WNBA Legend Diana Taurasi Makes Her True Feelings Known Around Paige Bueckers’ Rookie Season

Diana Taurasi had been hooping it almost as long as Bueckers had lived at the time of her retirement. Honestly, a bit more, as the next UConn great was born about 6 months after Taurasi finished her freshman season. We can even say “next Diana Taurasi” as Gary Knox said way back in 2013, when Bueckers was just in her 6th grade. Fast forward to now and they both “talk quite a lot in the summers”. So when Taurasi starts gushing over Bueckers—as she often does—it’s no surprise. But this time, she brought her signature bluntness to the table and casually ended one of basketball Twitter’s favorite debates.

And honestly, who could know better than her? They have both received enough “yell-ats” from their Big G. “We’ve both gotten a lot of the yell-ats from Coach, good and bad,” Buecker said of chats with Taurasi. “So it’s just that he loves you and he’s doing it to make you better and if he wasn’t yelling at you it would probably be more of an issue than if he was.” And well, Geno is infamous for drilling that tough mentality into his players with his tough love. So, when in college in different eras, both were guards with an unwavering desire to dominate. As Diana Taurasi famously said after losing a Final Four bout in her freshman year, “We will not lose another tournament game while I’m wearing this uniform.” Paige has taken that exact “blueprint” as something she opens every once in a while. 

So, yes, the resemblance is definitely there. Sure, Bueckers couldn’t quite mirror Taurasi’s college resume, thanks to injuries that decided to rudely interrupt one of the greatest college careers. But the whole “she’s destined for greatness” vibe? Still very much intact. And Taurasi clearly agrees. She’s been Team Paige since day one—like, freshman-year-day-one. When asked the “burning” question— who she would choose between Caitlin Clark and Bueckers to add to her team— the WNBA legend was quick with her response. “I’m taking Paige, next question”. 

However, the excitement has reached another level for Diana Taurasi as Bueckers made her first foray into professional basketball. On an episode of In Case You Missed It with Khristina Williams, Taurasi sang high praises for the Dallas Wings rookie. “She is not only one of the best basketball players I have seen playing basketball, but one of the best people.” She said, and it honestly does not get better than that! But there was one trait of Bueckers’ that Taurasi admired beyond belief. “And how she can galvanate and galvanize a team, and really tap into the best of her teammates? That skill is uncharted waters and I’m so excited to see her play in the WNBA.” 

 

This week on @ICYMIwithKW, @DianaTaurasi shows love to her alma mater, @UConnWBB, after the team’s championship win and highlights what makes Paige Bueckers special.

Link: https://t.co/KZxNdVaXYs pic.twitter.com/iWiBLmmiHx

— Khristina Williams (@Khristina) May 23, 2025

Taurasi is absolutely right. Paige Bueckers has often made it clear she can deliver like a superstar when the moment calls for it—and just as impressively, she knows when not to. She had the longest streak of 30-plus-point games in UConn postseason history during her final NCAA tournament, including a record-setting 40-point performance in the Sweet 16 against Oklahoma. But when the stakes shifted to the Final Four, Bueckers shifted with them, scaling back her scoring to let Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong take the reins in a pair of blowout wins.

That kind of balance—knowing when to lead and when to elevate others—is rare, and it’s exactly what makes Bueckers the kind of player who can slide right into the WNBA and flourish next to someone like Arike Ogunbowale. Bueckers doesn’t need the ball every possession to impact the game; she just needs the moment. And she usually gets it, not out of luck but because of this flair coach Geno saw in both his players. “They can summon up something that’s needed at the time when it’s exactly needed,” he had said.

In a way, this mentality of the Wings star can be traced back to Diana Taurasi, too. We told you just one instance of how she is a team player, but there is a lot more she has taken away from DT. Bueckers shared in March about what Coach Auriemma told her regarding Dee’s bond with her teammates — it was “always respect” and “always love.” Because of that, holding people accountable and “getting on people” wasn’t taken the wrong way. Calling it the biggest thing she’s learned, she said, “holding other people accountable and getting on people and demanding greatness out of people isn’t a bad thing“.

Yeah, so, Gary Knox? Spot on.

Paige Bueckers has a full-circle moment with a Minnesota reporter

Gary Knox can basically be considered a clairvoyant. Okay, that’s overstating it a little, but his predictions came true in a manner that no one expected. To understand what’s happening, we have to rewind the clock to 2013, when Paige was in sixth grade, and Knox was watching his daughter play in St. Louis Park.

There was something different about Bueckers, and Knox could see it from the get-go. She had a swagger to her, a confidence much larger than her age. Diana Taurasi, at the time, was a machine on the basketball court. So, without knowing that his predictions were about to come true, he issued a tweet that would be remembered for years to come. “Remember the name: Paige Bueckers. 6th grade, think Diana Taurasi. Best 6th grade G I’ve ever seen. St. Louis Park”. 

May 16, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) reacts against the Minnesota Lynx during the first half at College Park Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

No one could have guessed that this comparison would have been so apt, but Paige acknowledged the photo during media day. She had some words of encouragement for her younger self, but the story doesn’t end there. For her second game against the Lynx, the Minnesota native made her way home for her third career game in the W, and ran into Knox during the media availability day. 

It was a definite full-circle moment for the two, as Knox predicted greatness, and Bueckers ran into the first fan who believed in her game. The Dallas Wings star called him ‘the originator’ to the rest of the media in Minnesota.

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