The Dallas Wings climbed from the league’s worst record in 2025 to the playoffs this season, and the dominant inside-out pairing of Paige Bueckers and Jessica Shepard is a major reason for their meteoric rise. Shepard, a five-season veteran, joined the Wings earlier this year and has lit up the scorecard over her 42 appearances for the team so far. But, as it turns out, her recruitment into the Wings was because of more than just the two-year, $2,050,000 contract.
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On the September 25 episode of Hall of Famer Sue Bird’s podcast, Bird’s Eye View, Jessica Shepard was asked how much of a role Paige Bueckers played in recruiting her into the Dallas Wings, and her answer shows that Bueckers may have sweetened the deal.
“A lot,” said the forward. “She maybe did some bribing too, with some shoes. Cause I told her I can only wear white shoes now because of her… If you wear white shoes, they [the refs] don’t look. If you wear colors, it draws attention to your feet.”
Shepard is referring to an incident that occurred last season, when she was playing for the Minnesota Lynx. Shepard wore the #15 jersey back then, and during a matchup against Bueckers and the Dallas Wings, Bueckers was caught on camera telling the refs that Shepard was traveling.
“Hey, 15 travels every time she touches it [the ball],” the guard said back then on the court.
Shepard has apparently switched to exclusively wearing white shoes to avoid being called out for traveling, she jokingly admitted. From Shepard’s comments, it seems that Bueckers did more than just convince her to join the Dallas Wings – she reportedly sweetened the deal with a pair of shoes.
Moving to the Wings has turned out to be a great decision for Jessica Shepard. From averaging 21.5 minutes on court over five years with the Minnesota Lynx, Shepard is now a primary starter for the Wings, averaging 31.7 minutes this season. She leads the Wings in rebounds, with 11.1 per game, and is the third-highest scorer on the team behind Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale. She is also making the second-most assists on the team behind Bueckers. 2026 has truly been a breakout season for Jessica Shepard.
Shepard is averaging a career-high of 14.5 ppg, scoring a season-high of 26 points in a 91-85 win over the Indiana Fever on August 20. She has turned into a triple-double machine. Shepard has made a total of six triple-doubles this season. If we add the one triple-double she made last season, her total comes up to seven, which puts her second on the list of the most triple-doubles scored by a single WNBA player in history. Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas leads the race with 24 career triple-doubles.
Before the Wings, Shepard was initially drafted 16th overall in the 2010 draft by the Lynx. But since she was signed by the Wings in April 2026, she and Bueckers, combined with Ogunbowale, have become a formidable trio for the Wings, even making Shepard an All-Star for the first time. She opened up about the change in her play and Bueckers’ hand in her transformation.
“I think it’s partially opportunity and then also just coming to Dallas, playing alongside [Paige]. The confidence that she has in herself, but also I think it spills into you, because she believes in you, and I think that’s been a huge lift for me…coming somewhere where you know the face of the franchise is like, ‘Hey, like, you know, I value you like I want to play alongside you.’”
Clearly, having Paige Bueckers and the Dallas team to back her has led to Shepard having her best season ever. And that has been reflected in how the Wings performed throughout the regular season this year. The Wings ended their regular season with a 27-17 record, entering the playoffs with the seventh seed, just above the New York Liberty. They even crossed the franchise record for regular-season wins established by their previous iteration, the Detroit Shock, when they won 25 games back in 2003.
Paige Bueckers and Jessica Shepard will now look forward to playing the second-seeded Golden State Valkyries, led by Gabby Williams, at the Chase Center in San Francisco, as they look to bring home the first WNBA Championship since 2008.