JuJu Watkins has crowned LeBron James the greatest player ever—a choice that now shapes her 2026 championship pick. During a Q&A with SLAM, among random questions, Watkins was asked to pick her championship favorite. The USC Trojans star first picked the defending champions, the New York Knicks, to repeat the title, but she eventually switched her answer to LeBron’s team.
“Probably the Knicks again… Nah, I’m going to have to go 76ers because, like, come on!” Watkins said.
Given her pick for the basketball GOAT title, it’s not hard to make sense of why she would pick the Philadelphia 76ers. But while her choice might appear biased, Watkins’ choice is also not an unserious one.
The 76ers possess one of the deepest starting lineups in the NBA this season, if not the deepest. With LeBron, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and V.J. Edgecombe, they are a threat to any team in title contention. LeBron’s Sixers are among the favorites to win the title this year, and sit at the top of the Eastern Conference with a 9-2 record.
While Watkins’ choice of the champion might reflect her confidence in her pick, her GOAT choice always seemed obvious. She has long considered the NBA superstar her idol.
Earlier this year, Nike, LeBron and Watkins connected for a sneaker collaboration. The Trojans star later designed LeBron NXXT Gen by JuJu. Watkins became the first athlete ever to co-design a shoe with the 76ers star within James’ NXXT Gen.
“LeBron has been a role model of mine since I’ve started basketball, not only as a player, but as a person,” she told The Athletic’s Jason Jones in March. “To have him trust me with this process and trust my creative skills, to be really supportive, believe in me for the player I am … it’s just insane to have your idol feel that way towards you. I’m honestly so grateful for him for taking that chance and giving me this opportunity.”
While Watkins co-created a sneaker of her dreams with her icon, her favorite basketball sneaker belongs to the Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. When asked which basketball sneaker she considered the best of all time, Watkins chose Kobe 6s.
From Maya Moore to Kevin Garnett: JuJu Watkins names her favorites
Watkins was also asked to pick the greatest WNBA player of all time, and she didn’t hesitate picking Maya Moore. Well, Watkins is not the first one from USC to crown the Minnesota Lynx legend as the best WNBA player of all time.
Previously, her sophomore teammate, Jazzy Davidson, also picked Moore as the WNBA GOAT. However, Davidson crowned Michael Jordan as the greatest, and the Milwaukee Bucks to win the 2027 championship: a surprising choice, but with her boyfriend, Nate Ament, playing for the Bucks, the choice made sense.
Watkins, Davidson and Saniyah Hall appeared on SLAM’s November issue, subtitled “3 of a Kind. Stars Align in LA. Like Davidson, Watkins also picked the SLAM cover featuring them as the best SLAM cover of all time.
Her answers largely varied from Davidson’s, but they agreed on more than one answer. For Watkins and Davidson both, “Love & Basketball” was the best basketball movie of all time, and Galen Center was the best basketball venue they have played on. The latter was not an unexpected response from two USC stars. They also picked the OKC Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the most stylish player in basketball.
Watkins picked the 2016 Golden State Warriors as the best basketball team of all time, and Steve Kerr as the best coach of all time. It wildly differed from Davidson, who picked the 1983-84 Trojans and this year’s Trojans as the best basketball team, and its head coach Lindsey Gottlieb as the best coach of all time. Watkins picked Kevin Garnett, while Davidson picked Dennis Rodman as the best defender of all time.
After tearing her ACL in March 2025, Watkins returned to the court after nearly 600 days, and she has looked like her old self. She played her first game in the Trojans’ season-opener against UNLV and finished with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
On Sunday, she played her second game of the season and finished with 32 points, 16 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals and a block in just 27 minutes against USU.