S O
T Y
need to say some of the things that are difficult
to say. It’s hard for a Black player to get up there
and say, “Obviously, our league, which is about
two-thirds Black, hasn’t been as popular because
Black women aren’t valued in this country.” But
if Stewie gets up there and says it, if it’s coming
from the group that doesn’t have to do it but is
choosing to do it, that is really powerful.
If you think about what Stewie did this
year, it’s kind of ridiculous. She came off an
Achilles tear, scored 28.3 points per game in the
Storm’s three-game sweep of Las Vegas in the
Finals, was out front in centering the season on
Black Lives Matter—she rose to the occasion, in so
many ways. W hen you’re playing, or living, or doing
anything for a higher purpose outside of yourself,
beyond just winning and being the best that you
can be on the court, there’s something special in
that. I always say, that’s a little extra superpower.
As women athletes, we have to do so much more.
We not only have to be excellent at our sport, but
we also have to then convince people that we are
excellent, and that they should watch. We have
to fight for social justice not just this year, but all
the time. So in a way, we all mentor one another.It’s kind of an unspoken thing, but we gain conf i-
dence from each other just by watching. It’s almost
like what Stewie and her teammates were doing
this summer was not completely foreign to them,
because maybe they watched the U.S. soccer team
do it last year, when we fought for equal pay and
won the World Cup. Or maybe they understand,
just as individuals, that you can do both. It’s this
open-source wealth of knowledge that we all share.
Stewie is part of a new wave of sports activists,
where it’s just a given that as a white star player
she’s going to stand up and talk about racism and
equality and Black Lives Matter. It’s a given that
she’s going to say the hard things, that she is going
to use her platform for good. And that gives me
a lot of happiness and pride. Because the more
we talk about these issues, the easier it is to talk
about them. The bigger the conversation is, the
less we have to talk about why it’s important—and
the more we can talk about the actual issues.
That’s what Stewie did this year. Before the first
game in the bubble, she made clear this season
wasn’t just about winning a championship, though
she would do that as well. Given the chance to take
that microphone, she used it to make change.JUJU
WATKINS
In a pretty
good year for
L.A. basketball,
Judea Watkins
stood out.
The 6-foot
freshman guard
at Windward
Academy was
named the city’s
girls’ player of
the year by the
Los Angeles
Times and is
the nation’s top
recruit in theclass of 2023.
That means
she’s likely
going to be in
the spotlight
again before too
long—and that’s
fine with her.
Juju lives
in Watts and
played some of
her first hoops at
the Watts Labor
Community
Action
Committee,
which was
started by hergreat-grand-
father, activist
Ted Watkins. It’s
now run by her
grandfather. The
spirit of activism
in Juju’s family
is apparent in
her long-term
goals: “I want to
be looked at as
a Hall of Famer
who paved
the way for
equality in sport
and equality
for females.”
—Mark BechtelSportsKid
of the Ye a r
20
20KOHJ
IROKI
NNO^ (WATK
INS);^ NEDDI
SHMAN/NBAE
/G
ET
TY
IMAG
ES
(^2)THE WRITE
THING
Even when
Stewart wasn’t
speaking out,
she made her
feelings clear.