{"id":16951,"date":"2025-06-26T18:21:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T18:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/16951\/"},"modified":"2025-06-26T18:21:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T18:21:11","slug":"paige-bueckers-wants-to-be-the-goat-to-those-who-know-her-that-goes-beyond-stats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/16951\/","title":{"rendered":"Paige Bueckers wants to be the GOAT. To those who know her, that goes beyond stats"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reid Ouse had never seen Paige Bueckers<\/a> so frustrated.<\/p>\n

In the short time he\u2019d been her skills development coach, Ouse had known an 18-year-old who had mastered emotional regulation.<\/p>\n

But that day, as she struggled with a concept he was teaching her in one of their first workouts together, the basketball phenom who would go on to win a national championship at UConn and become the Dallas Wings<\/a>\u2019 No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft wasn\u2019t her calm and collected self.<\/p>\n

Ouse started to list her accolades: USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year. The No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2020. A UConn pledge. A Slam magazine and Sports Illustrated cover girl. <\/p>\n

Sports Roundup<\/p>\n

Get the latest D-FW sports news, analysis and opinion delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, Kevin Sherrington’s A La Carte.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you\u2019re in the gym pissed off,\u201d Ouse said, recounting the conversation he had with Bueckers to The Dallas Morning News<\/a>. \u201cWhat drives you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Bueckers\u2019 lip started to quiver, but no tears welled in her eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe looked down at the floor. She looked back up at the ceiling,\u201d Ouse said. \u201cThen she looked straight forward and looked me dead in the eyes and said, \u2018I want to be the greatest women\u2019s basketball player of all time.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

Five years later, Bueckers, 23, has done everything possible to get there, but she\u2019s still just a rookie. It\u2019s too soon to crown her this early into her WNBA career, but the Wings guard has shown promise, averaging 17.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.8 steals ahead of a highly anticipated, sold-out matchup with Caitlin Clark<\/a> and the Indiana Fever on Friday night at American Airlines Center. She reached 200 points and 50 assists in 11 games, one fewer than Clark, who had been the fastest in WNBA history to achieve that mark.<\/p>\n

Comparisons to Clark will inevitably follow Bueckers, especially this week<\/a>. But Clark, 23 and popular with the masses, hasn\u2019t arrived, either. Bueckers wants to be in the same conversation as Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Sheryl Swoopes \u2014 players who won multiple WNBA championships and Olympic gold medals. <\/p>\n

Measuring Bueckers against another talented young athlete or reducing her to her statline would obscure the full picture of who she is and diminish the scale of her ambitions. But to family, friends and mentors, Bueckers is more than a great basketball player with big dreams. Confident yet humble, they say she\u2019s as selfless and joyful in life as she is on the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething that I\u2019ve always said about Paige is that she\u2019s God-sent,\u201d stepmother Moe Roberts, who helped raise Bueckers as her \u201cbonus mother,\u201d told The News. <\/p>\n

\u201cI truly mean that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Basketball prodigy <\/p>\n

Bueckers\u2019 achievements seem like fulfilled prophecies.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember the name: Paige Bueckers. 6th grade, think Diana Taurasi,\u201d Minnesota photojournalist Gary Knox posted in September 2013 on Twitter<\/a>, now X, along with a photo of an 11-year-old Bueckers. \u201cBest 6th grade G I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the year Crissha Walton, a close friend of Bueckers\u2019 AAU coach Tara Starks, became the young phenom\u2019s photographer.<\/p>\n

Walton remembers Starks telling her she had to see Bueckers play.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to a game and I was blown away,\u201d Walton told The News. \u201cFor her to be fifth grade, sixth grade \u2014 I mean she was doing stuff like she was in high school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bueckers joined the varsity girls basketball team at Hopkins High School in Minnesota when she was in eighth grade. She ended her high school career as the all-time leader in points (2,877), assists (795) and steals (574). <\/p>\n

The McDonald\u2019s All-American won a state championship as a junior and led the team to the 2020 state title game, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Minnesota, Paige is a legend<\/a>,\u201d Ouse said. \u201cYou go into Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods and half of the athletic wear is Dallas Wings stuff or Paige Bueckers jerseys and t-shirts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Selfless play<\/p>\n

As a UConn freshman in 2021, Bueckers won Naismith National Player of the Year, adding to an exhaustive list of individual accolades.<\/p>\n

But Bueckers, praised for her high basketball IQ and efficiency, has long been team-oriented and pass-first.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was always a distributor,\u201d Walton said. \u201cThe one thing that I can\u2019t stand right now is how they compare her and Caitlin Clark. \u2026 Paige is a more all-around person. Caitlin is a scorer first. Then she distributes the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once when Starks\u2019 AAU team was down by one, Walton remembers the coach telling Bueckers to stop passing the ball and instead take the shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaige came out of the huddle and was like, \u2018You guys, I know Coach told me this, but if you\u2019re open, please make the shot,\u2019\u201d Walton said.<\/p>\n

Ouse said Bueckers\u2019 natural instincts on the court served her well at UConn, a juggernaut with top recruits throughout the roster.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s had to be more assertive since joining the Wings, who are 4-12 and rebuilding around their new star. After missing four games under concussion protocol this season, she returned June 11 with a career-high 35 points in a 90-83 loss<\/a> to the Phoenix Mercury.<\/p>\n

Bueckers has scored at least 20 points in three of the Wings\u2019 last four games and leads the team in points, assists and steals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf she needed to play more of a Caitlin Clark style \u2026 she could have done that at UConn. But she didn\u2019t need to,\u201d Ouse said. \u201cThat just shows the type of player and person that she is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Love and light <\/p>\n

Her generosity is a character trait that\u2019s obvious off the court as well. Ouse, who checks in with Bueckers periodically, remembers the time he received a mysterious package at his front door.<\/p>\n

It contained a couple pairs of Bose headphones with no note.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look on Paige\u2019s Instagram and she\u2019s got a Bose deal,\u201d Ouse said. \u201cI was like, \u2018Hey, is this you?\u2019 She just sent back a smiley face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bueckers has been known to take care of the people in her life. While she has inked lucrative brand deals and landed magazine covers, the star understands her experience, particularly as a white athlete, doesn\u2019t represent the reality of most WNBA players<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Related:Paige Bueckers has cashed in on sponsorships. Can she help her WNBA teammates do the same?<\/a><\/p>\n

Since her days at UConn, where she included her teammates in NIL deals and used her influence to create pathways for minority content creators and advertisers, she\u2019s worked to generate opportunities for others.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I met with the agency, I told them my values. I talked about giving back, using the partnerships to do something bigger than myself,\u201d Bueckers told The News last month. \u201cIt\u2019s not just something that\u2019s transactional to where [sponsors are] just getting something out of me and I\u2019m getting something out of them, but how can we get something out of trying to make this world a better place within our partnership?\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans learned more about Bueckers\u2019 heart in 2021, when she used her ESPY acceptance speech to honor Black women.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to show a light on Black women. They don\u2019t get the media coverage that they deserve,\u201d she said during the speech, which went viral. \u201cThey\u2019ve given so much to this sport and community and society as a whole and their value is undeniable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts is Black, as are many of the women who have influenced Bueckers throughout her life. They have remained close, though Roberts is no longer with Paige\u2019s father, Bob Bueckers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I watched the ESPYs, I will say that I did shed a few tears,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cBecause the reality is, she didn\u2019t have to. She doesn\u2019t have to.\u201d<\/p>\n

And yet, Bueckers does make the effort to ensure others feel seen. Before and after Wings games, she signs as many autographs as she can and often deflects questions about her stellar performances to highlight her teammates.<\/p>\n

\"DallasDallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) gives autographs to fans following her team\u2019s win in an WNBA basketball game, on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, at College Park Center in Arlington. (Shafkat Anowar \/ Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n

Her character hasn\u2019t changed, despite the adversity her rookie season in Dallas has presented. The Wings have won three of their last four games after starting 1-11, but this much losing is new for the high school state and NCAA champion.<\/p>\n

At a recent practice in Arlington, Bueckers said she\u2019s \u201ctaking everything as it comes and embracing it.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe all want to win,\u201d she said. \u201cWe all want to get better, so we\u2019re all trying to learn how to do this as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even during that early slump, you\u2019d see Bueckers smiling and joking with teammates at practice, keeping the mood light.<\/p>\n

But like many all-time greats, there\u2019s a fire inside her, though she doesn\u2019t let the heat of competition spark arrogance or stifle her instinct to treat people with humanity. Ouse said he will never forget that moment in the gym five years ago when Bueckers told him her aspirations, nor will he forget her kindness. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve worked with over 200 professional athletes, and I\u2019ve never met somebody that looks out for the people in their circle the way that Paige does,\u201d Ouse said. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a unicorn of a human being.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Indiana<\/a>Fever rule out Caitlin Clark (groin) vs. Sparks, day before Wings matchup at AAC in Dallas<\/a><\/p>\n

Clark had recently returned from\u00a0a quad injury\u00a0that kept her sidelined for five games. <\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/a>Dallas Wings-Indiana Fever matchup at American Airlines Center officially sold out<\/a><\/p>\n

The matchup dubbed \u201cA Night In Dallas\u201d features the first pro matchup between Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark.<\/p>\n

Find more Wings coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/b><\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reid Ouse had never seen Paige Bueckers so frustrated. In the short time he\u2019d been her skills development…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[2470,2471,62,67,132,68,14378,232],"class_list":{"0":"post-16951","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-dallas-wings","9":"tag-paige-bueckers","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us","14":"tag-wings","15":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114751057678706754","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}