Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
With the massive uptick in attention that’s been drawn to women’s basketball over the past few years, Paige Bueckers will be entering a whole new WNBA. Naturally, after being the first overall pick in the 2025 draft, Bueckers will also have to deal with comparisons to last year’s number one overall pick Caitlin Clark.
Interestingly, had it not been for injuries, Paige Bueckers was on schedule to enter the WNBA the same year that Clark and Angel Reese did. It worked out well for Bueckers though. She took advantage of her extra college eligibility to win a national championship. She also avoided the inevitable debates over who should have gone number one last year, her or Caitlin Clark? Now, much like what happened with Clark last season, there are going to be changes that need to be made to Bueckers’ game during her rookie year.
“Paige is going to have to make the adjustment,” Wings executive vice president and general manager Curt Miller told Time. “The speed of the game, the rules of the game, the physicality, is all different. The veterans aren’t going to take it easy on the rookie. Paige is going to feel her rookie moment at some point. She will have to navigate the comparisons to the adjustment that Caitlin had. We’re all mindful and aware, but we’re going to be very supportive that this is Paige’s journey, and no one else’s journey.”
She doesn’t sound too worried about it, nor does she appear to be too concerned with the inevitable comparisons to Caitlin Clark.
“That’s what the media cares about,” she said. “That’s what everybody who watches basketball cares about. I used to be bothered by it. But I’ve done so much work on myself and my approach. The ability to not run a race in comparison, to run my own race and worry about that. Caitlin’s a phenomenal player. We’re also completely different players.”
Bueckers will admit that the fans’ interest in comparing her and Clark is good for the game, but “at the end of the day, I don’t think either of us really cares about it, because we’re just trying to be the best versions of ourselves.”
That doesn’t mean she won’t have a little extra motivation when her Dallas Wings meet Clark’s Indiana Fever on June 27th. Bueckers admits that she is “still sick” about losing in the national semifinals to Iowa and Clark in 2024.