At times, you just need to go back and look at what Arike Ogunbowale once said to draw inspiration. That’s especially true for rookies like Paige Bueckers, who are carrying a heavier crown than most veterans in just their first season. Ogunbowale has made the All-Star roster every year since 2021 and earned the All-Star MVP in her very first appearance. Being herself, though, she was never fixated on snagging the MVP again or treating each All-Star nod as some kind of vindication. “I don’t think we have anything to prove — we’re here, we’re All-Stars,” she said before the 2024 game. And guess what? She went on to win it again.

Even in 2021, she didn’t let expectations define her. She finished with a game-high 26 points. And while Ogunbowale had been known for clutch, game-winning shots her entire career, she didn’t deliver a buzzer-beater that day – but she did drill some huge threes down the stretch that put Team WNBA ahead of Team USA for good. Oh, and she was live-tweeting from the bench throughout the game. That’s reason enough to win MVP. And over the next three years, she just kept coming back.

In 2024, she became the third player in WNBA All-Star Game history to win MVP twice, after scoring 21 of her record 34 points in the third quarter. The best part? She knew exactly what she had to do after Cheryl Reeve pointed a finger at her for going scoreless in the first half. That clutch gene? It hadn’t gone anywhere. “There’s just nothing you can do in those situations where she’s making step back 3s, one-legged floaters, things like that. You, you literally can’t guard her,” Caitlin Clark said of her. So hasn’t she proved that she shows up in whichever quarter needs her the most? That’s why her omission in 2025, after four years of All-Star selections and two MVP awards, comes with a mix of shock and disappointment.

Yesterday, the WNBA announced the “complete roster of the 2025 @ATT WNBA All-Stars that will take the court in Indiana July 19″ and her name was nowhere to be seen. One user took to X and said what everyone was thinking: “How things can change in one year. Arike Ogunbowale went from being the 2024 All Star MVP to not making the reserves“. But there must be more at play than we think.

She’s been dealing with a thumb injury she suffered during the Wings’ game against the Mystics, and that might’ve spooked some coaches. Add to that a string of underwhelming performances, and suddenly even a two-time All-Star MVP starts slipping down the list. There’s no official timeline for Arike’s return (or DiJonai Carrington’s, for that matter), and both injury statuses remain a bit of a mystery. As of now, the Wings have just eight healthy players and while they clinched an unexpected win against Phoenix, we’ll soon find out if that was just a fluke. Thankfully, Paige Bueckers’ All-Star nod, and the history she made alongside two others, is proof that fate isn’t entirely against them.

Paige Bueckers leads the Wings’ rookie brigade

Leading all rookies in scoring, rebounding, and steals, Paige Bueckers is also the only rookie to snag a starter spot in this year’s All-Star Game. That puts her in elite company. She’s now just the 10th rookie in WNBA history to start an All-Star Game, joining names like Chamique Holdsclaw, Tamika Catchings, Sue Bird, Maya Moore, Brittney Griner, Elena Delle Donne, Shoni Schimmel, Aliyah Boston, and Caitlin Clark.

Her first WNBA All-Star nod just confirms what everyone has already noticed: she’s that impactful. And if you thought that was the only slice of history she’s baked this season, think again. The official WNBA account summed it up with confetti-worthy enthusiasm: “For the first time since 2011, 3 rookies will be playing in the All-Star game together. This is just the 5th time in league history that 3 or more rookies have been named All-Stars in the same season. Paige Bueckers, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen have stood out in their first year and will suit up in Indiana on July 19th!“

Citron and Iriafen, picked third and fourth in April’s WNBA Draft, were named as reserves by the league’s coaches. Clearly, rookies came to 2025 with main-character energy. As for Paige, she’s not one to bask in headlines or chase validation. Maybe she took notes from Arike’s attitude last year, because when asked about the All-Star attention, she coolly shrugged off the noise.

“I don’t live by anybody else’s expectations or what I’m supposed to look like,” she said. “I go out there and play every single game and possession for what it is. The results may vary, and whatever they look like on any given night, I live with them.”

The 2025 WNBA All-Star Game tips off July 19 in Indianapolis, where hometown hero Caitlin Clark and Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier will captain the squads. The draft goes down Tuesday on ESPN’s “WNBA Countdown” (7 p.m. ET), where the captains will select first from the remaining eight starters, followed by the 12 reserves. Who’s going where, what do you think? Will we get to see Paige and Caitlin on the same team?