Shaquille O’Neal, LSU Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey.Photo:Ethan Miller/Getty; Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty
Ethan Miller/Getty; Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty
Shaquille O’Nealput his LSU pride aside when the Colorado Buffaloes stunned his alma mater’s women’s basketball team on Monday.
Colorado’s No. 20th ranked women’s team pulled off a stunning 92-78 upset win in their season opener againstKim MulkeyandAngel Reese’s No. 1 ranked LSU Tigers at Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena.
After the game, LSU alum O’Neal, 51, showed off his excellent sportsmanship when he visited the Buffaloes locker room to congratulate the team on their victory, as seen in aposton X (formerly Twitter) from Colorado Women’s Basketball.
O’Neal first pulled aside Colorado center Aaronette Vonleh following her dominant 24-point, 6-rebound performance in the game. The NBA legend’s exact words to Vonleh were unclear in the video, but the athletes could be seen exchanging pleasantries, and the Colorado star was all smiles while talking to O’Neal.
“Good game, girls,” O’Neal exclaimed to the Buffaloes locker room as Colorado head coach JR Payne greeted him.
“Welcome, we’ve been huge fans for a really long time," Payne told the former NBA star, adding that the team “appreciates” him taking the time to meet their players.
WNBA championCandace Parkercommentated during Monday’s upset, and the Las Vegas Aces star joined O’Neal to congratulate the Buffaloes in their locker room after the game.
Parker, 37, called the Colorado win “amazing” and told Coach Payne, “I hope to see you at the final four, okay?”
Payne replied, “We’ll hope to see you there too,” as her team looks to expand their goals for this season.
However, “This is not going to devastate us,” Mulkey clarified. “The sky’s not falling.”
Head coach Kim Mulkey of the LSU Lady Tigers looks on in the first half of a game against the Colorado Buffaloes during the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Series at T-Mobile Arena on November 06, 2023.Ethan Miller/Getty
Ethan Miller/Getty
The former Baylor head coach said she knows “a little bit about this game” while addressing the media, but admitted, “What I didn’t know about my team was all those things I just described to you,” referring to the team’s lack of “fight” against Colorado.
“Those things are fixable,” says Mulkey, “but I don’t know how long it’s going to take to fix it,” she said.
In September, Mulkeybecame the highest-paid coach in women’s college basketball historywhen she signed a 10-year contract worth $32 million, according to multiple reports.
The new deal will earn Mulkey an average of $3.2 million per year — more than UConn’s Geno Auriemma and South Carolina’sDawn Staley, who earn $2.9 million and $2.7 million per year,according to Sports Illustrated.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Mulkey’s LSU Tigers will defend their 2023 NCAA championship this year after their huge win over the Iowa Hawkeyes in April. Mulkey won three titles at Baylor prior to her tenure at LSU.
In June, Mulkey underwent heart surgery during the break between basketball seasons, according toESPN.
Head coach Kim Mulkey of the Baylor Bears reacts after a foul call against the Bears during the first half against the Kansas State Wildcats on February 13, 2019 at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas.Peter G. Aiken/Getty
She reportedly discovered the health concern after a visit to her doctor about “a small, nagging issue,” according to the outlet, and doctors discovered an artery that had 95-99% blockage. During the procedure, two stents were placed into Mulkey’s coronary artery.
The LSU Tigers women’s basketball head coach said she hadn’t experienced any glaring symptoms and “had no idea” that she had heart issues, per ESPN.
source: people.com
