With new stars, heavily contested and high-quality matchups, the WNBA’s popularity is climbing with every passing season. Last year, it was Caitlin Clark who stormed the league; this year, it’s Paige Bueckers, whose biggest fan is Dwayne Wade.
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Bueckers, selected No. 1 overall by the Dallas Wings in the 2025 Draft, is this season’s Rookie of the Year. In a stellar campaign, she averaged 19.2 points per game, with a 47% field goal percentage. The Wings, however, had a 10-34 record, finishing last in the league.
Bueckers’ rise has been their sole bright spot for the season. And Wade, on his podcast, discussed how Bueckers has been “winning in life”, emerging on top in the NCAA with UConn in April. In just a few months from that high point, she has become a global phenomenon, thanks to the WNBA.
Wade admitted that he doesn’t know Bueckers too well. He’s just a fan, but he would love to be more.
“I’m just a really big fan, but I’m like, she just looks cool to me, bro. Like, I wanna be her friend. She just looked that kind of cool,” Wade said.
“But the way she passes it on to everything and everybody else makes her even cooler. Like, when she gets on the microphone, what she’s saying, and how she says it, you know, how she stands? She stands on business,” he added.
Wade, a three-time NBA champion, also spoke about Bueckers’ mindset, recalling the altercation she had with the Sparks’ Kelsey Plum. She trash-talked, told her she would put her in her place, and did just that against one of the established greats in the WNBA. Wade simply couldn’t believe that a rookie could do that.
“Smells so cold to me, bro, I mean, yeah, rookie of the year, I mean, it’s just the beginning of her in her pro career, and all the awards that she’s going to be up for. Just the way she plays the game. She’s seamless, she’s effortless,” he praised the 23-year-old.
Bueckers’ basketball IQ has garnered her acclaim right from when she was in school. With her performances in the WNBA, she is proving that her school and college careers were just a prelude.
The point guard has elite playmaking abilities and is strong in both offense and defense. With a better team next season, she could be an even bigger threat. She could also become the face of the WNBA in the future.
