Paige Bueckers on her ‘whirlwind’ transition to the WNBA and being a leader ahead of rookie season

Just a week into her WNBA career, Paige Bueckers discussed her rapid transition from college to the professional ranks and how her game will translate to the W.

On Wednesday, the Dallas Wings held their media day, with plenty of attention swirling around the No. 1 overall pick. During her press conference, Bueckers opened up about jumping into the WNBA just weeks after winning the national title with UConn.

“To think about, like, three weeks ago, or, a month ago now that we were playing the national title at UConn, and now we’re here in the WNBA and we’re playing the first preseason game,” Bueckers said. “It’s just been a whirlwind.”

Media day came five days after the former Husky scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including two 3-pointers, in her first preseason game for Dallas. Bueckers also grabbed four boards as the Wings got routed by the Las Vegas Aces, 112-78.

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While addressing the rise in competition after a quiet preseason debut for her standards, Bueckers talked about how her style of play translates into the physicality of the WNBA.

“I’ve kind of always been finesse, weed my way through traffic, not necessarily avoiding contact, but being smart about when to take it and when to want to pull up,” Bueckers said. “I usually don’t like to over-penetrate and make things tougher at the rim, but offensively, defensively, they let more physicality go. You can get away with more.

“And so, to know that, know the balance of not wanting to be too physical, especially coming off of a long season and drain my body, but also be willing to embrace the contact on both sides of the floor and use that to your advantage.”

Despite being a rookie, Bueckers understands her influence on the team and looks forward to playing a leadership role in Dallas. While citing her time as a senior at UConn, Bueckers said, “One of the best days in my life was the first day I was a big sister.”

“Just being a role model, being somebody they can look up to, just being a voice, just whenever they need me,” she added. “I know how important it is to have a person you can vent to, go to for advice. Just for them to be able to look up to the big, big sister and want to fill those shoes.

“And it doesn’t even mean basketball-wise, but who I am as a person, it means everything to me, and it just makes your interactions with kids a little bit special, because you know how much it can impact them.”

The Wings have one more tune-up game against the Toyota Antelopes, a professional Japanese team, on May 10 before their regular season begins at home against the Minnesota Lynx on May 16.