When Kim Mulkey shared heartfelt memory with Pat Summitt after her injury at 1984 Olympics

LSU coach Kim Mulkey and Tennessee legend Pat Summitt's careers have been intertwined since the early 1980s. Their paths crossed when Mulkey was a star player at Louisiana Tech and Summitt coached at Tennessee, culminating in many encounters on the court.

Speaking with the media in January 2022, during her first year as LSU coach, Mulkey spoke fondly about her relationship with Summitt, who died in 2016. She recalled a specific memory from a few weeks before the 1984 Olympics that left a lasting impression.

"I was selected to be on the 1984 Olympic team, and [Pat] was the coach," Mulkey said (0:25). "I was starting, doing great, and we went to Taipei, Taiwan, before the Olympics. I woke up one day and couldn’t walk."

Kim Mulkey suffered a stress fracture in her left foot and was devastated that she might miss the Olympics in Los Angeles.

"Immediately, my thought was, 'I’ve worked all my life, and now they’re going to have to pick up an alternate,'" she said.

"I remember [Pat] calling me into her room. Being that she was a player at one time ... she comforted me and said, 'I will not pick up an alternate. You’ve earned the right to be on this team, and the doctors tell me in four weeks you’re good to go.'"

Kim Mulkey and Pat Summitt went on to win the gold medal at the 1984 Olympics. Mulkey retired from playing and embarked on a coaching career, starting in 1985 as an assistant at Louisiana Tech.

Kim Mulkey once shared a funny conversation about Pat Summitt's weight rules

When Kim Mulkey played under Pat Summitt at the 1984 Olympics, Mulkey said there were strict rules about the players's weights.

In a conversation with WBIR Channel 10 in July, she recounted a lighthearted exchange with the five-time national coach of the year about the weight rule.

"Back in that day, [Pat] was a stickler for weight," Mulkey said (2:40). "I remember a funny but respectful conversation when I said, 'Coach, what difference does it make what I weigh? You're 0-4 against me and my Louisiana Tech teams.'

"And I said, 'But I'll do what you ask,' and she'd laugh about it. But she told me she was gonna keep coaching until she finally started dominating Louisiana Tech."

During Kim Mulkey's four-year college career from 1980 to 1984, Pat Summitt's Lady Volunteers played a total of six times against the Lady Techsters. Mulkey's team won all games, four in the regular season and two in the postseason, which included the 1982 NCAA Final Four matchup.