Paige Bueckers (No. 5) of the Dallas Wings continues to see her dreams come alive in the WNBA. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
MINNEAPOLIS — Paige Bueckers did not need to say much with her first WNBA double-double Wednesday night. Her performance spoke volumes.
Bueckers, the rookie guard for the Dallas Wings, scored 12 points and dished 10 assists at Target Center — a short drive from her hometown of Hopkins, Minnesota — in front of a crowd that welcomed her like family.
Despite the Wings’ 85-81 loss to the Minnesota Lynx, the night marked a new chapter in what has already been an emotional and inspiring journey for the former UConn star.
“You try to put everything into perspective and to see all the little girls and people in the stands and realize that, like, that was you just about, what, 10, 15 years ago,” Bueckers said. “And so you never take it for granted. How blessed we are to be able to play in this league and to play at this level and to be in this organization with this team — just extremely grateful. And you try to reflect that every single time you play with the passion and joy and heart that you play with. So you take it and you carry it with you wherever you go.”
That gratitude has been a through line for Bueckers throughout her rookie season. Overcoming injuries during her storied college career and waiting for her moment, she has embraced every opportunity in the league with intention and perspective.
“Just super proud and super grateful. It was not the journey I expected it to be,” she observed. “As a young kid, I thought I was invincible. I really did not. Injuries did not happen to me and my body was fine. Stuff like that. So to be able to go through the journey that I did with the people that I did, it just meant everything to me. And to be at UConn, my dream school, to be playing in the WNBA — it is just a dream.”
It is a dream she is determined to build on.
Paige Bueckers’s versatile abilities continue to develop and flourish in the WNBA level with the Dallas Wings. (Photo: Rachel Schuoler | The Podium Finish)
“Very motivated,” Bueckers said following her WNBA debut on May 16. “You get to the point where you have reached your dreams and then you want to take off with it and see what you can do with it. Just getting to the dream is not enough. So continue to build on that.”
That foundation has been visible in her growing leadership role with Dallas under first-year head coach Chris Koclanes. During preseason, Bueckers said the team’s environment has helped her settle into the league.
“Just finding that level of comfort every single day, and knowing it is a very comfortable environment here. It is where we are all receptive to learning, and we all just want to win,” Bueckers said. “Regardless of age, how many years we have been in the league, we are willing to listen to each other, and we all just want to win.”
Koclanes has embraced a player-led culture, one Bueckers values.
“We always know it is never coming from an ill intention. So to be able — and Coach empowers us — to lead from where we are, regardless of experience. And so we all want to be a player-led team, regardless of who the voices are, so that has always been the goal for us.”
Although she is a rookie, Bueckers has never shied away from the responsibility of leadership.
“I know I am young, and I do not have the most experience. I do not have any experience at all in the league, but I want to use my voice, build confidence within the players that I am playing with, challenge them, support them,” she said. “And really, I want to be a leader even though it is my rookie season and continue to use my voice and find the best ways to do it while not overstepping. I just want to gain everybody’s respect to the point where they respect my voice, and they know it is not personal or anything, but we are all just trying to win.”
While Paige Bueckers will play at Target Center several more times in her WNBA career, her first game experience on May 21, 2025, will always be special. (Photo: Dallas Wings Basketball)
Back in her home state, the setting of her double-double was not lost on Bueckers. No matter where her basketball dreams take her, she will always be the girl from The Land of 10,000 Lakes.
“Hopkins — it has meant so much,” she said. “I grew up around that area, Hopkins, St. Louis Park area, but just Minnesota. I am so proud to represent that state and just be a part of the legacy there. It is a super nice, loving community that supports one another. We just want great things for the people of the community, and even people outside of it.”
Even now, as her role in the WNBA expands and evolves, Bueckers holds on tightly to her roots.
“Every single day I try to stop and smell the roses a little bit and enjoy where I am at, because there is a lot of people that invested in me, a lot of faith and a lot of hard work that it took to get here,” she said. “To be here in this organization with amazing teammates and amazing coaching staff, you just want to appreciate it every single day and never take it for granted.”
For Paige Bueckers, Wednesday night’s double-double was not just a stat line. It was a quiet moment of arrival, surrounded by the community that helped raise her — a chance to reflect, compete, and keep dreaming bigger.
