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After the women's NCAA March Madness Tournament tipped off earlier this week, USC standout JuJu Watkins suffered a torn ACL in the team's second-round matchup against Mississippi State. Given the nature of the injury and the timing of the situation, Watkins' season, much like Kyrie Irving's, has ended.
During the latest episode of WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes and Terrika Foster-Brasby's "Levels to This," the four-time WNBA champ reacted to the injury, indicating that she was sick to her stomach seeing the second-year player go down on Monday.
"I got sick to my stomach," Swoopes said. "It's hard to watch, and you never want to see any player, I don't care who it is, you never want to see any player go down with any type of an injury, especially when you pretty much know that it's going to be a season-ending injury, just, and the timing of it all, it just was so bad."
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As Swoopes explained, with Watkins being one of the most widely talked about players in this year's March Madness, the heartbreaking situation has been felt by fans far and wide.
Additionally, Swoopes also notably spoke about her experience with tearing her ACL during practice with the Houston Comets in 2000 and how she immediately recognized the similarity in how JuJu Watkins fell to the floor clutching her knee.
"It wasn't like they intentionally hurt her," - Sheryl Swoopes stands up for Mississippi State's Chandler Prater following backlash from JuJu Watkins' injury
In the wake of JuJu Watkins' season-ending injury, Mississippi State's Chandler Prater has been criticized on social media for running into the USC star.
On her most recent Instagram post, Prater was forced to turn off her comments to prevent an onslaught of fan criticism. Despite that, Mississippi's coach and athletic department spokesperson made it clear that there was no intent to injure Watkins on Prater's part, some fans have continued to criticize her.
During the latest episode of Sheryl Swoopes' "Levels to This," she shared her thoughts on the situation, making it clear that she didn't think the play was dirty:
"They didn't do anything intentionally, like the players were doing what they were supposed to do," Swoopes said. "They were trying to play defense, they were trying to slow down, and it wasn't like they intentionally hurt her."
USC will now collide with No. 5 ranked Kansas St. in the Sweet 16 round on Saturday. However, without a healthy JuJu Watkins contributing her 24.6 points per game average, the team will have an uphill battle in their quest to win it all.
