Kara Lawson found herself in a patchy situation after questions surfaced about her treatment of LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson during the 2025 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup. While fans always had their doubts, things only escalated after Flau’jae hurled, what lipreaders call, some strong words towards Kara Lawson during LSU’s game with Duke.

Kim Mulkey’s post-game comments didn’t help either. “You know, she didn’t have a good experience at USA Basketball with Kara this summer,” Mulkey had said, while also going on to explain Lawson’s side. Now, another voice has entered the conversation, one tied directly to Johnson’s experience.

Hannah Hidalgo, Johnson’s teammate during the tournament, addressed the situation in an interview with Yahoo Sports, saying:

“Kara is such a brilliant basketball mind, and it was super fun to play with her. Especially, she is defensive-minded first always; she don’t care about the offense. If you get stops, then you’re on the court. It was super fun to play with her, and I am excited to play against them,” said the Notre Dame point guard, clearly highlighting that she personally had no issues with the coach.

And that connection showed in her performances. Hannah logged 141 minutes, scoring 87 total points for an average of 12.4, while shooting 78.3% from the free-throw line. For Flau’jae, however, the experience was quite different.

Kara Lawson cut down Johnson’s minutes, limiting her to 82 total minutes and thus limiting the impact she could make. With such restricted time, Johnson only managed 30 points, averaging 4.3 per game. She received just three minutes each in the semifinal and final against Canada and Brazil, coming off the bench for players like Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, or TCU’s Olivia Miles. This decision understandably struck a nerve for the LSU star.

And so, Thursday’s LSU–Duke game had some extra heat. Flau’jae Johnson dropped 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists, and after drilling a huge three in the fourth quarter, she turned and stared straight at Kara Lawson. The message was pretty clear, and Lawson didn’t look too eager to meet her eyes.

When Johnson got back to the bench, fans picked up what looked like her saying, “F— is wrong with them.” And LSU’s own social team didn’t calm things down either. They posted a photo of Lawson with her hand on her hip and Johnson right in front of her, captioned: “Had a blast at Cameron Indoor.

But what made Kara Lawson sideline a player like Flau’jae? Was it that her style just didn’t fit what Lawson wanted?

“Her mindset is a little different than Coach Abby on the defensive end, just her defensive schemes. Whether that’s how to defend ball screens or how to guard, she was very adamant on no baseline drives, and over here it’s like don’t let them go middle. So it was a little different and defensive style, and it worked at USA. So it was great for USA,” added Hidalgo, which indirectly pointed to the contrasting mindset at play.

As mentioned earlier, Kim Mulkey had also tried to

put forth Lawson’s perspective, saying, “Let me say this. I recruited Kara Lawson back in my Louisiana Tech days. She went and played for Pat Summitt, she’s learned the game, and now she’s going to be the Olympic coach. She’s done a lot of wonderful things in her career. When you become a coach: USA Basketball, LSU, Duke, players aren’t always going to be happy and content.”

However, did Kara Lawson choose to hit back at Flau’jae after that unprovoked expression by Johnson?

Lawson responds to ease the tension

If it seemed like the drama was about to ramp up even more, it didn’t. Lawson made it clear she considers the whole thing behind her and praised the U.S. squad she coached for how well they played.

“My experience was a good one. Not just coaching Flau’jae (Johnson), but coaching all 12 players. Putting a team together and practicing within 10 days and then going to play a tournament.Our college players did an incredible job playing against teams that had pro players on it and were able to win the gold. So just really proud of that group… They’re all really good players, and I definitely wish ’em all the best,” came the reply of a proud coach.

Flau’jae also admitted it was just a heat-of-the-moment thing, saying, “Last night was a competitive environment and Duke is an amazing team. Their record does not reflect their grit or toughness. I was fired up in the moment but I have nothing but the utmost respect for Coach Kara Lawson, the coach I won my first Gold Medal under. Don’t get it twisted, she’s a legend. #Legend.”

For now, it seems like the two have decided to let bygones be bygones.