Ever since the 2025 season tipped off, Indy’s been fighting an uphill battle against injuries. By the time the playoffs rolled around, the team was missing five key players due to season-ending setbacks, and Damiris Dantas was sidelined under concussion protocol. If there’s a team that knows the sting of watching dreams put on pause, it’s Indy. So when Juju Watkins shared the heartbreaking news of her own season-ending injury, it was the Indiana Fever star who stood up in support.
We all know the kind of phenom Watkins had been throughout the 2024 March Madness run. But her collegiate season didn’t end as expected, as she endured a right ACL tear in the second round of the NCAA tournament. While she had been recovering ever since, it was not enough. She is now sidelined for the upcoming season as well. “These last few months have been filled with a lot of healing, rest, and reflection….following the advice of my doctors and trainers, I will sit out this season and fully focus on continuing to recover so I can come back to the game I love,” she wrote on her Instagram account.
No doubt, it’ll be heart-wrenching to see her benched, especially considering the impact she’s had on USC. But nothing matters more than health, so when asked about Juju’s injury update, Aliyah Boston did back her up. “I want her to take her time, but also considering the time of which she got hurt, I feel like that’s not super shocking to anyone, but honestly for her, just taking her time, getting back, making sure she’s mentally ready, physically feeling great. ‘Cause we know Juju, when she comes back, she’s going to be Juju no matter what,” she said in the recent episode of Post Move.
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And honestly, AB’s response was needed too. Ever since Watkins suffered the season-ending knee injury, USC women’s basketball fans had been angry. As she went down in a heap after Chandler Prater fouled her on a drive to the basket, Trojan fans booed for the rest of USC’s wins. And while it had been months since then, the 20-year-old Trojan superstar isn’t fully recovered yet.
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So prioritizing health and taking a break is important. As Candace Parker puts it: “As somebody that’s where their ACL, when they were 17 years old, going into my senior year, I came back in five months and I’ve had knee problems since I tore everything in my knee and I tore it July.” So yes, it’s quite important to get fully healed.
And if we know anything about Juju, it’s that she’s a strong player too. At just 20 years old, she averaged 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 2.2 steals as a sophomore on her way to winning multiple Player of the Year awards. She had catapulted her hometown Trojans back into national relevance as soon as she stepped onto campus.
She had even led USC to the 2024 Pac-12 tournament title and the 2025 Big Ten regular-season title. And not just that—she even reached 1,000 career points across 38 games, making her the fourth fastest to reach the mark in Division I history. So, there’s no doubt that whenever she comes back, she’ll be Juju, as Aliyah Boston shared. Though for AB, her words aren’t just to sympathize.
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Aliyah Boston as Juju Watkins’ mentor. Yes or no?
In AB’s basketball journey, nothing helped her more than the mentorship she got from Dawn Staley. As she told VIS back in September 2024: “Mentorship can look like a lot of different things, but I think the one constant thing is just making sure you’re there for those who need you.” It looks like she’s taking up that role for Juju Watkins.
When the USC star went down due to injury, AB was among the first to tweet and pray for her. She even took it to X to stop criticism around the opponent team’s guard. But the Indiana Fever’s 2023 No. 1 draft wasn’t limited to just that.
Apart from backing Juju, she’s never shied away from praising her, as she did last year after a win versus UCLA. “Dude, eight blocks. Congrats on the win. I need the tips, because eight blocks as a guard…And I’m so happy. I love watching you hoop,” she shared, as per NBC Sports.
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And yes, it all made sense too, as Juju drained two of her own three-pointers to help USC out to an 11-8 lead at 5:10. Even in the second quarter, it was all Watkins, as she buried two more three-pointers and finished on a jumper with 6:30 remaining. By then, she had already scored 21 points for the night. She finally closed it out with 34 points and her career-high eight blocks. So yes, the praise was well deserved. But when Juju heard it all, all she had to say was, “I’m just trying to be like you. That’s my goal.” So yes, it isn’t just AB—Juju sees her as an inspiration too, and that’s why AB backing Juju was so personal.