Paige Bueckers’ 2025 Rookie Of The Year was probably carved the moment she won the National Championship with UConn last year. That national championship gave Bueckers momentum for her WNBA career and the hype she needed. It was not the sole contributor, but the shiny trophy Bueckers added to her armory before the step up. As the No.1 draft pick, Bueckers performed as expected in a struggling Dallas Wings side, and she has officially been named the 2025 Rookie Of The Year.

Bueckers started all 36 games and delivered a stellar rookie campaign, posting 19.2 points, 5.4 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.6 steals in 33.3 minutes while shooting 47.4% from the floor and 88.8% at the stripe. Paige Bueckers topped every rookie chart, leading in total points (692), scoring average, total assists (194), and assists per game.

However, she was closely followed by Washington Mystics’ Sonia Citron, who averaged 14.9 points, 4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game, while shooting 47 percent from the field. She shot a league-best 44.5 percent from 3-point range.  Her coach, Sydney Johnson, had explicitly mentioned in his exit interview that “it would be a shame if Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen don’t get real consideration for Rookie of the Year,” via Josua Valdez, while describing Bueckers as “wonderful.” So when Citron received only 2 votes as opposed to Bueckers’ 70, the gap seemed bigger than it actually was to the fans.

WNBA Fans Demand Answers as Bueckers Runs Away with Rookie of the Year

Bueckers is ahead of Citron in almost every metric, so the Rookie Of The Year win doesn’t really trouble many. There are still staunch Citron supporters among a crowd with Bueckers. “2 people got it right. Team success matters. Citron elevated the Mystics. Wings were the worst team in the league.” One fan claimed. The Wings were always bottom dwellers from day 1 and never looked like achieving anything as a team. While the Mystics were once in the running for the playoffs. However, they traded Brittney Sykes and went the team development route, ending the season in a 10-game slide. In the case they qualified for the postseason, a better case could be made for Citron.

“Paige deserved it, but only 2 votes for Sonia is kinda wild. She was ballin.”Wrote another fan. Citron was certainly more than balling. The Washington guard finished third in the league in 3-point shooting percentage and bested Paige Bueckers in true shooting percentage. Citron also had a heavy defensive responsibility for the Mystics, with her defensive rating of 101.2 being lower than Bueckers’ 107. So while Bueckers led in the more obvious stats, Citron’s effect could have gone unnoticed by some.“Paige deserved the award but Soni n kiki deserved more votes,” wrote another fan. Iriafen had an outside chance to be in this race, too, with the rookie being the league’s fourth-best rebounder. 

She averaged 13.3 points (3rd among rookies) and 1.6 assists as a forward, giving her a fair shout. However, Bueckers’ all-around impact as a creator and scorer overwhelmed both.“Release the names because i wanna hear the logic,” demanded a fan. Bueckers’ statistics are clearly good enough to win this honour, but if we take Ben Pickman and Sabreena Merchant of the Athletic as an example, they were impressed with the level of responsibility Bueckers had at the Dallas Wings. 

“No rookie has had more thrust on her shoulders than Bueckers, whose 15 shots per game are not only the most among any first-year player but the seventh-most in the league. The Wings star is efficient in her chances, shooting 47.4 percent from the field — the highest mark of any guard who attempts more than 10 shots per game — and she’s shown she can be a high-level facilitator too,” they wrote. Now that is something that could have convinced most of the voters who were top journalists and analysts, too. Citron had Sykes for half of the season along with Iriafen, while Bueckers had little support. 

At the end of the day, Paige Bueckers’ Rookie of the Year win feels well-earned. She carried a struggling team on her back and delivered across the board in ways that few rookies ever have. But Sonia Citron’s quieter brilliance, especially on defense and from deep, clearly made an impact that some voters might have overlooked. The debate isn’t about whether Bueckers deserved it—it’s about whether the league should give more recognition to players like Citron and Iriafen, whose contributions don’t always show up in the box score. If the WNBA wants to keep growing its fanbase and ensure every performance gets its due, maybe it’s time to open up those ballots and let the conversation be as transparent as the game itself.