LSU star Flau’Jae Johnson, a player known for her tenacity on the court and burgeoning rap career off it, recently dropped a documentary-style video that offers a profound look at her mental fortitude. The release came at a critical moment: just after a high-stakes LSU versus Duke game that ignited a social media firestorm concerning her relationship with Duke coach and Team USA U-19 head coach Kara Lawson.

The drama, which unfolded after the Dec. 4 Duke versus LSU matchup, centered on an interaction between Johnson and Lawson, with social media suggesting lingering tension from their time together at the FIBA U-19 Women’s World Cup in Chile over the summer.

Johnson’s newly released 10-minute video, titled "The Mindset of a Champion," doesn't directly address the social media buzz or the Duke game. Instead, it provides a raw, behind-the-scenes look at her intense summer—highlighting the challenges she faced playing for Lawson’s Team USA squad, particularly her struggles with limited playing time despite her All-SEC status.

The video’s most striking moments detail Johnson's experience in Chile, a tournament where Team USA ultimately won gold.

"Coming into the games was hard for me, because I had to shift my mindset," Johnson, 21, explains in the video. "The first couple of games, I wasn't able to play. And that really did something to me, I'm not gonna lie."

A clip shows Johnson expressing her embarrassment and telling her visiting family she wished they would go home when she was benched. The guard, who is also a respected rapper, had to reconcile her identity as an "All-American, I'm an All-SEC caliber player" with a suddenly diminished role. She notes that even after a stellar performance in one game—where she said she was "on fire" on offense and defense—her playing time was cut back to a combined six minutes for the remainder of the tournament.

But Johnson, instead of letting the adversity define her, used the moment to define her work ethic. She notes that her greatest lesson this summer was the importance of being coachable.

"As an athlete I learned your greatest asset is being coachable," she states, acknowledging the difficulty of taking criticism when she felt she was performing correctly. "That's how I learned that. Even now, I'm able to take my feelings out of it. I just want to learn and get better."

The video pivots from the intense competition in Chile to her quick turnaround for her music career, where she performed at the "Run For The Roses" event, with her brother as choreographer. This segment is not just a showcase of her dual-threat talent but a continuation of her message of perseverance.

"It showed me, like, even though I just went through that, bro, I'm loved," Johnson says of the performance. "And my journey is different, and I gotta keep pushing. There's gonna be more opportunities for me. Let me take advantage of them."

Johnson’s narrative of overcoming being benched is a powerful reminder that elite athletes, particularly young Black women in college sports, navigate intense pressure and public scrutiny. She concludes with a statement that rings loud in the wake of the recent online controversy: "I'm not gonna let one thing put me down. Like, I might be sad a little bit. I might cry. But I'm gonna get right back to it. All I know is work. All I know is the grind."

In the end, while the clip doesn't address Coach Lawson directly, it's a testament to the mindset Johnson cultivated under intense pressure this summer—a mindset that allows her to focus on being a "number one pick" and a "national champion" rather than being bogged down by external drama. The documentary is a blueprint for how to channel disappointment into a commitment to continuous, relentless improvement.