The WNBA Draft was wholesome. Dreams coming true, stars finding new homes, and the glam served. But beyond the glitz, it gave us some adorable couple moments and a few dating rumors too. And just when we thought the relationship buzz was done and dusted, another one just popped up… straight from the NFL Draft. And this time, it’s got LA’s own Rickea Jackson right in the middle of it….well, kinda.

So here’s what went down. After making a move with the Rams, the Atlanta Falcons picked James Pearce Jr., an edge rusher outta Tennessee, with the 26th pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Pearce Jr. did not attend the NFL draft in person, he instead watched from home with his friends and family. Big moment, all the feels. Cameras caught Pearce soaking it in with his family—super sweet, super emotional. 

But you know what caught everyone’s eyes? The woman sitting beside him, with his arm draped around her shoulder. She looked happy as she patted Pearce’s knee during the celebratory call. I Talk Hoops posted  the video, captioning it: “LA Sparks’ Rickea Jackson Celebrates Boyfriend James Pearce Jr. Getting Drafted by the Atlanta Falcons!”  

And fans lost it. After all, she looked quite similar to Jackson. The comments were spiraling. Until…

Rickea herself entered the chat. She hit Twitter with: “Soooo I have a doppelganger. Wow.” Plot twist. Suddenly, everyone’s second-guessing themselves. While there’s been no official confirmation about the relationship, fans are connecting dots. Why? Well, per many sources, Pearce was actually spotted with Rickea last year at the 2024 WNBA Draft when she was picked No. 4 by the LA Sparks. 

And this isn’t the first time this month Jackson is in the headlines. Earlier, she was co-hosting the orange carpet at 2024 WNBA Draft. Interviewing prospects, hyping the vibes, and showing love to the next wave of talent. 

But while that had its buzz, the relationship rumpus this time is way louder.

Fans are scratching their heads over Rickea Jackson’s viral video

“I thought my eyes was deceiving me,” one fan said and honestly same. Because Rickea Jackson has always been in the headlines, but not really for anything tied to her dating life. If she’s trending, it’s either for her game or her tunnel looks. After her rookie season, she was hooping at Unrivaled, the new 3×3 pro league down in Miami. On April 4, she popped up courtside at the Final Four in Tampa, right after a lil throwback visit to her former team ahead of the Lady Vols’ Sweet 16 run on March 28.

So she’s been moving around a lot lately, but no one expected her to get caught by ESPN’s cam during the moment which had fans spiraling into chaos “mmmmmm you sure abt that sista ???” one person questioned under the viral post. Another chimed in real quick, “we knew it wasn’t you sista.” While some decided to play along with the narrative, others straight up refused to believe it. And actually, it didn’t exactly scream “Rickea energy.” But, can’t say anything for sure until someone drops a confirmation. 

“When the f–k she get a bf,” one stunned fan wrote, and it’s a valid question. Because Sparks star always kept it 100 with her fans. Back in late 2024, she already shut down rumors linking her to Western Illinois football player Jordan Anderson, saying he was just a friend. And in October, she literally told everyone on TikTok Live that she was single and would tell her fans if that ever changed. 

So, naturally, this new footage had the internet doing triple takes. Another fan swooped in with some context, saying, “They both went to Tennessee to those of you in the comments. So, it makes sense they would get together.”  Jackson balled for the Lady Vols from 2022 to 2024 after transferring from Mississippi State. Meanwhile, Pearce was a freshman in 2022 and spent three seasons with the Vols. They overlapped. College teammates. Basketball roots. We’ve seen plenty of campus love stories play out like this, so who really knows?

But of course, the internet had to take a left turn at some point. One fan dropped the ultimate off-topic zinger: “when ur doppelgänger gets dunked on just say this again.” And if you’ve been online lately, you know exactly what this is about. That wild “getting dunked on” fear floating around Jackson paired with her and Sydney Colson’s hilarious back-and-forth?  So this fan basically joked that if Rickea gets caught in something sketchy, she could always blame her lookalike, who apparently just got posterized.

So… was it her? Was it not? Are we in a timeline glitch? No one knows. But surely this just became everyone’s favorite NFL Draft subplot.