For over a week, LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey braced herself for an anticipated Washington Post exposé set to release before LSU’s Sweet 16 game against UCLA.

Kent Babb’s meticulously researched article, published on Saturday, provided a detailed yet unsurprising examination of Mulkey’s coaching style, as well as her human flaws and vulnerabilities.

Mulkey, known for her authoritative coaching demeanor, follows a well-trodden path shared by many legendary college coaches such as Eddie Robinson, Pat Summitt, Bear Bryant, Bob Knight, John Thompson, and Mike Krzyzewski. They all possess a dictatorial approach, alternating between tough discipline and compassionate leadership, maintaining unwavering control over their teams and players.

The Post story is likely to deepen admiration for Mulkey among her supporters and reinforce existing criticisms for detractors. Regardless, it further fuels the growing interest in women’s basketball.

However, overshadowing Mulkey’s concerns about the Post article, the Los Angeles Times published a significantly more offensive and damaging piece on the same day. Penned by Ben Bolch, the column resorted to familiar racist and misogynistic stereotypes, underscoring the persistent challenges women face in the sports world.

This column underscores the troubling intersection of racism and sexism, highlighting the enduring presence of discriminatory attitudes in contemporary society.

In contrast to the Washington Post’s exploration of Mulkey’s family dynamics, the Los Angeles Times article transformed the LSU-UCLA game into a moralistic narrative that invoked distasteful imagery of women in general and Black women specifically.

Though the piece has undergone revisions, with certain sentences removed, the headline “UCLA vs. LSU is America’s sweethearts vs. its basketball villains” encapsulates the underlying attitudes permeating discussions about women’s basketball.

Previously, the column posed the questions: “Do you prefer America’s sweethearts or its dirty debutantes? Milk and cookies or Louisiana hot sauce?” This line has since been removed, but the underlying implications linger.

*The team that wants to grow women’s basketball or the one seemingly hell-bent on dividing it?

*The tender star player or the one who taunts?

It wasn’t finished: The UCLA-LSU game represented good versus evil. Right versus wrong. Inclusive versus divisive.

The article took a predictable turn by targeting LSU star forward Angel Reese, highlighting her actions towards Iowa guard Caitlin Clark during last year’s championship game when it was evident that LSU would emerge victorious. Interestingly, there was no mention of Clark’s own history of trash-talking and belittling opponents throughout the tournament.

Specifically, the piece highlighted Reese’s gesture of waving goodbye to tearful Middle Tennessee center Anastasiia Boldyreva after Boldyreva fouled out on March 24. The author then juxtaposed this with a portrayal of UCLA as operating in saintly shadows, likening them to a wholesome miniature stuffed Bruin mascot.

While it may be tempting to dismiss this article as misguided and soon forgotten, it is essential to recognize it as part of a longstanding racist pattern that emerged as early as the 20th century. This pattern became evident when Black athlete Jack Johnson gained global notoriety as the heavyweight champion of the world. Jack London, a writer at the time, famously called for retired champion Jim Jefferies to come out of retirement to “save” the white race from Johnson, thus immortalizing Jefferies as “The Great White Hope.”

Thirteen years earlier, Charles Dana, the editor of the New York Sun, warned readers “We are in the midst of a growing menace. The black man is rapidly forging to the front ranks in athletics, especially in the field of fisticuffs. We are in the midst of a black rise against white supremacy.”

Sports often serve as a stage for moral narratives, particularly when high-profile teams comprised of Black players face off against teams with predominantly white rosters. In the case of LSU versus UCLA, the contrast between the mostly Black LSU team and the predominantly white UCLA team is emphasized, with the writer suggesting that UCLA’s perceived virtues stand in opposition to those of LSU.

This phenomenon frequently revolves around notions of intelligence, class, and behavior. An illustrative example occurred in 1988 when the University of Miami football team, predominantly composed of Black players, faced Notre Dame. The media dubbed the matchup as Catholics (Notre Dame) versus Convicts (Miami), reflecting disdain from white fans and certain media members towards Miami’s outspoken, flamboyant style of play.

Similar dynamics unfolded in college basketball during the 1990 national championship game between UNLV and Duke. Duke players were portrayed as choirboys, while UNLV players were depicted as gangsters and thugs, despite Duke also having Black players. This narrative underscores the perception of certain Black players as conforming to a more acceptable archetype.

Coach Thompson’s Georgetown Hoyas faced similar challenges in the mid-1980s and early 1990s, enduring demeaning media portrayals as thugs due to their tough, aggressive style of play.

Dawn Staley, the coach of South Carolina women’s basketball team, voiced concerns during last year’s Final Four about her team’s portrayal, particularly criticisms from Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder, who likened rebounding against South Carolina to “going to a bar fight.”

“We’re not bar fighters. We’re not thugs. We’re not monkeys. We’re not street fighters,” Staley said after Iowa upset South Carolina to reach the national championship game. “I do think that that’s sometimes brought into the game, and it hurts.”

Earlier this year, South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley challenged CBS Sports Radio host JR Jackson’s characterization of senior center Kamilla Cardoso as “the giant Brazilian woman that knocks people over.” The radio host later apologized.

While everyone is entitled to their opinion, responsible journalism demands a higher standard. Columnists for reputable publications and websites have the responsibility to offer informed perspectives that elevate the conversation. Unfortunately, some commentary, like the piece that used racist stereotypes to denigrate LSU in favor of UCLA, falls short of this standard. Racism remains a pervasive and dangerous reality, as evidenced by recent incidents of racist taunts directed at the University of Utah women’s team.

Instead of perpetuating harmful narratives, we should celebrate the positive evolution of women’s basketball. The women’s tournament offers diverse storylines and matchups, such as the highly anticipated rematch between Iowa and LSU, USC’s clash with UConn featuring freshman sensation JuJu Watkins, and the potential showdown between South Carolina and LSU.

The focus should be on competition, not on manufacturing a morality play pitting dark against light or black against white.

Since her confrontation with Reese last year, Caitlin Clark, projected as the No. 1 pick in the upcoming WNBA draft, has gone out of her way to praise the LSU star. She recognizes that the attention garnered by players like Reese and Mulkey is beneficial for a sport that is thriving. It is players like Clark and Reese, along with coaches like Mulkey and Staley, who truly contribute to the growth of the game. In contrast, mindless commentary that relies on racist and misogynistic tropes only detracts from the sport’s progress.

Ultimately, inflammatory narratives like the one portraying UCLA as angels and LSU as sinners only serve to make Mulkey and her LSU Tigers sympathetic figures in the ongoing struggle for equality and fairness in sports.