PAIGE BUECKERS DOESN’T HAVE TO BE CAITLIN CLARK TO EXCITE THE WNBA CROWDS
She finally won a national title at Connecticut and will be joining the Dallas Wings, in a town where Clark says all games should be moved to the Mavericks’ arena because “Paige has that type of draw"
All denials vanished when she ventured to the basket, used glass to bank in the ball, fell hard and screamed Sunday. Paige Bueckers finally has won a national championship and can begin pondering the next version of her basketball life. She will not be Caitlin Clark in the WNBA, but she’ll be the most compelling variant to follow her.
Pronounced “beckers,” as is buckets and no hecklers, she has grown up in five years at Connecticut. She’s blond with pigtails and a grin shadowing wide eyes. Muscles have developed on her arms, which she’ll need in a league where opponents are eyeing her as they pinpointed Clark. How will she handle the hype? When she appeared on a podcast with LSU star Flau’jae Johnson and was asked a critical style question — who has more “rizz?” — Bueckers fired back.
“I got top rizz in the world,” she said.
What we know is that she won a title when Clark only came close at Iowa. What we know is how Bueckers appeared in GQ in a men’s jacket, a shirt, pants, glasses, black shoes, a hat, a red tie and her legs not crossed. Inside the magazine, she showed her midriff in photos. She looks collegiate on the court, but clearly, she is adult with much money to make on the next level. Clark is known for her three-point gifts from logos and other regions and warmed Midwestern crowds with her West Des Moines upbringing. Is it possible Bueckers is a similar leader and armed with the same skills, beyond the crazed lasers? She hits 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from trey land and 90 percent at the free-throw line. She dishes assists and avoids turnovers. In the NCAA tournament, her scoring and shooting soared.
The Dallas Wings should be her next team, picking No. 1 next Monday. Already, reports have indicated she wants another franchise, such as Los Angeles. She says no. “Nowhere, specific. Wherever I end up,” she said.
For now, we’ll remember how she clutched coach Geno Auriemma and cried. She was concerned a history of injuries — an ACL injury knocked her out two years ago — might prevent her from joining the program’s greats in finding glory. Much has happened in the women’s game since UConn won its 11th championship in 2016, including failures to win in Storrs. Bueckers and teammates Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd put an end to Dawn Staley and South Carolina with an 82-59 trouncing.
“Yeah, if I could say one thing, it would be to stand firm in who you are. A lot of people write you off,” Bueckers said. “A lot of narratives will try to put you in a box. Got to do this, got to do that. Got to be more like this player, got to be more like that player. Stand firm. There are people who think you’re doing it on your strength. We lean on God’s strength for power and purposes. Do it for the people who believe in you.”
The coach hugged her and said, “I love you. That’s all I can say. I love you.”
“I told him I hate him,” Bueckers said.
Actually, no. “I love that man more than words can describe, and there's a lot of stuff about him that I don't, but it's because he's challenging me and making us all better in ways we never even knew we could,” she said. “And he always has our back. That's the thing, sometimes it feels like he's on you and he has nothing but bad things to say. But he always has belief. Just the relationship that we have, I can't even put in the words.”
The days are gone when Auriemma would say, “That’s why you’ve never won a national championship, and you never will!’’ He also was worried. “I think it scares her to leave and be the best player ever to play at UConn without winning a national championship,” he said recently. “It affects your legacy a little bit. I’ve never said that, and I don’t believe that, but I’ve gotta believe she thinks that. She needs that to validate who she is. But I don’t believe that’s the ultimate identifier of what true success is.”
Next time Bueckers walks into the practice facility, she identifies with the legends: Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, Maya Moore, Sue Bird, Rebecca Lobo. “You see all the history, all the names, all the banners. It's just motivation,” she said. “Obviously, there's expectations here. Anything less than a national championship is really a disappointment. As players, that's what you play for and what you want to live up to. The expectations and the pressure, it's a privilege. We all look at is as such.”
Last April, Clark drew 18.9 million Americans to watch her loss in the title game. This year, the number is lower — another reason the women’s final should be aired in prime time and not at 3 p.m. ET. But Bueckers scored 40 points in the Sweet 16 and has two million followers on Instagram. If nothing else, appreciate what she has overcome.
“It’s been a story of resilience, gratitude of overcoming adversity and responding to life’s challenges,” she said. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world. In no way, shape, or form have I gotten here by myself — I’ve had so many people invest in me. That definitely keeps you humble as well.”
Clark is on record. She thinks Dallas should move all home games to American Airlines Center, home of the Mavericks. “Paige has that type of draw,” she said.
Dawn Staley has seen everything as South Carolina’s head coach. Bueckers? “A great freakin’ player,” she said. “Anybody would start their franchise with Paige because of her efficient way of playing, because she’s a winner, because she cerebrally just knows the game, just has an aura about her. And she’ll be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft. And she’ll be an Olympian. She’ll be all those things.”
The rizz is there, too.
Charm and charisma, come the definitions.
###
Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.