In May, Paige Bueckers dropped 24 points and 4 assists against the Chicago Sky. Then in June, she scored 19 points and 8 assists. So coming into her third game against the Sky, fans expected more fireworks, and naturally the Dallas Wings star delivered with flair. Bueckers teased the Sky bench as she dropped a double-double with none other than Usain Bolt in attendance. And Bolt wasn’t the only one she impressed, as her sponsors left a comment on one of her highlight clips.
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“The Midranger strikes again,” Nike’s official account commented on ESPN’s clip of Bueckers beating two defenders to land a jumper in the second quarter. Bueckers drove to the wing with Jacy Sheldon defending her. She then went off a Jessica Shepard screen and shot off her signature mid-range shot and blew a kiss to the Sky bench. It was the cherry on top of her first-half performance, where she had 12 points and 5 assists.
Ever since her college days, the midrange has been a go-to shot for Bueckers. But in the WNBA, she really made it her own. She is currently second in the league in mid-range shots with 2.2 per game and shooting 50.5% from that zone.
In addition, moments before this play, Bueckers was smacked in the face by Kamilla Cardoso, which really got her going. She was smacked in the face as both went to get the ball and was on the ground for a couple of seconds before getting up. It was also reviewed as a potential flagrant but wasn’t upgraded.
Bueckers continued to show off her entire range in this game against the Sky in front of her ‘fan,’ and the 100m world record holder Usain Bolt. The Dallas point guard had 22 points, 6 rebounds and 11 assists.
“I’m definitely a fan,” the eight-time Olympic track-and-field gold medalist told espnW when asked about Bueckers. “We actually support Dallas…. We actually are getting season tickets this season.”
However, Bueckers’ flair also got her into a verbal argument with Natasha Cloud, and the pair exchanged some words in the fourth quarter. After the game, Paige Bueckers brushed it off as a pretty normal interaction meant without any disrespect.
“That’s just raw passion and raw love for the game. Two people who have a ton of love and respect for each other. Both want to win and are competitors at heart,” Bueckers said.
“The dialogue back and forth between us comes from the love of the game and us going at each other and voicing that. Don’t mistake that for any disrespect. That’s what competitors do, and that’s what this game brings out of people.”
Paige Bueckers has developed the quality of getting into her opponent’s head. Every meeting with the Sky seems to bring out another memorable Paige Bueckers moment. So on a night that even Usain Bolt watched from the stands, the Wings star once again stole the spotlight.