“Kim Mulkey is going to kill me” - $1.2M NIL-valued Flau’jae Johnson gets real on consequences of missing practice to pursuit music

Flau'jae Johnson, who has a NIL value of $1.2 million, according to On3.com, is a talented basketball player for the LSU Tigers. But alongside her emerging college basketball career, Johnson is also a talented rapper who recently saw the release of an album.

The combination of these two careers means that sometimes, she has to prioritise one over the other. Johnson recently spoke with Overtime about one occasion where her music career was close to having a negative effect on her basketball duties. It also, more importantly, had an impact on her relationship with her coach.

"If I miss practise tomorrow, and I was just performing at Rod Wave, Kim Mulkey is going to kill me... So I made a shout out to my boy Cooley, and he drove his sprinter down to Atlanta, and as soon as I'm done performing, I hop back and drove seven hour, and I got back just in time for practice at 9 AM."

Kim Mulkey is the current head coach of the LSU Tigers women's basketball team. She is a four-time national champion, having led the Tigers to a championship in 2023, and the Baylor Bears to three championships during her over 20-year reign with them.

Mulkey has gained a reputation during her long coaching career for not only her fashion sense but for the way she treats her players. She has been known to push her players to the limit of what they can do. But she has also had moments where some players have felt alienated by her attitude towards certain things.

However, Flau'jae Johnson, despite worrying about the possible consequences of not attending practice, has previously given her praise to the work of Kim Mulkey. The latter may have even played a role in allowing Johnson to have both a basketball and a music career.

Johnson told On3.com during March Madness earlier in the year:

“Me, that’s my coach, and I love coach Kim. She believed in me when nobody believed in me. When I was in my recruiting process, every school told me you’ve got to pick music or you’ve got to pick basketball, but she didn’t. She let me be who I wanted to be. She supported me all the way.”

The role Flau'jae Johnson will play in 2024

Flau'jae Johnson should be focusing more on her basketball career now that she has released her new album. But, she should also do this for the sake of her team and the benefits that the next season may bring to her basketball career.

Johnson spent the first two years of her college career with the LSU Tigers in the shadows of star player Angel Reese. The latter had been a key part of the Tigers' recent success and was one of the best players in women's college basketball in the last few years.

This year, LSU will be without Reese, as she has entered the WNBA. Flau'jae Johnson is likely to be the one to fill the gap left by her.

Johnson showed initial signs of being able to do so during March Madness, where in some games she was able to outperform her teammate. But this year, she will need to step up and become a leader and maybe bring the Tigers and Kim Mulkey another national championship.