Heading into the WNBA season, many had been excited for the prospects of Indiana Fever celebrity sophomore Caitlin Clark. Particularly what she’d do in her second yr within the WNBA after a historic rookie season.
Whereas Clark averaged 16.5 factors, 5.0 rebounds, 8.8 assists, and 1.6 steals per sport, it was simply in 13 video games of motion. The Fever star was hampered by a hamstring damage that stored her out indefinitely earlier than formally being dominated out for the remainder of the season.
Since Clark has been absent, she has taken on a extra backstage function, just like a number one actress in a significant movie about to launch into the subsequent section of her profession, however an uncontrollable circumstance quickly halts their progress.
That leaves room for an additional ultra-talented actress who is able to make waves on the scene, and that actress has been none aside from the Dallas Wings’ rookie Paige Bueckers.
There aren’t sufficient adjectives to explain Bueckers. Transcendent. Unselfish. Cognizant. Clever. You get my gist. Whereas the Wings completed with the worst file within the Western Convention at 10-34, they’ve a brilliant franchise cornerstone in Bueckers for the foreseeable future.
She might grow to be Dallas’s hottest athlete with former Dallas superstars Luka Doncic and Micah Parsons each out of the fold. Let’s get into why the AP Rookie of the Yr, Paige Bueckers, can grow to be “The Face” of the WNBA.
Paige Bueckers is the subsequent face of the WNBA, not Caitlin Clark
To be the face of a sport, you need to stand out amongst your friends. You should be each transcendent and interesting to field workplace success, as this encourages crowds to need to attend the video games. Bueckers has completed that and extra in her rookie season, breaking quite a few information.
In her rookie season, Bueckers averaged 19.2 factors, 3.9 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per sport on an environment friendly 47% from the sector. She additionally shot 33% from downtown and 88% from the charity stripe.
To enter a extra context, she’s the one rookie in WNBA historical past to common 19+ factors and 5+ assists whereas capturing higher than 45% from the sector and at the very least 85% from the foul line. She was the quickest rookie to 500 factors and 150 assists, breaking Clark’s earlier file.
Bueckers additionally set the single-game rookie scoring file by scoring 44 factors towards the Los Angeles Sparks on August 20 in mesmerizing vogue. From textbook pull-up threes and artistic crossover finishes to the basket to even a mid-post fadeaway harking back to Kobe Bryant. Flawless fundamentals.
It wasn’t only a single-game rookie file; Bueckers grew to become the one participant in WNBA historical past to attain 40+ in a sport whereas capturing an unfathomable 80% from the sector. That’s effectivity and quantity the likes of which the WNBA has by no means seen.
It doesn’t cease there for Bueckers. She set franchise rookie information in factors and assists for the Wings. Not solely that, she was additionally named an All-Star and simply the third rookie in WNBA historical past to be named AP All-WNBA, garnering All-WNBA Second Staff nods and becoming a member of Caitlin Clark (2024) and Breanna Stewart (2016).
Because the WNBA gears up for its subsequent technology, it’s time to gear as much as flip the subsequent Bueckers.
