$212K NIL-valued JuJu Watkins draws hilarious reaction from USC teammate over major honor

USC freshman JuJu Watkins has been dominating this season, earning 12 Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. Her teammate, McKenzie Forbes, congratulated her with a hilarious tweet.

She posted a photo from Spongebob Squarepants showing Spongebob and his towering stack of Employee of the Month awards. She humorously compared Watkins' growing collection of weekly freshman honors to Spongebob's ridiculous number of Krusty Krab restaurant awards.

Last week, the $212,000 NIL-valued superstar had another outstanding performance for USC. She had 31 points, five assists, seven rebounds, and two steals in an 81-63 victory over Arizona State. Watkins' sixth 30+ point game of the season tied the USC record set by Cherie Nelson in 1988–89.

The freshman phenom is putting together a historic season for the No. 10 USC Trojans. She is ranked second in the nation in scoring at 27.5 points per game, including a 51-point explosion at Stanford that set the USC single-game record.

Watkins paces the Trojans in scoring, assists (3.5 apg), steals (2.7 spg) and 3-pointers (42). She ranks second on the team in rebounding (6.9 rpg) and blocks (1.6 bpg).

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Juju Watkins has been channeling her Mamba Mentality

JuJu Watkins has been channeling her inner "Mamba Mentality" this season while wearing her special Kobe "Mambacita" sneakers. The black snakeskin shoes honor the late, great Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, featuring her basketball jersey number 2 on the sides.

"Kobe is L.A.," Watkins said after a recent practice. "I'm always just in awe of him and his legacy, and of course Gigi too. I'm making sure I adopt that Mamba mentality every time I step on the court."

The freshman is taking over Los Angeles in Kobe-esque fashion. Before Bryant's statue was unveiled at Crypto.com Arena, Watkins made history against Stanford, pouring in 51 points while rocking her Mambacita kicks. She led USC to their first Bay Area road sweep since 2001, honoring Kobe's spirit in the perfect way

Led by JuJu Watkins, the Trojans (18-4, 8-4 Pac-12) will look to keep their momentum going when they face Oregon (11-14, 2-10 Pac-12) on Friday.