Considering her résumé, it’s hard to overstate the expectations that Paige Bueckers faced entering the league.
No. 1 high school recruit and Gatorade National Player of the Year. AP National Player of the Year as a freshman in college. NCAA champion at the most storied program in women’s collegiate basketball history. Consensus first overall pick and named an All-Star as a rookie.
Yet it feels like Bueckers has managed to surpass them all.
Women’s basketball has never garnered more attention than it has in the past few years. Bueckers’ dominance is coinciding with the rise of the most popular star the sport has ever seen. She entered the WNBA a year later than Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Cameron Brink and the other crop of talent that enthralled the nation in college and helped revitalize women’s basketball.
In consecutive years, the league saw two of the sport’s most gifted players go first overall, which only built on the excitement surrounding Bueckers as a prospect.
After Clark made the All-WNBA First Team as a rookie and shattered records in her first year, all eyes shifted to Bueckers, heaping pressure onto her.
Like she has throughout her lauded basketball career, Bueckers remained unfazed.
She’s become the Dallas Wings’ first offensive option and thrived in the role. Bueckers leads Dallas in scoring (18.2 points per game), assists (5.5) and steals (1.7).
“I’m asking her to do a ton right now,” Wings coach Chris Koclanes said about Bueckers. “Having her bring the ball up the floor every single time and then also score and also facilitate. How she’s been able to handle that has just been extremely impressive.”
Beyond standing out among her teammates, the 23-year-old has already had an all-time rookie season—especially among guards. Bueckers became the first player in WNBA history to amass at least 350 points and 100 assists in their first 20 career games.
She’s also the fastest guard to reach 350 career points since 2006, and has tallied the second-most games by a rookie with 15-plus points and five-plus assists in WNBA history.
Transitioning from a dominant collegiate team with surrounding stars and a great coaching staff to a team selecting first overall is often tough, even for all-time prospects.
Though they are nearing last season’s win total of nine, the Wings are still firmly in rebuild mode at 7-18. Bueckers’ approach hasn’t wavered.
“Regardless of the winning and losing, just enjoy coming to work every single day. It’s been fun to enjoy the process. You never want to get used to losing, but you also don’t want to be used to being result-oriented,” Bueckers said.
Perhaps Bueckers’ best quality as a rookie has been her consistency—another facet that first-year players typically struggle with. Bueckers has yet to score single-digit points in a game so far this season.
If she remains on this path, Bueckers will likely become just the fifth rookie since 2010 to make an All-WNBA team.
Even after years of headlining women’s basketball, Bueckers has managed to surpass the hype.
