Benched LSU star Angel Reese posts cryptic shot of Tigers' practice court on Instagram after her unexplained absence from Friday's win and coach Kim Mulkey's decision to sit her during in the defending champ's last game

Benched LSU hoops star and Instagram sensation Angel Reese may have returned to the Tigers' practice court Saturday, although her current status with the team remains unclear.

'Bayou Barbie,' as she is known, posted a shot from inside the LSU practice facility on Saturday, seemingly indicating she has returned to practice after being benched by coach Kim Mulkey and missing Friday's win over Southeastern Louisiana.

Reese's cryptic Instagram post did not offer any explanation, but it does serve to add intrigue to an already troubling situation for LSU. A team spokesman did not immediately respond when asked by Mail Sport if Reese attended Saturday's practice. 

The defending champions got off to a rocky start by losing to No. 20 ranked Colorado in their opening game. Despite winning every game since, Reese was benched for the second half in a win over Kent State on November 14 before being completely absent against SLU on Friday.

'You want me to explain why?' coach Kim Mulkey said of Reese's absence on Friday. 'It's very obvious Angel is not in uniform, Angel is a part of this basketball team, we hope to see her sooner than later. That's all you need to know.'

According to Outkick's Glen Guilbeau, a source close to the team said Mulkey is benching Reese to try and adjust the junior's 'attitude' problem.

While the report is not completely proven, a series of social media jabs between parents and from former teammates seem to support this claim.

The exchange began when Reese's mom, Angel Webb Reese, posted a pointed message on her Instagram story.

'Folks pls do not sent me long text messages with a bunch of grammatical errors it gives me a headache how do I know you said what you said if I can't understand what you're saying,' she wrote.

The apparent target of the message was Kia Brooks, mother of Reese's sophomore teammate Flau'jae Johnson. Brooks went on her own Instagram story to respond.

'You definitely know about grammar errors when your daughter got a 2.0 or less GPA,' Brooks wrote. 'In fact when you're writing your smart message you didn't capitalize nor did you use any periods.'

Brooks proceeded to call Reese's mother petty, fake and hateful while telling her to take responsibility for her daughter's actions.

Former LSU player and Connecticut Sun guard Alexis Morris also chimed in with a series of cryptic tweets on Thursday.

'You can't pay me to bash Kim [Mulkey],' Morris wrote on one tweet.

'Switched up to gang up on me. now yall fall-in out. don't ever choose clout over loyalty free game. I showed real love not for marketing politics. but the realist always prevail,' she wrote on another.

Reese's stardom skyrocketed following LSU incredible run to the NCAA Championship in April.

During the offseason, Reese starred in a Sports Illustrated swimsuit spread, appeared in a Cardi B music video and became Rebook's first signed athlete under Shaquille O'Neal.

Following the loss to Colorado, Mulkey commented about the lack of leadership in the team without naming names. But many believed her remarks were about the 2023 Most Outstanding Player.

'I'm disappointed and surprised in some individual players that I thought would just be tougher and have a little fight and leadership about them,' Mulkey said.

After pointing out the lack of intensity and physicality from the team, Mulkey said: 'Those things I described are fixable. But I don't know how long it's going to take to fix it.'

LSU's next game will be against Texas Southern on November 20. Whether or not Reese will be in uniform remains a question.