The WNBA has become more popular than ever in the last couple of years, but compared to everything else occupying the sports landscape, there’s still lots of room to grow. Nowhere is that more evident than in the case of Paige Bueckers, the Dallas Wings rookie who has put together one of the most impressive inaugural seasons in WNBA history.
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Bueckers has been phenomenal on the court, and she has a fun, exciting personality off of it that has created memorable recent interactions with Kyrie Irving and Shemar Moore. After seeing how Caitlin Clark became one of the biggest stars in sports while following a very similar path, why then hasn’t Paige grabbed the same amount of attention outside of WNBA hardcore fans?
Awful Announcing published an article in late August asking, “Where is the buzz for Paige Bueckers?” In it, writer Katie Lever pointed out that after Bueckers’ sensational 44-point outburst against the Sparks, Sportscenter didn’t even make that the lead story the next morning, contrasting it with how a hard foul on Clark was talked about ad nauseum for over a week.
Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe dove into the question of why Bueckers hasn’t gotten the same kind of coverage as Clark on the most recent episode of their A Touch More podcast, and they made some great points.
“I think Paige is really popular,” Bird said, and Rapinoe agreed, saying, “I think she’s really popular too, but like in a different kind of way.”
Rapinoe called Clark “a shooting star,” which is a smart way to put it. Shooting stars are rare, and Clark was the one that really drove women’s basketball to a new level of popularity, something which has been christened “The Caitlin Clark effect.” Bueckers was once looked at that way, but injuries derailed her college career, allowing Clark to swoop in and become the game’s most popular player.
Everything Bueckers has done since getting healthy again has proven that people were right to label her as the next big thing coming out of high school. She led UConn to a national championship, was the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft, and has been the no-doubt-about-it Rookie of the Year.
If you see a second shooting star right after seeing the first one, it’s not going to impact you in the same way. Since Clark already ushered in a new era, she’s the poster child for women’s basketball, even though Bueckers has been incredible in her own way.
Bird believes it’s up to the major networks to elevate the women’s game even more. “What I would say that I’m noticing that’s lacking for not just Paige, but honestly everyone in the WNBA, including Caitlin, I know she’s not playing right now, but really the WNBA in general, is … there’s all these articles on men’s sports, and there’s one WNBA article.”
“Where is the more?” Bird asked. “We have now earned more. We all know there’s the media coverage pie that we only had 4% at one point, now it’s up to 15, 16%, which is great. And now it’s like, we’re all wanting more, we’re wanting to be 20%, 25%, so on.”
That’s what it will take for Bueckers to get the same amount of coverage as Clark. Even though the Fever star hasn’t played since before the All-Star Game and was recently ruled out for the season, she’s still the league’s most popular player. The overall amount of coverage needs to grow to also make room for Bueckers, because Clark’s popularity isn’t going anywhere.
“I think at times when people say, ‘Paige should have more,’ they think that means taking away from Caitlin, and it doesn’t,” Bird explained “Caitlin deserves everything she gets .. and Paige deserves more, and Angel Reese deserves more, and A’ja [Wilson], and [Napheesa Collier]. And the WNBA deserves more.”
Bird said that she knew Paige Bueckers was going to be huge when she was still in high school. Dan Patrick said something similar recently, stating “Paige Bueckers was Caitlin Clark before Caitlin Clark,” while also saying that those two should be the league’s biggest rivalry in the years to come, not Clark vs. Angel Reese.
Bueckers has been hurt a bit by her Wings being near the bottom of the league, but as Dallas surrounds her with a better supporting cast and she continues to evolve her already-impressive game, we should start to see more people taking notice. It may or may not get to Clark’s level, because she was the trailblazer that really helped the women’s game take off, but as Bird pointed out, there should be room for everyone as the league’s popularity grows.
