Being a legend is not just about scoring a lot of points. Plenty of basketball players have scored copious quantities of points but have not become superstars. The formula for true greatness — on a scale which is larger than life, and which is remembered by generations of sports fans — transcends the box score and the stat sheet.
Greatness is about responding to adversity. Greatness is about lifting a team. Greatness is about paying the price for success and then attaining that success. Greatness is about forging a connection with fans and a community in ways which create a strong, unbreakable bond that becomes ingrained in the public memory.
JuJu Watkins scored 51 points against Stanford on Friday night. The display was hugely impressive in itself, on its own terms, but it’s the surrounding context which makes the moment legendary, as Luca Evans of the Orange County Register notes in his most recent piece on JuJu.
We’re going to share some great quotes from that article and offer some other visual snapshots of JuJu Watkins, an athlete who is quickly becoming a special USC Trojan with a level of resonance which is beginning to reach considerable proportions: