Two-time NBA Coach of the Year George Karl said NCAA women’s basketball player JuJu Watkins has the potential to play against men in the NBA.
Watkins is a second-year player at the University of Southern California and at 6’2″ is a couple inches taller than NCAA record holder Caitlin Clark.
Watkins’ size was one of the reasons Coach Karl said he believed she has what it takes to play against men.
“She looks to have the size, athleticism and talent to even compete in the NBA at some level!” Karl wrote on X.
It didn’t take long for readers to start calling Karl’s credibility into question:
“Why would u say something like this? She can’t even compete with the men’s USC team and they suck,” one reader replied.
‘Why destroy your credibility?’
Another reader mocked Karl, asking whether he was out of his mind but admitted that maybe could compete for a “bench spot” in the NBA’s developmental league, the G-League.
Even Blaze News’ T.J. Moe got in on the action, asking the 73-year-old, “Why do you say things like this to lose credibility?”
“You can just say she’s a great women’s basketball player and that’s a good, reasonable take. She wouldn’t compete well against some good men’s high school teams. Why destroy your credibility?” he reaffirmed.
Along with his claim that Watkins could play against men, Karl said he also thinks that she might be better than Clark, who is now the WNBA’s top star.
“As good as Caitlin Clark is, I’m thinking Juju Watkins may even be better,” Karl wrote.
With Watkins in just her second year in college, the stats aren’t there to do a direct comparison with Clark.
However, in Watkins’ first season, she totaled 920 points, which is more than both of Clark’s first two seasons where she totaled 799 and 863.
Watkins is on pace for 840 points in her second season, however, averaging just 24.7 points per game, a near three-point drop from her first year (27.1).
As impressive as Watkins’ first year was, she’ll need to keep improving to beat Clark; the Iowa player increased her points per game average every year she played.
Clark also averaged a whopping 28.4 points per game in college, an NCAA record.
Clark also holds several other records in terms of NCAA career totals. These include total field goals (1,293), total three-pointers made (548), total three-pointers attempted (1,452), and total points (3,951).
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Fearless, George karl, Ncaa, Women’s basketball, Basketball, Sports
