Calls Mount for Wings HC Sacking After Disastrous Paige Bueckers Move in Loss to Dream

To take some heat off their head coach, the Wings are a franchise that has only managed five playoff appearances in the last nine years. Moreover, four of those have ended in quick first-round exits. So, nobody was expecting them to suddenly morph into championship contenders. But losing to the Dream and stumbling to a 9-31 record after 40 games… that wasn’t on anyone’s watchlist either. Those numbers sting even more because they take us back to 2011, to their Tulsa Shock days.

They limped to a league-worst 3-31 finish. And now, this 9-31 mark lands them in the exact same spot as last season. A year that already went down as the 2nd-worst regular-season record in league history. The only silver lining this time: four extra games to somehow avoid repeating the embarrassment. But optimism in the fanbase is scarce. Fans see the same endings playing out, just with new faces, and much of the ire has turned toward first-year head coach Chris Koclanes.

The “first-year building pieces” also include Paige Bueckers, the 2025 No. 1 overall pick. She is a prize the Wings only landed through a twist of their fortune, or maybe the Sparks’ misfortune. The Sparks were owners of the league’s worst two-year record at 25-55. On the draft night, they held nearly half the ping-pong balls (442 out of 1,000.) Dallas and Chicago sat a tier behind, each with 227 chances. Yet, it was the Wings who cashed in on fate, walking away with Paige Bueckers, the 2025 No. 1 overall pick.

It should have been the start of something. As Hall of Famer Sheryl Swoopes put it: “The pieces that they have… there should be no way they should be 1-9!” But somewhere between lottery fortune and hardwood execution, Dallas fumbled the opportunity. Fans believe it was because their new GM, Curt Miller, doubled down on familiarity, passing the clipboard to an old friend in Chris Koclanes. Now, the Wings are paying for it in real time. They are living through head-scratching rotations, questionable timeouts, and late-game calls that have fans shaking their heads.

Benching Paige, Inviting Fans’ Rage

All the backlash started after Koclanes decided to sit Paige Bueckers with 58.6 seconds left in the third quarter of their game vs the Dream. The ION commentator said, “Paige Bueckers, getting a little rest. She’s got a double-double today, for how long can Dallas leave her on the bench?” … “Not long,” chimed in another commentator. Only if Chris Koclanes had heard it (and acted on it) because fans felt like bringing Paige back with 8:06 left in the final quarter was far too late.

It showed, as one person wrote, “Chris Koclanes is a bad coach. You can’t start the 4th quarter with both of your best players on the bench. He killed his own team’s momentum. The deficit went from 4 to 12 in less than 2 minutes. He needs to be fired as soon as the clock hit 0 after the last game of the season.” The other player they are referring to here was Maddy Siegrist. She only entered the 4th with 8:25 left on the clock after HC Koclanes decided to roll with their extreme hardship player, Christyn Williams, to start the quarter.

The frustration here makes sense because Siegrist chipped in 23 points for the squad, trailing only Rhyne Howard’s game-high 24. These decisions from Koclanes are exactly why fans were left commenting: “Chris always sits Paige for so long that when we’re down by a single digits it goes to double digits like whatever.” They weren’t shy about calling him undeserving of the spot either, leaving comments like,“Chris Koclanes needs to go, I don’t think he’s the right person” and “Chris Koclanes shouldn’t be an AAU coach nevertheless a WNBA one.”

And one fan even spread the blame equally, pointing at the front office. They wrote, “I need the Dallas media to start coming for Curt and Chris Koclanes. Cause there’s just NOT ENOUGH JUSTIFICATION for that man to stay for another season.” That comment somewhat echoed Sheryl Swoopes’ thoughts when she said: “It’s one thing to be buddies, to be friends, to be whatever, and I get it… but this is about wins and losses.”

Back then, she had even added: “There’s so many times I look at this team in the time out in a huddle and they all look confused.” And she’s spot on. Remember how, with 59 seconds left against the Valkyries on July 25, Dallas trailed by six? Chris Koclanes drew up a play, but instead of sparking hopes of a comeback, it only caused more confusion. Paige Bueckers’ face twisted into frustration, while Haley Jones’ wide-eyed stare reflected disbelief. Moments later, the Wings collapsed, losing by double digits.

A commentator captured it bluntly too, they wrote: “the players are just doing whatever cause he’s useless, they don’t have a proper system to follow and so everyone’s just lost 😭. It’s basically just street basketball out there.” Speaking of being lost, a fan even flipped the spotlight directly onto Koclanes himself. They wrote: “Chris Koclanes gets up, crosses his arms, paces back and forth pretending he’s doing his job.”

For now, the crowd seems highly agitated against Koclanes. The next time there are “We want Nola” chants, don’t be surprised if they sound even louder. However, do you think it’s a justified reaction? Let us know in the comments!