“I’m still sick about that game,” Paige Bueckers lamented in her recent interview regarding the 2023-24 NCAA Final Four loss against Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes. At one point, UConn led by 12 points, but Clark and Co. were in no mood to lose that day as they staged a comeback to win 71-69. Since then, both Bueckers and Clark have gone their own separate ways, carving their legacies one basket at a time.
Now Bueckers will take that leap to the WNBA, following the steps of Clark as the No. 1 draft pick. With both occupying the same positions on the court, the seed of comparison was already sown. Although this season both of the teams are in drastically different stages, with Fever being more of the finished product and Bueckers’ Wings at the nascent stages of their team building. The problems Bueckers is expected to face are the same ones that most experts predicted Clark would face in her first stint in the W.
Senior WNBA journalist Myles Ehrlich said in the WNBA Season Preview episode of the In Case You Missed It with Khristina Williams podcast,“So the standout is that nothing stands out really from her college game to her pro game, except that she has been pro-ready for a very long time, and she has pro-level vision, and we know she’s efficient. She’s coming off a 53-42-89 season at UConn, but she also was in the top percentile in assists to turnovers, 3.5 assists to turnovers per game.”
That assist-to-turnover ratio was the only blot in a career-defining college season. From the National Championship win to individual awards like Big East Player of the Year, the Honda Sport Award, the Wade Trophy, and the Nancy Lieberman Award, it was a memorable year for Bueckers. While her famed season has been the talk of the WNBA going into the 2025 season, that turnover stat gives you a deja vu to the time when Caitlin Clark started off with fumbling multiple balls in the WNBA.
Ehrlich further reiterated the discussion we were having for CC last year, saying, “There was a lot of discourse, obviously, last year about the transition for being a guard, especially in the WNBA, because the speed of the game changes, the physicality changes and that’s where the adjustment is usually the toughest. So I think we might see for Paige, as she needs to bulk up a little bit to kind of deal with some of the more physical guards in this league, we might see that assist-to-turnover come down for a bit.”
This sudden change in physicality and speed of the game is well-versed among the rookies who have been given a welcome in their preseason games. Paige herself had a taste of it on her debut against the Las Vegas Aces as she fell to the baseline while taking a left-handed floater from 5 feet.
Sonia Citron fell to the ground after a strong screen from veteran Britney Griner, also getting her welcome to the league moment. Bueckers will definitely need to gain some muscle mass if she has to go blow for blow against the physical guards of the WNBA. If Bueckers was struggling with those turnovers in college ball, imagine what could happen in the WNBA if she does not work on it.
Khristina further agreed and mentioned that she should learn from her senior Caitlin Clark, saying,”Yeah. I agree. And you know, taking a page out of Caitlin’s book, you have to bulk up in the off-season because the physicality is just—it just hits different in the WNBA.”
Did you see those guns on CC’s arms? The Fever guard has put in some focused work along with Sarah Kessler, the Fever’s head athletic performance coach, in the long offseason. Bueckers will have to go through this season by adapting her game to cope with her lack of strength as compared to her peers. Just like Caitlin did. In her WNBA debut game, she had 10 turnovers and recorded a total of 51 in the first month. As the season went on, she learned to cope with her finesse and skill. Bueckers will have to do the same in her first season in the W and she will get the offseason to work on her physicality and strength.
The pressure on Bueckers is sky-high, fueled by the WNBA’s growing spotlight, much of it thanks to Clark. Last year, Fever games averaged 15,591 fans compared to 7,645 for others, and Clark’s presence spiked Fever ticket demand by 497%. Bueckers is already drawing crowds, with Wings ticket sales up 351% since her draft, and premium tickets for their June 27 clash with Clark hitting $5,200—a WNBA record.
Paige Bueckers to get a hometown honour ahead of WNBA debut
The Bueckers fanbase is second to none while getting the star’s attention, as even before the debut, the people of her hometown are bestowing her with a unique honor. The hometown of the Dallas star, Hopkins, Minnesota, has officially declared May 16 ‘Paige Bueckers Day’ to celebrate her WNBA debut on Friday.
Ironically, Bueckers and Co. will face the Minnesota Lynx in their opening game of the season. So the Lynx will have one of their towns be the name of a player on the other side. This caught Bueckers’ attention and she was understandably surprised and suspicious initially. “I didn’t believe it at first,” Bueckers admitted. “I thought it was fake news. There’s a lot of fake news that circles around on the internet. So, you never know what to trust. But it’s also surreal and I don’t know; it’s crazy to me that they would name the whole city after me. But just to able to give back to that whole city whose given me so much… For them to show love like that, I appreciate it for sure.”
In addition to this honor for Bueckers, the town will be hosting a watch party to proudly watch the hometown girl ball out in the WNBA. The people of the town will be beaming for the rest of their lives that they come from the same place as Paige Bueckers. They will tell their children and grandchildren stories about Bueckers and her association with the town. The Wings Star is the player to watch out for in the upcoming season, not just on the hardwood but also with her off-court impact.
With even towns being named after her, Bueckers is set to showcase why she is so highly regarded in the basketball circles. Playing in the WNBA will multiply her fans by the day. The city of Dallas has also been welcoming to the star and Bueckers is set to go toe-to-toe against Caitlin Clark in terms of popularity. On the court, their first clash is slated for June 28 as the Dallas Wings face off against the Indiana Fever.
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