Some reunions happen in the middle of a game and still manage to steal the spotlight. That’s exactly what happened Thursday night, when Atlanta’s win over Seattle turned into a courtside moment between LSU head coach Kim Mulkey and two of her most decorated former players, Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson. The clip of the three of them catching up has been making the rounds since, and fans have not held back on how much they loved seeing it.
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“Wow! I watched my girls bring a Natty to LSU and now I’m seeing them shine in the @WNBA!” Mulkey posted on X, as per ESPNW. “Proud to watch these two @LSUwbkb Tigers tonight in Atlanta! 💛💜”
The sentiment says a lot about why this moment resonated the way it did. Reese and Johnson were the core a national championship team under Mulkey. Reese arrived in Baton Rouge as a transfer from Maryland, and Johnson joined as a freshman. Together, they helped lead LSU to the 2023 NCAA title, a run that turned both of them into two of the most recognizable names in women’s basketball.
The game itself gave her plenty to see. Reese put together another dominant night, finishing with 18 points and 11 rebounds for her league-leading 15th double-double of the season. It was also her 64th career double-double, setting a new WNBA record for the most in a player’s first three seasons, passing Tina Charles’ previous mark. Reese did leave the game briefly banged up, rolling her ankle with just over a minute left, but Atlanta had already built a comfortable lead by then, one it wouldn’t relinquish.
That win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Dream, their first since June 22, and improved them to 13-9 on the season. Johnson, for her part, added 12 points for Seattle in a tougher night for the Storm, who committed a season-high 21 turnovers in the 89-78 loss.
Both players have grown into featured roles well beyond that one game. Reese is averaging 14.9 points, 11.8 rebounds, the highest mark in the league, along with 2.5 assists and 1.6 steals this season, and she’s been named a reserve for the upcoming WNBA All-Star Game in Chicago. Johnson has built a strong rookie season of her own since being drafted eighth overall by Golden State and traded to Seattle on draft night, averaging 12.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists a game as one of the few consistent bright spots on a Storm team still finding its footing at 6-18.
None of that mattered much for the moment fans latched onto after the final buzzer, though. It was never really about the score.
WNBA Community Reacts to Kim Mulkey’s Reunion With Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson
The comment section picked up on the same thread running through the whole clip: a coach still checking in on players she once had every day, now watching them lead teams of their own.
“Seeing your players go to the league gotta be like watching your kids move out and get they own cribs,” one fan said, framing the moment less as a coach-player reunion and more as a parent watching two kids build their own lives.
That parental read carried through the rest of the comments too. “Always a Mama Bear,” another fan said, a nod to how protective Mulkey has stayed toward both players well after their college eligibility ran out.
Others zeroed in on Mulkey herself. “W coach Kim Mulkey.. aww I love this,” one fan said, while another added, “We’ll always remember these 3 💜💛,” pointing to how tightly the three of them are now tied together in LSU history, not just as a coach and two players, but as the faces of a championship run.
A few fans leaned into the humor of Mulkey’s reputation for being direct. “Momma said FIX IT & fix IT NOW! 🤎 loves it,” one fan said, poking fun at the idea that Mulkey’s influence over her former players hasn’t faded just because they’re pros now.
The rest of the reactions were more straightforward appreciation. “Love to see it 🔥🔥 kim and her kids !!” and “I’m loving every second of this” were among the more common sentiments, alongside a broader nod to the program itself: “Such great representation of LSU,” one fan wrote, tying the individual moment back to what Reese and Johnson’s success has done for the school’s visibility since 2023.
Both teams are back in action within days. Seattle travels to Washington on Sunday, still searching for its footing at 6-18, while Atlanta hosts Portland on Saturday looking to build on a win that snapped its longest losing skid of the season. Reese’s ankle will also be worth watching as the Dream try to keep their momentum going.