Paige Bueckers Recalls Steph Curry’s Motivational Words in Message to Dallas Wings Fans

If the Dallas Wings are smart, they won’t panic after this disastrous season. However, the owners have a history of making some interesting decisions, to say the least. On the NBA side of things, they traded away Luka Doncic, one of the league’s best, to the Lakers. Then we saw Micah Parsons leave the Cowboys behind. That decision had ESPN joking about whether the Wings will do the same when it comes to Paige Bueckers. “Mina, you worried about maybe Paige Bueckers in a blockbuster, maybe getting shipped away from the Wings?” Phil Murphy asked at the end of NFL Live on Friday. Even if Bueckers had any doubters in the management, it would have been vanquished by her words after the game against Atlanta.  

A shorthanded Wings failed to be the villain in the Atlanta Dream’s story as they were handed a 100-78 loss. That was the 31st for Dallas, who lost playoff hopes well into the mid-season, while excitement around the no.1 pick slowly evaporated with it. However, Paige Bueckers, the leader, had a resounding message to the Wings’ fandom.

Bueckers said after the game, “I mean, just to stick with it. Like whoever we have in that locker room, whoever puts on a Wings jersey that night, that’s who we’re going to war with. And that’s what we believe in, and we don’t need exterior belief like in that locker room. We feel like we have enough, and we’re always going to fight and show up that way.”

The team entered the Dream matchup with just 8 fit players. Even Bueckers was questionable for a long time, but she absolutely had to be available considering their squad situation. The injuries have troubled the Wings all season long, but Bueckers has kept pressing on with improvement. Even as a rookie, she is the centerpiece of this Dallas project. And as such, she has had the task of being the voice in the dressing room. As the leader of the side, she recalled one of the most iconic quotes of another great of the game, Steph Curry.

Bueckers continued, “I remember Steph Curry before the Warriors became the Warriors, like he tweeted out like just stick with us, like we’re going to figure it out. Like that’s the message. Like the people we have here and the belief that I have in like the core and the pieces that we’re building and how we’re doing it.”

It was November 11, 2009, and the Golden State Warriors had just endured a loss to the Indiana Pacers that dropped them to 2-5. They were on their way down after coming off a 29-53 season and off to a rough start in Curry’s rookie year. At the tender age of 21, Curry had the confidence to assure the fans of the sun rising on Golden State. 

“Promise to all the Warrior fans…we will figure this thing out…if it’s the last thing we do we will figure it out.” It took some time and growth, but the Warriors eventually clicked and would go on to be the most successful team of the 2010s with three titles in the decade. 

While we remember their exploits, everything started with that tweet from Curry. “I might not have known what I was talking about at the time, but the confidence and the fact that it’s ‘we,’ it’s ‘us’ what we were able to accomplish. I love to buy into that and help lead that.” Curry recalled in 2021.

Bueckers has been tested as a rookie and has broken multiple records, but her mindset is what has impressed the most. She is practically carrying the team with her 18.9 points and 5.4 assists each game, but she has emphasized teamwork throughout the season. While the outside noise has focused on the Caitlin Clark vs Paige Bueckers debate, along with the Rookie Of The Year talks, she has focused on improving as a team and forming the building blocks for a dynasty. 

There are huge question marks about how the management will form the pieces around Bueckers. There is a lack of tactical identity. While they might not find the answers immediately, Bueckers has shown enough talent in her rookie season to show she can be the face of the franchise. 

Paige Bueckers firms her grip on the ROTY even with illness

Paige Bueckers has had some minor injury issues. Her persistent knee problems have followed her to the WNBA. A collision with Courtney Vandersloot early in the season caused her to miss some games. Then she missed their last clash with Sun with an unspecified illness and was questionable for this one too. 

Despite everything, Bueckers powered through with a 16-point, 10-assist double-double, tying her career-high for assists in a WNBA game. She’s the only rookie this season to post a points-assist double-double and boasts more 10+ assist games than all other rookies combined. Bueckers repeated this feat from her 10-assist game against the Minnesota Lynx in May, a game that saw Minnesota narrowly defeat Dallas by a final score of 85-81. At the time, it seemed the Wings could still give some fight for the playoffs, but sadly, Bueckers was the only warrior fighting. 

Bueckers is the best rookie in this 2025 class, with either Kiki Iriafen or Sonia Citron being close second. The only question that remains is whether it will be unanimous. Even someone like Caitlin Clark missed out on a unanimous ROTY last year, but she had Angel Reese to contend with. Either way, Bueckers does not seem to be fixated on that. Instead, she will be focused on the team’s growth in these final few games.