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Stephen A. Smith Takes Firm Side on Paige Bueckers vs JuJu Watkins Debate

Stephen A. Smith didn't mince words when discussing what he wants from a JuJu Watkins vs. Paige Bueckers NCAA Tournament showdown.

Grant Young

Oct 23, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Stephen A. Smith (Stephen Smith) on the ESPN NBA Countdown live set at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Oct 23, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Stephen A. Smith (Stephen Smith) on the ESPN NBA Countdown live set at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

During a March 18 episode of ESPN's First Take, sports media juggernaut Stephen A. Smith had a lot of praise for USC Trojans sophomore superstar JuJu Watkins.

"Paige Bueckers is a baller, she can play. I like her a lot. But I don't want to hear about anybody other than JuJu Watkins. I'm not gonna lie," Smith said. "We talked about Caitlin Clark and raved all day, every day about this girl last year. And she deserved it. Well, what does JuJu Watkins deserve? She's a show. This girl is spectacular.

"I don't want to hear anything about anybody else before I hear about JuJu Watkins," he added.

As if this sentiment wasn't clear enough, Smith doubled down on his stance regarding Watkins and Bueckers during a March 21 episode of First Take.

"Let me tell you something right now, when you look at Paige Bueckers... please don't let me down basketball gods, please don't let me down, because I want to see UConn vs. USC," Smith said, per an X post from First Take.

"I got USC beating UConn, okay? I got JuJu going up against Paige. I want to see that matchup, because Paige gon' show up. She's no joke. I want to see that, obviously I want to see JuJu win... I need JuJu to get [a championship], okay?" he added.

Smith is just like the rest of the basketball community in hoping that Watkins' USC squad and Bueckers' UConn Huskies will advance to the Elite Eight so that this iconic matchup can commence.

Although not everybody is so eager to see Watkins win as Smith is.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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