Paige Bueckers has already been deemed the future of the WNBA. We put this type of pressure on Caitlin Clark a year ago, and she seems to be handling it just fine, but now Buckers is in the spotlight as her rookie season gets underway. Bueckers was the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft earlier this spring, and Dallas expects to build around her for years.
But WNBA legend Diana Taurasi is already claiming that Bueckers will be the best player in the WNBA. That’s a tall task. It also means Bueckers has no room for error if it’s coming from a future HOFer. Taurasi has a point about Bueckers, though, and she's lived up to the hype at every level.
The Dallas Wings aren’t a championship team right now, but they have a foundation in Bueckers, and can start building around her next offseason. It’s what the Indiana Fever did with Clark this season. They immediately went to work, making sure not to waste Clark’s potential. The Wings will have to do the same.
Paige Bueckers knows all about pressure at this point in her career
Bueckers played at UConn. The amount of pressure she endured playing under legendary coach Geno Auriemma and having to leave the Huskies with a title was virtually unbearable. Yet, she handled it just as any superstar player would. She ultimately finished her collegiate career with a championship.
Now she has the goal of doing that in the WNBA. It won’t be easy, but it’s not impossible either. In fact, her championship pedigree is probably why Taurasi is so high on Bueckers. Clark probably doesn’t get that much respect because, while she was the best player on the court, she never won a championship.
You could argue it’s a lot of pressure for a rookie to be the next generation of players that end up being the face of the league. But it’s no different than putting that pressure on Anthony Edwards, Ja Morant or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the NBA side.
So yes, it’s a lot of pressure, but it’s warranted. Bueckers didn’t come from just any school, she played and won at UConn. She wasn’t just a first-round pick, she was a consensus No. 1 overall pick.
What Bueckers has accomplished is exactly why she’s the perfect player to be the face of the WNBA. She’s not the only player in contention for that title, but she’s the only one getting the nod of approval from Taurasi early on.
It might be a lot of pressure, but that’s all Bueckers has dealt with while she was at UConn. This is no different.