Two Sundays ago, Paige Bueckers and Sue Bird gathered in the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, as different views of their lives were celebrated.
Bueckers led the court crowning. The Huskimo blows away South Carolina and wins UConn’s first national championship in nine years. After the last college game, as the Memorial Net draped around her neck, Bux said she felt overwhelming joy and gratitude.
Bird also expressed her gratitude for her moment in the spotlight. She is partly trying to co-host ESPN TV with her best friend and former UConn teammate Diana Taurasi. But, in the first half of the Huskies’ final victory of 23 points, Bird was warmly welcomed by fans as she received honors among the new inductees in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
The birds and buecker are both in the same location at the same time, which reminds the current moment of women’s basketball. A new defender entered the professionals, while the older generation gained recognition from the arena after.
WNBA Trail Blazers such as Bird, Taurasi, Sylvia Fowles and Candace Parker have retired from the league over the past three years. Bueckers, who is expected to be the first pick in the WNBA draft on Monday night, represents a potential pillar of his future.
Page. bucket. Enough to say. 🏆
Paige Bueckers ended her UConn career with a national championship and 2025 Wade Trophy. She is the 3x AP first team in the United States, the 2x Nancy Lieberman Award winner and the 2021 National Player of the Year. Bueckers lead UConn to four finals… pic.twitter.com/parnmvo5dk
– WNBA (@wnba) April 11, 2025
She joined last year’s top rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese as the cornerstone of the latest chapter of the WNBA. Who is better at becoming the new commander carrier than someone who faces pressure and constant doubts throughout his college career? With the WNBA trying to build on its historic 2024 season, the Bueckers’ arrival is as close as the league can add another ambassador ready to help its growth.
“It’s very popular now, so it’s in a really good place,” said Wings general manager Curt Miller. “I’m excited for the momentum of this class.”
Bueckers are used to high expectations. At UConn, she faces endless reminders. Each of the last four games of the show is in the Eskimo practice gym. Banners of national and national champions hang on the wall. In some Stolls, Connecticut, highway welcome signs indicate how many championships the Husky dogs have won. After last week, it’s now NCAA Record 12.
Bueckers knows every tag. She learned to perfect her way of thinking and became more focused on the process. Over the course of five years, she became the face of a college course that is more well-known than almost every WNBA franchise, dabbing not only in her growing star game but also in climate change in college sports. She is part of a generation of college players who still perform themselves like professionals while still in school. Photos and commercial shootings become part of the temporary day. She has partnered with Nike, Intuit, Google and Bose. On Friday, Bueckers (never stepped onto the WNBA court) was part of Ally’s promotional material to become the official banking partner of WNBA.
Eight days after completing her college career, Bueckers will officially open the pages in her story as she walks throughout the talent show stage. She would almost certainly head to Dallas to join the same franchise as her alma mater lacked historic. Although technically there were three championships in Wings, those titles belonged to the Detroit Shocks, which later moved to Tulsa and eventually to Texas.
“When we get into the 25th season, I can’t start telling you that it just injects energy, passion,” Miller said in December after the wings finished the first pick.
As a three-time All-American, three-time Big Oriental Player of the Year and Naismith Player of the Year, the Bueckers can view Clark as a roadmap for their rookie season.
The former Iowa star’s adjustment to professional players took only a few weeks. Clark exploded, adapted to the WNBA’s physical condition, discovered her stroke and was on her way to the global first team with her teammates. Indiana’s craze has returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
“Like last year, when we thought Caitlin Clark’s game would be translated immediately, in most cases, I think Page’s game would be translated immediately,” said UConn Alum and Fame Forward Forward Rebecca Lobo. “Katelyn and Page are very different players. … But their influence may be just as important.”
Teammates will feel the impact of Bueckers on the game – she is a willing passer who will create a better look for Dallas existing star guard Arike Ogunbowale. It will be felt throughout the league – the WNBA knows she is a TV raffle, not last year, and this season there is no ABC’s two wings game.
In Dallas, team executives have long recognized the impact of the No. 1 pick. When Wings won the lottery in mid-November, Miller was announced as the new general manager nine days after they had not hired a coach. But that Sunday, when the ping-pong bounced, Miller knew it was transformative.
Wings hired Chris Koclanes as coach in December and they are already a growing moment when they learn about their good luck. They have been planning to increase their arena seats from about 6,000 to 9,000 in 2026 from Arlington to Dallas. A new practice facility is already in progress, and they add more national partners than last season. Dallas dismissed three ticketing revenues in 2024 and sold two and half percent of the shares at a valuation of $208 million.
I woke up like a traitor because I really applauded when a team scored? ? ? 😘️Wings laugh anyway. Can’t wait to draft. @dallaswings You all know what to do❗️
-Ariko Owbutan (@iko_o) April 7, 2025
But like Clark’s interest in fever and Reese’s interest in Chicago sky, Bueckers may provide the push. Although Dallas’ total ticket revenue has increased by 44% from 2023 to 2024, the series expects a 50% increase in total ticket revenue this season. The wings have sold out their season ticket list over the past two seasons, but they announced in late November, only a few days after finishing the No. 1 pick.
Bueckers, 23, is a well-known star. Off the court, she won headlines from her appearances at the U.S. Open and New York Fashion Week. This season, the Huskimo sold out the season tickets for the Gampel Pavilion for the first time since 2004-05.
According to ESPN, UConn beat South Carolina to be the third largest audience in the women’s basketball championship, reaching 9.8 million. Sweet 16 rounds averaged 1.7 million viewers on ESPN’s network, the second largest viewer of Sweet 16 after last year.
Monday’s draft may not have reached the record competition in 2024, but it is expected to remain noteworthy and may be the second largest ever draft. Bueckers would hear her name, share it with Commissioner Cathy Engelbert for a while, and start the post-draft tour consisting of interviews and filming.
As Taurasi prepared for the WNBA at Clark last season, reality is coming. For Bueckers, that’s true. But as part of a wave of names, images and similar stars that have become the program and the faces of the sport, the Bueckers are ready to be another success story for this historic WNBA growth era. It is impossible to be fully prepared for what will happen next, but she is thriving.
Here is the order of Monday’s draft:
(Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / sports; Photos of Paige Bueckers: David Butler II/Imagn images)
