10 Fun Facts About WNBA Rookie Paige Bueckers Before Her All-Star Debut

You’ll often hear Paige Bueckers’s name mentioned in the same sentence as the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark’s, and it’s no wonder why: The former UConn star and current Dallas Wings guard was one of the most celebrated college basketball players during her time as a Husky, and is (unsurprisingly) killing it in the WNBA as well.

Shortly after leading UConn to a national championship in April in a triumphant cap to a turbulent college career, Bueckers joined the Wings as the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft. Her performance has been formidable thus far: Currently, she leads all other first-year players in scoring and assists, and she is widely expected to be named Rookie of the Year in the fall.

And this weekend, Bueckers will be notching another milestone: playing in her first WNBA All-Star game (against Clark, no less). On June 30, Bueckers was named as one of 10 starters, making her the lone first-year player represented. In fact, she’s one of only nine rookies to earn the honor since 1999. When the All-Star teams face off at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on July 19, Bueckers will have yet another chance to show her stuff among the best of the best. But before her debut in what promises to be an epic matchup, check out these 10 facts you probably didn’t know about the Minnesota native.

1. She started playing basketball at age five.

Born in Edina, Minnesota, and raised in the nearby town of Hopkins, Bueckers picked up basketball as a kid and seemingly fell in love right away. In March 2020, Bleacher Report reported that her dad Bob had initially tried to sign her up for other sports, like track, but by the time his daughter reached first grade, it was obvious that she had her sights set on hoops.

Her talent was recognized early on. By fourth grade, people were raising the possibility of Bueckers playing for UConn, and by seventh grade, she was playing with high schoolers, according to Bleacher Report. By age 14, she was receiving scholarship offers from the likes of Minnesota and Iowa State, per Olympics.com. During high school, she racked up honors, including titles like Gatorade Female High School Athlete of the Year, Gatorade National Player of the Year, Naismith Prep Player of the Year, Morgan Wootten National Player of the Year, and Minnesota Miss Basketball. In 2019, she led the team to the state title, and she graduated as Hopkins’ all-time leader in points (2,877), assists (795), and steals (574).

Bueckers was ranked the No. 1 prospect in the 2020 class by ESPN and drew interest from pretty much every D1 basketball program in the US. While she considered offers from Duke, Texas, UCLA, Notre Dame, and other top universities, she brought speculation to an end in the spring of 2019 when she committed to UConn. “Women’s basketball is what UConn is known for, and it’s not like that at other schools. To see that support for women’s sports is awesome,” she said, according to ESPN.

2. She nabbed some impressive awards as only a freshman.

When she arrived in Storrs, Connecticut, for her first year at UConn, Bueckers proved herself right out of the gate. In 2021, she became the first freshman to win the Naismith Player of the Year award, a prize largely considered the top honor for NCAA basketball. It was a repeat of sorts for Bueckers, since she earned the high school equivalent the previous year.

That year, Bueckers also achieved similar firsts with the John R. Wooden Award, which goes to a college player considered “outstanding” for their on-court performance and character; the US Basketball Writers Association Player of the Year award; and the Associated Press Women’s Basketball Player of the Year award. In the case of the latter, the announcement brought her to tears, as a video of the moment shows.

3. Injuries kept her off the court for a chunk of her college career.

In the wake of Bueckers’s stellar freshman year, things took a turn. She suffered a knee injury and had ankle surgery in 2021, which sidelined her for half of her sophomore season. Then, she missed her entire junior season due to an ACL injury.

“The last couple years have been really challenging on my mental [health],” Bueckers said in a press conference in 2024 after her team beat out USC for a spot in that year’s Final Four. “I feel like I’ve had adversity thrown my way, but at the same time I’m super blessed to be in the position [I’m in.]” She credits her recovery in part to the support of her team, coaches, and school, and the medical care and rehab provided. “It could be easy for me to sulk and be upset and be sad about what life has thrown me the last couple years, or I can attack it with the mentality of being a leader.”

What’s more, Bueckers isn’t afraid to draw on her experiences with injury to support others. When USC star JuJu Watkins tore her ACL during 2025’s March Madness, ending her season, Bueckers made sure to connect with her. “I reached out to her offering my support and prayers and letting her know that we’ve exchanged numbers now, so we’re locked in,” Bueckers said, per USA Today. “Whatever she needs mentally, physically, to vent, ask questions.”

4. She was once teammates with Caitlin Clark.

Talk about a dream team. Two of the biggest names in women’s basketball—and they weren’t always rivals. Several years ago, Bueckers and Caitlin Clark both played for Team USA in the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup (and won gold at that). In fact, Bueckers was even named MVP of the tournament, in part due to her role helping her team win in the overtime final.

Since then, Bueckers and Clark have encountered each other on the court a few times as opponents. In April 2024, when both players were still in college, the Huskies lost to Clark’s team, the Iowa Hawkeyes, during the NCAA’s Final Four, allowing the Hawkeyes to advance to the national championship. “Since I’ve known her, since she was in middle school, she’s always worked that same way, she’s always had that fire, she’s always been a great leader, and I really honestly couldn’t be happier for her and the year she’s had,” Clark told SNY of Bueckers going into the showdown.

More recently, the two faced off on July 13 in their highly anticipated first WNBA matchup, which ended in a decisive Fever win. “It’s fun anytime we can compete against each other,” Bueckers said at a post-game press conference when asked about Clark. “We’re two competitors who just want to win, who have grown up to be playing against each other and playing with each other, so it’s great.”

5. Bueckers uses her platform for advocacy.

After winning the ESPY for best women’s college athlete in 2021, Bueckers took the opportunity to advocate for Black athletes. “As a white woman who leads a Black-led sport,” she said during her acceptance speech, “I want to shed a light on Black women. They don’t get the media coverage they deserve. They’ve given so much to this sport, the community, and society as a whole, and their value is undeniable.”

Bueckers also speaks out about racism, police brutality, and social injustice on her social media platforms. Issues like these are personal for Bueckers, whose younger brother Drew is Black. In 2020, she shared a carousel of photos of Drew, writing in the caption, “I’m going to work for change, little brother. I want you to grow up in a world that accepts you for who you are.”

6. She applied to trademark her nickname.

Bueckers must have seen an opportunity when the NCAA began allowing student-athletes to make money from their name, image, and likeness (NIL) in 2021. Per Sports Illustrated, she applied to trademark the term “Paige Buckets” to sell merch tagged with her apt nickname (namely, “shirts, pants, jackets, footwear, hats and caps, athletic uniforms,” according to the trademark application). It looks like the trademark has since been abandoned, but now that Bueckers has made the transition to the WNBA, it may be time to revive it so new fans can get some serious swag.

7. And she already has some pretty sweet sponsors and partnerships.

Bueckers has 6.5 million followers across Instagram and TikTok combined, and ranked as the top-earning female college athlete of 2024, according to NIL Store. Reflecting her popularity and marketability, she’s partnered with a bunch of major brands, including Nike, Gatorade, Bose, Uber, Google Chrome, Chegg, Intuit, Dunkin’, CeraVe, Verizon, and even the new women’s basketball league Unrivaled. And in yet another exciting first, she has taken on a “creative director” role at DoorDash for the 2025-2026 WNBA season.

Earlier this month, Bueckers also became the latest athlete to have her own signature fast food meal when she teamed up with the Dallas-based fast food chain Wingstop to roll out the “Paige Bueckers Flavor Lineup”—six OG hot classic wings, six hickory-smoked barbecue boneless wings, large seasoned fries, and two ranch dips. “People always ask about my go-to order, and I’m hyped to say that now they can order exactly as I do when I pull up to Wingstop with my friends and teammates,” she said in a Wingstop press release.

If all that Wingstop has you feeling thirsty, you might be interested to know that there’s even a Paige Bueckers-themed beverage out there, too. Last month, she revealed that her longtime partner Gatorade had created an original, limited-edition, Shirley Temple-inspired flavor in her honor—a nod to her love for the drink.

8. Her off-the-court routine is pretty chill.

Despite her fame, Bueckers takes a laid-back, down-to-earth approach to caring for her hair and skin, keeping her regimen short and sweet and opting for drugstore staples rather than super-luxe products. Her nighttime routine starts with a shower since all that exercise drains her hair—and neither the dye (yep, that blond hue isn’t natural, as reported by Allure!) nor her typical on-court hairstyle (face-framing French braids paired with a ponytail) help. “Between the braids, the coloring, the sweat, I just want to make sure it’s as healthy as possible,” she previously told SELF.

As for her skin care routine? Since Bueckers’s skin tends to be dry, moisturizer is a major component of her regimen. After showering, she swears by CeraVe Daily Moisturizing Lotion and CeraVe Facial Moisturizing Lotion.

9. Outside of basketball, she loves snapping pics.

In another life, Bueckers might’ve been a photographer. Like many 20-somethings, she’s always capturing fun moments with her besties. “Me and my teammates, we love to get dressed up and go take outfit pictures,” she told GQ in February, showing off the Canon cameras she took to the DC Open tennis tournament and New York Fashion Week. Besides photography, her hobbies also include listening to music and hanging out with friends and family.

10. She’s kind of a sneakerhead.

Sneakerheads, rejoice: Bueckers is one of you. In fact, she was even the first NIL college athlete to release a Nike Player Edition shoe, the Paige Bueckers Nike GT Hustle 3. Introduced in December 2024, the sneaker featured Bueckers’s favorite colors, baby blue and lavender, as well as personalized details reflecting “the meaningful messages, people and places in Paige’s life,” like the area codes for both her Minnesota hometown and the UConn campus, according to Nike. “It’s definitely motivating to wear your own shoe,” Bueckers said, according to a press release by the company. “I grew up wearing Nikes—all the signature shoes—so it’s surreal to have this Player Edition model. I just want to show out in it.”

Bueckers has a bunch of other game-day options to choose from (including some custom ones!). In a June sit-down with Bleacher Report Kicks, she walked through her collection, noting that she’s drawn to “bright, vibrant” colorways. Her rotation includes everything from the Nike GT Cut 3 Turbo PE in both orange and her high school colors of royal blue and silver, to the Nike Kobe 8 “UConn” PE, to the Nike Book 1 in Lilac Bloom, to the Nike A’One in Pink A’ura, to the Nike Sabrina 2 by Paige Bueckers, but she told reporters in July that she has a favorite, according to ESPN: Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving’s Nike Kyrie shoes. (No surprise there, considering that Irving is her idol.)

Related:

• Everything to Know About Unrivaled, the New Women’s Basketball League
• Why the NY Liberty’s Historic WNBA Title Means So Much to These Fans
• A Day Out With the Dads and Daughters Who Love Women’s Basketball

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