After pushing her USC program to Elite Eight in just her freshman year, JuJu Watkins has turned heads with her offensive capabilities. During her appearance on ‘Podcast P with Paul George’, the 18-year-old touched upon the influence of LeBron James on her generation. Podcast co-host David Rutherford pointed out that Watkins has also done a commercial with LBJ and calls herself a “big fan” of James.
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Meanwhile, the co-host highlighted how LBJ has even watched her in action once and wondered “what kind of conversation” the two hoopers have when they meet. The USC guard disclosed that the Lakers superstar always motivates her to stick to what she is doing and keep improving,
“Every time I see him, it’s always like “keep going”. Just what he’s able to accomplish. I think he’s already inspiring just seeing how far he has come. For him to really take his time out of the day and watch us play, it’s amazing,” Watkins said.
In December 2023, LBJ came to watch his son Bronny James make his USC debut. The same night, the USC women’s basketball program was the second part of the doubleheader. James stayed to watch Watkins work and saw her dominant performance, finishing with 27 points, 5 assists, and 5 steals. He surely loved it when the electric guard was clicking on her jumpers.
As her fame has grown further, the All-time leading scorer has given Watkins her dues on Instagram. He has kept motivating the young hooper to continue her phenomenal work in the NCAA circuit.
LeBron James is in awe of JuJu Watkins
After the performance at Galen Center, the 4x Finals MVP was mesmerized. As someone who can spot greatness at the drop of a hat, the NBA legend knew he witnessed something special. LA Times’ Thuc Ngi Nguyen covered James’ reaction after witnessing Watkins’ heroics. “She’s the next greatest thing in women’s basketball,” declared the King. But that was just the start of the Lakers forward giving props to one of the brightest names in the hooping world.
During the 73-80 loss against UConn in Elite Eight, Watkins finished as the All-time Freshman leader in points for NCAAW. The USC all-around guard compiled 29 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 assists. Thanks to her 29-point explosion, she finished her freshman year with 920 points, capturing 27.1 points, per game in 34 contests.
After learning about this, the Lakers superstar took to his Instagram and congratulated the USC guard. “Congrats and proud of you!” wrote King James. In another occurrence, the 4x MVP playfully asked her to “cut it out” after she dropped a mind-boggling 51 points in a win against Stanford.
