University of Southern California star guard JuJu Watkins said that she would rather have Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James take the final shot than Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant or Stephen Curry in a hypothetical situation of being down one point with three seconds left.
You're down by 1 with 3 seconds left in the game, WHO do you want taking the last shot?
JuJu Watkins is taking LeBron over EVERYONE 😤 pic.twitter.com/aWvwOB64s7
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) October 3, 2024
If the clutch shot in question had to be a 3-point field goal, perhaps Watkins would be better off picking a lethal 3-point shooter. Curry, for example, would be a good candidate with his career 3-point shooting percentage of 42.6.
But if the final shot in question were to come from inside the 3-point arc, James may be the best bet to get a bucket. James has converted 55.5 percent of his 2-point field-goal attempts during his NBA career, and he has the size, strength and quickness to get to where he wants on the interior.
Watkins may not be playing at the professional level yet, but she knows a thing or two about putting the ball through the bottom of the net. Across 34 total starts during the 2023-24 season, her freshman season at USC, she averaged a whopping 27.1 points per game on 40.1 percent shooting from the floor and 31.9 percent shooting from 3-point range.
The 19-year-old led the entire Pac-12 in scoring while contributing in other facets of the game as well. Watkins averaged 7.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.6 blocks per contest.
Watkins and the Trojans will kick off their upcoming 2024-25 campaign with a matchup against the University of Mississippi on Nov. 4, which is exactly one month away at this point in time.
Perhaps if Watkins can learn from James’ clutch heroics over the course of his NBA carer and apply them to her game, she will give the USC’s women’s team a puncher’s chance at capturing an NCAA title for the first time since 1984.
In the future, she could make some major waves at the professional level if she continues on her current trajectory as a player.
