How Their WNBA Rookie Years Really Compare

On August 20, Dallas Wings superstar guard Paige Bueckers probably stamped her case for winning the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year with her insane 44-point scoring performance in a loss against the Los Angeles Sparks.

Bueckers’ 44-point display is the most a single player has tallied in a WNBA game this season, ties the league record for most points in a game by a first-year player, and marks the first time in WNBA history that a player scored 40 or more points while shooting 80% or higher from the field.

Of course, record-setting rookies have been a common theme over the past two years. Not only did Chicago Sky standout Angel Reese set rebound and double-double WNBA records, but Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark set almost too many WNBA records to count, including season-long assist totals (for rookies and in league history), three-point shots made by a rookie, and most combined points either scored or assisted in a single season.

Not too shabby.

Caitlin Clark vs Paige Bueckers: Rookie Season Comparison

Clark and Bueckers have been compared ever since their freshman seasons in college (where they ended up sharing the National Freshman of the Year Award), and comparisons aren’t going to stop any time soon.

In fact, in the wake of Bueckers’ historic game on Wednesday, much of social media is ablaze, pitting Clark and Bueckers’ rookie seasons against each other.

But debate is one thing. The facts are the facts, and here’s what the facts say about Clark and Bueckers’ first WNBA campaigns.

To start, it’s important to note that Bueckers still has eight more regular season games to play, which will affect her overall stats once the year ends. But to this point, she holds a slight edge over rookie-season Clark in points per game (19.7 to 19.2), while Clark has a strong edge in assists per game (8.4 for Clark compared to 5.3 for Bueckers).

The two have similar steals per game and blocks per game stats. As far as shooting percentages go, Bueckers’ 47.4% field goal percentage beats that of Clark last year, which was 41.7%. However, Clark was a slightly more effective three-point shooter, as she shot 34.4% from range compared to 33.7% for Bueckers. They’re both elite free-throw shooters, but Clark has a slight edge (90.6% to 88.6%) there as well.

It’s too early to tell where Bueckers will be in All-WNBA or WNBA MVP voting. But Clark was First-Team All-WNBA and finished fourth in WNBA MVP voting. Both players were All-Stars in their rookie campaigns. Clark won the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year award, while Bueckers is very likely to do the same in 2025.

Where Does Team Success Fit In?

Both Clark and Bueckers would surely say that their individual stats and accolades pale in comparison to team results, so it’s only fair to compare how Clark’s Fever did compared to Bueckers’ Wings this year.

The Fever finished the 2024 WNBA regular season with a 20-20 record, which was enough to get them into the playoffs. But they were eliminated after losing two straight games to the Connecticut Sun. The Dallas Wings are currently 9-27 and were eliminated from playoff contention with their August 20 loss to the Sparks.

Each individual will weigh team success differently when comparing Clark and Bueckers. Perhaps that points to a crucial point in this debate: Stats aside, fans will compare Clark and Bueckers’ rookie seasons however they’d like, depending on their own opinions. And that’s the beautiful thing about sports.

The bottom line is that regardless of whether you think Bueckers or Clark was better as a rookie, women’s basketball is blessed to have these two stars in the sport at the same time.

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