JuJu Watkins has been out of action since tearing her right ACL in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. She sat out the entire 2025-26 season. Now she is back.
And she is coming back with a bombshell announcement that has the basketball world buzzing before she has set foot on the court again.
JuJu Watkins Makes Major Collaboration With LeBron James & Nike
Watkins is returning with her own shoe. Nike dropped a teaser on Friday for the LeBron NXXT Gen by JuJu, a sneaker collaboration between the USC star and the NBA legend that has been in the works for 18 months. One of the first people to react was LeBron James himself.
Very much so!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥💪🏾 https://t.co/hJHKxmhP1n
— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 22, 2026
Nike posted the teaser on social media with a caption that read: “Heat incoming. LeBron NXXT Gen by JuJu coming soon.” James responded with three words: “Very much so!!!” along with a few fire emojis.
According to Andscape’s Aaron Dodson, the 21-year-old spent 18 months designing a new silhouette for the brand. The shoe is expected to retail for $160 and debut this summer, just ahead of Watkins’ senior season.
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This is a historic moment for women’s college basketball. Watkins is the first athlete to co-create a shoe as part of Nike’s NXXT series. She originally signed with the brand during her senior year in high school in 2022, then re-signed in 2024 with one of the most lucrative extensions in women’s basketball history.
The teaser gave fans a glimpse of what to expect from Watkins as she prepares to return. “I may be out, but I’m still locked in,” she said in the video. “They think my game is on ice, but I never stopped working.”
The hype is actually justified. Watkins was coming off one of the most dominant sophomore campaigns in recent college basketball history before the injury hit.
She averaged 23.9 points and 3.4 assists per game in 2024-25, won the Naismith Trophy, and reached her 1,000th career point in just her 37th college contest, the second-fewest games to that milestone in Division I history.
Now she has a signature shoe dropping before she even plays her first game back. The return of Watkins is going to be one of the biggest stories of the 2026-27 college basketball season.
Initially, there was speculation that she would declare for the WNBA Draft, but in reality, she isn’t eligible. Per the WNBA rulebook, a player must be either 22 years old or a graduate. This means she would either have to finish college or wait until 2027, when she will meet the age requirement.
She hasn’t let the world in on her future plans as of now. But it is clear that she is focused on exploding onto the scene once again after tragedy struck in the form of injury.
