron Harper took Kim Mulkey's side - Source: Imagn

Sunday marked the end of the season for the No. 3 seeded LSU Tigers. Kim Mulkey's team fell to the top-seeded UCLA Bruins 65-72 in the Elite Eight. This was the second year in a row the program lost at this stage.

But when a reporter pointed that out during a post-game interaction, Coach Mulkey cut him off mid-sentence and proceeded to take a dig at him personally.

"How many Final Fours have you played in!" Mulkey said to the reporter as others in the room burst out laughing.

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NFL legends Shannon Sharpe and Chad 'Ochocinco' Johnson reacted to the now-viral clip of coach Mulkey's interaction, and Sharpe didn't like her attitude one bit. On a recent episode of Nightcap, he called out the veteran coach for repeatedly misbehaving with reporters with impunity.

"Has she not lost a game before?" Sharpe asked. "He [the reporter] didn't even get a chance to finish the question. For you to snap back. Really?! Kim Mulkey has been nasty for a very long time. And she's gotten away with this type of behaviour because she's a national champion-winning head coach."

"She has a history of doing this. People excuse behaviour if you win. She's been nasty for an extremely long period of time. This is unacceptable from Kim Mulkey."

However, five-time NBA champion Ron Harper didn't see things that way. On the contrary, Michael Jordan's former teammate with the Chicago Bulls thought that the young reporter was being disrespectful with his line of questioning.

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"He was being disrespectful to the coach so the coach diss it back," Harper said.

Mulkey is known for her blunt responses on press conferences, so this was pretty on-brand for her.

Kim Mulkey hints at big moves in the transfer portal

This isn't Coach Mulkey's first setback, and the Tigers should continue to be a powerhouse for as long as she's there with the program.

When asked about the bigger picture, the Hall of Famer teased Tigers fans about being very active in the transfer portal:

"It's time to get in the portal. This one leaves, this one goes, this one comes. So next year we'll start this thing up again and see what kind of team you have and go to work," the renowned coach said.

Coach Mulkey has certainly earned her stripes. She's the first coach to win a national championship as a player, assistant coach, and head coach. So even though there will always be some headlines and narratives around her, no one can take any of her accomplishments away from her.

About the author

Ernesto Cova is a journalist at Sportskeeda with a PhD in Sports Psychology. His education helped him develop a clearer understanding of the sports world as a whole, including basketball. Ernesto has over eight years of experience in the field, working for Fadeaway World, The Inquisitr, NBA Blast, The Cold Wire and Bolavip, among others.

His favorite team is the Chicago Bulls because of the Michael Jordan era. Jordan is Ernesto's all-time favorite, as he changed the game forever. Ernesto's second favorite was Kobe Bryant because he embodied that same competitive fire and Ernesto watched him play throughout his entire career. Nowadays, Ernesto really likes Stephen Curry, who he believes to be the most influential player of the past 15 years or so.

Ernesto's favorite basketball moment was when Venezuela -- his country -- took down Canada to take home the 2015 FIBA Americas Cup.

When not watching or writing about basketball, Ernesto likes to read and is interested in photography.

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Edited by Satagni Sikder