logo
Wings' Paige Bueckers Reveals Favorite WNBA Player Without Hesitation

Wings' Paige Bueckers Reveals Favorite WNBA Player Without Hesitation

Newsweeka day ago
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Paige Bueckers has taken the WNBA by storm in her rookie season with the Dallas Wings. After being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, Bueckers has not disappointed.
Following her final season in college with the UConn Huskies that resulted in a national championship, Bueckers faced immense hype and expectations. She has lived up to all of the outside noise.
While the Wings still are not winning at a high level, Bueckers has changed their franchise outlook. Dallas has hope for the future. With the right moves around Bueckers, the team could very well become a contender in the near future.
Paige Bueckers #5 of the Dallas Wings looks on against the Indiana Fever during the third quarter at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on August 12, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Paige Bueckers #5 of the Dallas Wings looks on against the Indiana Fever during the third quarter at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on August 12, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Photo bySo far during her rookie season, Bueckers has played in 26 games. She has averaged 18.4 points per game to go along with 5.4 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.8 steals, while also shooting 45.2 percent from the floor and knocking down 32.6 percent of her three-point attempts.
Read more: Caitlin Clark's Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift Message Turns Heads
To say that the 23-year-old guard has already become a star would be an understatement. Bueckers is already starting to reach superstar status in the WNBA.
With that being said, Bueckers made an appearance on the a recent episode of "Close Friends Only." One of the questions she was asked had to do with who her favorite WNBA player was.
Of course, Bueckers has quite a few former teammates playing in the WNBA. Outside of her former teammates, she named Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier as her favorite player in the league.
"If I had to pick non-former teammate, yeah, it would probably be Phee," Bueckers said.
Bueckers also shared a funny story about when Collier tried to post her up early in her career.
"I think it was the first game of the season. She tried to post me up like I was baby food or something, so clearly that lesson didn't teach you much," she joked.
Azzi Fudd also appeared on the episode with Bueckers. She was asked the same question and quickly named Bueckers as her favorite WNBA player.
"Probably Paige Bueckers," Fudd said.
If Bueckers wasn't an option, Fudd stated that Collier was also her choice.
"Second choice, I'm gonna go with Naphee. Everything about her game is just perfect," Fudd said.
Read more: Sophie Cunningham Could Receive Another WNBA Fine After Latest Remarks
So far this season in Buckers' rookie year, the Wings have gone 9-24. It hasn't been the most fun year, but the rebuild is in a much better place than it was a year ago.
Next up for Dallas will be a home matchup against the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday night.
Make sure to follow Newsweek Sports for all Dallas Wings and WNBA news and updates.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

WNBA star Kelsey Plum backtracks on Caitlin Clark jab after backlash: 'I made a bad joke'
WNBA star Kelsey Plum backtracks on Caitlin Clark jab after backlash: 'I made a bad joke'

Fox News

time25 minutes ago

  • Fox News

WNBA star Kelsey Plum backtracks on Caitlin Clark jab after backlash: 'I made a bad joke'

Las Vegas Aces star Kelsey Plum addressed controversial comments she made about Caitlin Clark's All-Star team last month, insisting she had been making a "joke." After the WNBA All-Star game, where many players wore t-shirts that read, "Pay us what you owe us" in reference to the players' union's CBA negotiations with the league, Plum told reporters that players from Clark's All-Star team had not been at a meeting to discuss the shirts. "But the T-shirt, just, united front, was determined this morning, that we had a meeting for. And, you know, not to tattletale, but zero members of Team Clark were very present for that," Plum said. The comments ignited harsh backlash against Plum, as many fans pointed out that Clark herself had been wearing the t-shirt during the game. Now, Plum is insisting that her comment was not serious, and referencing that many players were "hung over," the morning of the apparent meeting. "I made a bad joke. I made a really bad joke, tough one," Plum said during an episode of WNBA legend Sue Bird's podcast "Bird's Eye View." Plum also said that she "should have known it was a way-more-serious moment." "I should have like hindsight 2020 because of the shirts, because of the fans, like I should have known it was a way-more-serious moment than a typical All-Star game," Plum said. "Because I went into that press conference very like, happy-go-lucky, we won. And then had a great weekend, like my family's here, it was just a great time. And so the questions came in, and it was like CBA this, this, this, this, and I honestly… was like, 'Hey like team Clark, like they didn't make it to the meeting either… Trying to make the room lighter." The protest was the talk of the weekend as players criticized WNBA officials amid the negotiations. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told reporters she believed a deal will get done before the current CBA expires after this season. "I'm still really optimistic that we'll get something done that would be transformational," she said. "And that, next year at All-Star, we'll be talking about how great everything is. Obviously there's a lot of hard work to be done on both sides to get there."

Michelle Obama speaks out on Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese 'hate'
Michelle Obama speaks out on Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese 'hate'

Fox News

timean hour ago

  • Fox News

Michelle Obama speaks out on Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese 'hate'

Former first lady Michelle Obama weighed in on the WNBA rivalry between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese for the first time. During an appearance on the podcast "All the Smoke with Matt Barnes & Stephen Jackson," Obama spoke during a group discussion about the impact of the Clark-Reese drama on the WNBA's popularity, the impact on the players' well-beings and "hate" involved. "I think the tough thing is the social media element to it. But that's true across the board. I mean, we've talked about this on our show; it just takes a normal occurrence. These young kids today, what they have to go through, what they have to be able to withstand, because social media is such a huge part of the world," Obama said. "There's the hate. But now the hate is in your room, on your phone, with you all the time. And you can't, for whatever reason, tell these kids to turn it off, because they're making their living that way. I mean, now they are expected to stay engaged. So, I think that makes it feel even worse. But I think, as you point out, that's happening in sports across gender. It's just harder not to withstand other people's horrible, horrible opinions." The rivalry between Clark and Reese was renewed in their first game of the 2025 season on May 17. Clark's Indiana Fever defeated Reese's Chicago Sky 93-58, and Clark was called for a flagrant foul after a defensive play against Reese. The WNBA announced after the game that it would be launching an investigation into alleged "racist" comments directed at Reese, but could not substantiate the allegations. The two have not played each other since that May 17 game, as both have dealt with injuries throughout the season. Meanwhile, Obama recently made headlines with another sports-related opinion, when she compared ESPN to reality TV during an episode of her brother's podcast "IMO" in July. "It's all a sociological study. They think that sports is better reality TV, I'm like, 'It's the same thing.' If I listen to ESPN for an hour, it's like watching the 'Real Housewives of Atlanta,' you know?" Obama said. "It's the same drama, and they're yelling at each other, and they don't get along, you know? I mean, Stephen A. Smith, he's just like every other. . . ."

The WNBA has a flying sex toy problem ... or does it?
The WNBA has a flying sex toy problem ... or does it?

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

The WNBA has a flying sex toy problem ... or does it?

Three experts put the dildo debacle into perspective. Let's review some recent WNBA headlines: Alyssa Thomas made history with three consecutive triple-doubles, the first three-peat in the league's history; Brittney Sykes was traded midseason from the Washington Mystics to the Seattle Storm; the Indiana Fever's Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald both suffered season-ending injuries. Did you read those stories? Probably not. But the sex toys being thrown onto WNBA courts — that's probably broken through. The first of the phallic-shaped objects hit the floor of the Gateway Center Arena in Georgia during a July 29 matchup between the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries. A few days later, another one landed in Wintrust Arena, where the Chicago Sky faced Golden State. The incidents sparked a few laughs, a lot of confusion and ultimately a ton of media coverage, especially as they continued to be thrown onto the home courts of the Los Angeles Sparks, Phoenix Mercury and New York Liberty, where a 12-year-old girl was struck by it. The NYPD is looking for that suspect, while arrests have been made in connection with incidents in Georgia and Phoenix. What to make of the incidents and how to respond to them has been a growing conversation. Sure, it could just be a viral prank, with the perpetrators wanting internet fame; there's also the possibility that this is sexism, or as Cosmopolitan put it, "misogyny plain and simple"; there's even the connection to cryptocurrency (maybe this is all a marketing ploy?!). Nevertheless, players and leaders in the league have reacted both seriously and with humor, while fans, commentators, TikTokers and basketball noobs debate whether the storyline should get as much attention as it has or if it even poses a threat to the rapidly rising WNBA. To help me understand the current events and conversations, and why they might or might not matter, I spoke with three experts who shared different points of view. Jodi Norgaard, author and founder of Go! Go! Sports Girls There's a pattern of sexist responses when women find success, Norgaard notes. 'We've seen women steadily rise in our culture. What we're seeing now is such a blowback to this rise because there's such a threat of power,' she tells Yahoo. 'When men cannot match our talent, they reach for props. When they can't silence us, they try to embarrass us.' She recognizes it as a part of a larger negative narrative surrounding the WNBA, especially when it comes to media coverage and social media conversations. 'Women are just more scrutinized than men,' says Norgaard, highlighting the misogynistic responses to Indiana Fever Sophie Cunningham's initial post on X about the sex toy saga as an example. But she doesn't see it as something that will defeat players. 'When something gets a lot of attention, that means it's on the radar, that means there's something to be talking about, so there's good in that. We're seeing the record viewership, we're seeing the record merchandise sales, we're seeing the athletes stepping into the cultural spotlight like we've never seen before,' Norgaard continues. 'I don't think we're going away. I just think there's a lot of fighting that we're going to have to do as we continue to rise.' Jordan Robinson, women's sports journalist and host of 'The Women's Hoop Show' podcast Robinson has been covering women's basketball for seven years, so she knows that sexism has appeared throughout the coverage of the WNBA both historically and during the 2025 season in particular. The focus on dildos being thrown onto the court might be the most blatant example, but it's also seen in discussions about higher pay for female athletes and even the narrative about physicality and perceived feuds, like the storyline around Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. 'It's like we're choosing topics that aren't about the play on the court, and that isn't fair. For the NBA, for the NFL, we go through hours of coverage on major networks to talk about the matchups and the X's and O's. It feels like the WNBA only makes headlines when it's not basketball-related, and that's really annoying, honestly. The sex toys thing falls in line with that,' Robinson tells Yahoo. She too believes it's the 'cost of growth' for the women's league, especially when that brings in new audiences that don't know how to engage with it. 'People that don't typically cover the league on a weekly basis aren't really tapped in to know the top players or the standings or how it's a race for the playoffs. Instead, it's, 'What are the sex toys about? This is clickbaity, let's talk about this.' And it takes away from the seriousness of the league,' she says. On the flip side, it's provided an opportunity for players to respond in their own ways and become a part of the cultural conversation. 'Sydney Colson made a whole separate Instagram called the Mean Green and dressed in green and made a complete joke out of it,' says Robinson. 'It's a platform thing. … Her dressing up as the dildo is a part of her personal brand and is going to bring more people to her page and more ears to her podcast.' Howard Megdal, author of ' and founder of the IX Basketball Megdal, a man, focuses solely on women's basketball coverage because he knows it's needed — and the persistence of the sex toy conversation is Exhibit A. 'People will drink the sand when there's no water to be had,' he tells Yahoo, 'so for those who have discovered women's basketball and have come to love it, they're going to look to consume it in any and every way they can.' Certain storylines are a product of a newer part of the sports media industry that isn't qualified or doesn't care to cover the league's most important topics, like ongoing negotiations for higher pay (because why is Clark only making $78,000 this season?). Coverage of the WNBA's encounters with green and purple dildos might be a distraction from those pivotal issues, but he doesn't see it as a detriment. 'I remain unconvinced that it matters very much at all. If I'm the WNBA and I see television viewership going through the roof — not just when Caitlin Clark plays but also when she doesn't play — and I see numerous markets regularly selling out games and a moment in which expansion fees seem to be going up by the day, I don't know that I'd spend much time worrying about the nonsense when I got out of bed every day,' says Megdal. That's not to say that the league or its players should have to deal with it. But, as he sees it, this dialogue isn't a threat to its success. 'The conversation as it exists … is not reflective and does not have any sort of negative impact on the league's ability to grow,' he says. 'I'd probably stop bothering to worry about it.' The bigger picture The dildo incidents reflect the reality of the WNBA in 2025, as a league in the midst of explosive growth, grappling with the double-edged sword of visibility. The reaction to it shows the gap between what players put into the game and what the public and parts of the media choose to focus on. 'There is this overarching theme, unfortunately, that hovers over the WNBA, which is sexism,' says Robinson. 'I'm going to find the silver lining because five or six years ago, these teams weren't even playing in these arenas, and they would have been empty. Now, there are so many people in the audience to the point where somebody slipped in and threw a dildo. The positive is that it was sold out.' It's not something to be overlooked, but it's less of a threat than a test case for a women's league fighting for respect. And while the players shouldn't have to deal with it, they're proving that they know how to turn attention into fuel for the bigger game. Solve the daily Crossword

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store