Lakers fans had a buzzworthy reaction on Thursday evening when USC’s star player, JuJu Watkins, was seen rocking a custom Los Angeles Lakers jersey. The post, shared by the Lakers’ official Instagram account, showed Watkins sporting the 2024-25 City Edition jersey with a purple and gold gradient design. The Lakers captioned the post with “Homegrown – @Jujubballin’s reppin’ #Lakeshow,” which sparked a flurry of excitement from fans.
However, the frenzy quickly turned into playful banter as many Lakers fans took to the comments section to suggest that some underperforming players on the current Lakers roster—such as guard Gabe Vincent—should be replaced by Watkins. Comments like “Waive Gabe Vincent and sign Juju” and “Even she can replace Gabe” began flooding in. Some fans even joked about JuJu taking spots on the roster from players like D’Angelo Russell or Bronny James.
Watkins wasn’t the only player to represent the Lakers’ new jersey. Los Angeles Sparks’ rookie Cameron Brink, who was drafted No. 2 overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft, was also spotted wearing the jersey in a separate post. Brink, who started her first WNBA season strong before suffering an ACL injury, was featured with her #22 jersey.
