After a historic freshman season where she broke multiple records for the USC Trojans as well as the NCAA as a whole, JuJu Watkins joined the “NBA Unplugged” broadcast for the Boston Celtics versus Indiana Pacers Game 4 telecast on Tuesday for an exclusive interview.
The duo of Harry & Spank (Harry Ratchford and Spank Horton) was alongside Kevin Hart in their usual slot, making a ton of quips as they focused on the National Freshman of the Year as well as the playoff game on hand.
When the conversation came to role models and who Watkins had modeled her game after, the multi-time Grammy nominee had a hilarious quip about his own basketball career:
“I feel like she saw me play a lot”, Hart butted in.
Kevin Hart, coincidentally, was a member of the La Salle basketball camp, which was also attended by legendary NBA player and five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant.
The Gatorade National Player of the Year instead focused on the actual answer at hand in her response:
“I guess I model kind of like my comedic style a little bit from Kevin, very funny. But basketball – Candace Parker,” Watkins said.
How similar are Candace Parker and JuJu Watkins in terms of playstyle?
The two stars offer similar playstyles with their dominance in the scoring column and on the boards. But what truly sets them apart is their continued effort on the defensive end, where the two have made considerable marks on their respective squads.
During her time at the collegiate level, Candace was a lock for 2.0 steals and 2.5 blocks a night. Similarly, Watkins in her first season has been equally effective on that side of the floor. Averaging 2.3 spg along with 1.6 bpg, she was a justified addition to the Pac-12 All-Defensive team.
At the WNBA level as well, Parker maintained her combination of both offensive and defensive production, finding ways to impact the game beyond just scoring. Over her 16-year career, the veteran finished with averages of 16 ppg and 8 rpg, while adding 1.3 spg and 1.5 bpg each night.
