Fans Accuse WNBA of Favoring Paige Bueckers in Rookie of the Year Award Race

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Fans Accuse WNBA of Favoring Paige Bueckers in Rookie of the Year Award Race originally appeared on The Spun.

The WNBA continues to blow up as a league, with many games getting millions of viewers, so you know that it’s time for some conspiracy theories to go viral, right?

The WNBA is joining the NFL, NBA, MLB, etc. atop the United States’ sports world. With more attention, comes more scrutiny. The NFL, NBA, MLB, etc. are often accused of “rigging” games and results for favorable outcomes. The WNBA is starting to now, too.

This week, the WNBA faced accusations of “rigging” the Rookie of the Year Award race. Paige Bueckers, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft out of UConn, is the clear leader in the race. She’s averaging 18.4 points, 5.4 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game.

However, some fans have noticed that Bueckers’ box score numbers might be inflated – or deflated, in the case of her turnovers, on purpose.

Apr 14, 2025; New York, New York, USA; WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert talks to the media before the 2025 WNBA Draft at The Shed at Hudson Yards. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images© Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Over the weekend, Bueckers’ team, the Dallas Wings, took on the Washington Mystics. The Mystics boast one of the league’s top rookies in Sonia Citron, a top pick out of Notre Dame. She’s averaging 14.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

One fan noticed that a couple of Bueckers turnovers weren’t actually registered as turnovers in the box score.

“WNBA is cheating the stats for Paige Bueckers to keep her ahead of Sonia Citron for ROTY. If we can’t trust the box score, there’s nothing we can trust,” the fan noted.

Box score mistakes happen in every game, across every league, but it’s certainly notable when it happens to a top player.

Another WNBA player accused the league of favoring Paige Bueckers, too

Indiana Fever star guard Sophie Cunningham accused the league’s refs of favoring Bueckers during a recent game.

“I love Paige to death, do not get me wrong. I think she’s a hell of a player and would love to play with her one day, but those refs were giving her every freaking whistle last night,” Cunningham said on her podcast with Summer House’s West Wilson. “Like you literally couldn’t touch her, couldn’t touch her. And that s–t is so annoying to me. And you’re going to do that, than give it to our guards.”

Bueckers didn’t have a big game in the 81-80 win over the Fever, though she did have 16 points on 6 of 19 shooting. She had just four free throw attempts, but Cunningham was still bothered by how the refs treated her.

Fans Accuse WNBA of Favoring Paige Bueckers in Rookie of the Year Award Race first appeared on The Spun on Aug 13, 2025

This story was originally reported by The Spun on Aug 13, 2025, where it first appeared.

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