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Kia Brooks, the mother and manager of Louisiana State University basketball star Flau’Jae Johnson, has gone viral for her comments following the Tigers’ 79-72 loss to South Carolina on Feb. 14. During a livestream after the game, Brooks addressed the loss by telling her followers that her daughter was basically better at life than the entire South Carolina roster.
The matchup was a historic broadcast, with ESPN reporting an average of 1.7 million viewers, making it the fourth most-watched regular-season women’s college basketball game in the network’s history. Johnson finished the game with 21 points, 8 rebounds, and one block, shooting 9-of-18 from the field and 2-of-6 from the free-throw line. For South Carolina, Tessa Johnson also recorded 21 points, shooting 8-of-13 from the field and 4-of-5 from three-point range.
In her video, Brooks told her audience that the game’s outcome didn’t matter, since her daughter is already “set for life” due to her off-court business ventures and won’t need to rely on a professional basketball salary. “These girls trying to go to the WNBA to get paid, she already paid,” Brooks said. “Flau’Jae don’t need the WNBA to be real, they need her.” She also said that Johnson was the best player on the floor during the game and predicted that she would be a top-five pick in the WNBA draft, adding, “No South Carolina player is going before Flau’Jae in the draft and that’s no disrespect.”
“Yes, we have not beaten South Carolina yet. They play together,” she continued. “But what I have set up for my daughter is to win in real life.” Brooks cited ESPN statistics to support her claim that Johnson outperformed other players on the court during the contest, telling viewers to “go check the stats… numbers don’t lie.”
The Tigers have yet to defeat South Carolina under the current roster configuration. While Johnson has achieved significant commercial success through NIL deals and a music career, the team’s loss moved South Carolina further ahead in the SEC standings ahead of the NCAA tournament that begins next month.
That seemed not to matter to Brooks. “So South Carolina didn’t beat Flau’Jae, South Carolina beat LSU. Let’s keep it real.” Neither the university nor head coach Kim Mulkey has provided an official comment regarding the statements made by Brooks.
