Brittney Griner Interview: WNBA Superstar Says Baylor Not Supportive Of Gay Athletes
By John Santisteban | Apr 21, 2014 10:00 AM EDT
Brittney Griner and coach Kim Mulkey enjoyed four fruitful seasons at Baylor, but recent reports revealed that the relationship between them were rocky at some point.
Griner revealed her sexual orientation after her stint with the Lady Bears, but she was reportedly open about it during her stay at the Christian university - which reportedly put the women's basketball superstar in trouble with university officials.
Griner, who was Phoenix Mercury's first overall pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft, said that Mulkey told her during a recruitment visit that she doesn't care about anything aside from her basketball skills.
"Big Girl, I don't care what you are," Mulkey reportedly told Griner, The Slate reported. "You can be black, white, blue, purple, whatever. As long as you come here and do what you need to do and hoop, I don't care."
However, Griner wrote in her book that she was summoned by Mulkey when she was seen with her girlfriend during a Valentine's Day date. Mulkey reportedly told Griner that she should be more conscious about keeping her relationship private, and that the coach was also monitoring Griner's Twitter account.
"The more I think about it, the more I feel like the people who run the school want it both ways: they want to keep the policy, so they can keep selling themselves as a Christian university, but they are more than happy to benefit from the success of their gay athletes," Griner said.
The WNBA star clarified, though, that she will still decide to go to Baylor if she will have to do it again, while also clarifying that she still respects and loves Mulkey. However, Griner admitted that it is hard for her to become an ambassador for her school.
"I would love to be an ambassador for Baylor, to show my school pride, but it's hard to do that," Griner said. "I've spent too much of my life being made to feel like there's something wrong with me. And no matter how much support I felt as a basketball player at Baylor, it still doesn't erase all the pain I felt there."
Most Popular
-
1
Setting Boundaries: Why It Is Important to Separate Personal and Professional Relationships -
2
Workplace Distractions That Kill Productivity: It's in Our Hands All the Time -
3
Airlines Industry Report: Passenger and Cargo Airline Employment Statistics as of May 2024 -
4
Diehard Democrat Fired After Posting What She Intended to Be 'Comedic' About Trump’s Assassination -
5
Customs and Border Protection Works with Canines as Biosensors of Smuggled Fentanyl, Firearms at the Mexico Border -
6
Secret Service Faces Scrutiny Over Trump’s Assassination, Causing Calls for The Chief’s Resignation -
7
Even Elon Musk Hates Office Jargons. Here’s Why