Paige Bueckers is committed to using her new WNBA platform to uplift Black women
Paige Bueckers is committed to using her new WNBA platform to uplift Black women
Dallas Wings rookie Paige Bueckers continues to emphasize exactly what she said during her powerful speech at the ESPYs in 2021.
Bueckers, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, was named Best Female College Athlete at the ESPYs after her freshman season at UConn. She used her speech to celebrate Black women, noting that she feels they often do not get the media attention they deserve compared with their white counterparts. Bueckers added that Black women have given so much to basketball, to their communities, and to society.
Four years after she advocated for change while on that stage, she still believes that sports media continues to make the same mistakes. Here is more from a recent profile on the WNBA guard (via TIME):
Bueckers believes Black women remain undercovered. 'It's still an issue, every single day,' she says. 'There's not ever equal coverage.' While her on-court accomplishments speak for themselves, she thinks she has an advantage in the endorsement world. 'There's white privilege every single day that I see,' she says. 'I feel like I've worked extremely hard, blessed by God. But I do think there's more opportunities for me. I feel like even just marketability, people tend to favor white people, white males, white women. I think it should be equal opportunity. I feel like there is privilege to what I have, and to what all white people have. I recognize that, I want to counteract that with the way I go about my business.'
During an interview with For The Win's Meghan L. Hall in October 2024, Los Angeles Sparks forward Cameron Brink echoed a similar sentiment about her privilege with marketing opportunities.
Q&A: Paige Bueckers explains why the women's basketball boom is no fluke
Bueckers, who also spoke to For The Win in January 2025, was asked which storylines are the most important to follow in women's basketball that the media is potentially missing. Here is what she said:
"The growth. The amount of talent throughout college, the WNBA, and even high school. The more exposure we get, you see the views going up and the attention going up and the accessibility to watch going up. You see positive results every single time. I think we need to acknowledge that women's basketball is great to watch. Whenever we get the platform, we perform. There are big names, but when you tune in to watch the big names, you leave as fans of so many others because it is such a beautiful sport we play and it is a team effort."
Bueckers recently played her first WNBA preseason game and will begin her first official pro season for the Wings on May 16 against her hometown Minnesota Lynx.
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