Juju Watkins experienced every athlete's worst nightmare last night, tearing her right ACL during a second-round game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the NCAA women's tournament. A team spokesperson confirmed the sophomore would have to undergo surgery and start rehabilitation.
Video of the 19-year-old falling to the ground in agony after her season-ending injury is all over social media, with her fans and athletes like Angela Reese sending her well wishes. But it's not the only video going viral. A clip of her, Jayden Daniels, and his mom are also making their rounds.
The day before her injury, Watkins was spotted sitting courtside with Daniels during a March Madness game. The superstar athletes appeared to be hitting it off, chatting with big smiles, but then his mom, Regina Jackson, sits right in the middle, seemingly separating Watkins from her 24-year-old son.
The video of the interaction went viral on social media and was even shown on the news. The Shade Room shared the video, and the comments are ablaze, debating if Regina's move was unnecessary. "The whole time Juju is the catch," " Mama hating... that girl gotta bigger platform than her son," and "there’s a thin line between protecting your son and just being overbearing and weird. Juju Watkins is not some jump-off who doesn’t have anything going for herself lol they should be able to have a conversation," are among some of the top-liked comments.
So when Watkins hit the court the next day and got injured, people couldn't help but start a conspiracy that Jackson's energy had something to do with it. TSR shared the video of her injury, and most of the comments are about his mom. "Now look, everything was good till she ran into that boy mama. I hope she recovers," reads a comment with over 12k likes.
"Energy is really REAL wish people understand that," and "The timing after that BS with the mom is impeccable…." Read more of the top liked comments. There were also comparisons to the movie Love and Basketball.
Amid the conspiracies were also comments from fans saying it was weird to make connections and to show more compassion. "Please stop with the 'Mom did witchcraft jokes,' this girl was playing her heart out and had a season-ending injury. Show compassion and respect," wrote one user.
Regina has been open with concerns about girls
Despite her son being a grown man, Jackson, who often accompanies him to events, has made it clear in the past that she wants to protect him. When asked about her biggest concern regarding his NFL career in the Prime Video documentary The Money Game, she bluntly responded, "Girls. Them girls."
"Some girl out there, she's got a Jayden Daniels wall, and her mam says, 'Hey, honey, you're going to be the one to get 'em. And I know that sounds crazy, but I guarantee there's someone who's trying to get their hooks into Jayden Daniels," she said, adding, "So thank god he got a mama like me because it ain’t happening."
The Commanders' quarterback knows it too, saying in a 2024 interview with Boardroom, "Nothing gets past my mama." "She reads people, she doesn't want to put people around me that she doesn't feel will benefit me."