Dallas basketball has been through a lot lately: they lost All-Star guard Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in a blockbuster trade in return for forward/center Anthony Davis.
The result? The Dallas Mavericks were eliminated with a 120-106 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference‘s final play-in game, which the Mavs trailed by 25 points in the first half.
Meanwhile, Doncic alongside iconic LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and the rest of the Lakers, are down 2-1 in their first round playoffs series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Even though Los Angeles could be eliminated soon, they still outperformed the Mavericks.
Paige Bueckers absolutely fails at catching sticks
Dallas got a break, basketball wise, when the WNBA’s Dallas Wings selected Paige Bueckers with the No. 1 pick in the draft a couple of days ago. The superstar guard is coming off a national championship title with the University of Connecticut.
According to the executive vice president and general manager of the team, Curt Miller, Bueckers’ addition is another huge momentum-building moment for the Wings franchise and team, as they got one of the most efficient and decorated players that college basketball has seen in history.
As part of their introduction to the team, Paige and rookie Aziaha James – a standout player for North Carolina State – were part of a catching sticks game, which enhances reflexes and coordination as the participants are challenged to have a great reaction time and hand-eye coordination. Bueckers had a rough day, though, as she failed miserably at the challenge.
Fans were quick to react to Paige’s failure,. noting that the new Wings’ player was visibly upset that she had a bad performance and got beat by her teammate. “Tell me you’re competitive without telling me,” posted an Instagram user. “Paige has probably already put this thing in her Amazon cart to practice from home,” someone else wrote.
Dallas Wings’ future is bright
The Dallas Wings are ready to start a new era in the WNBA, and Paige Bueckers needs to have a key role on this project. The team had a challenging season in 2024, resulting in a 9-31 record as they failed to qualify for the playoffs, particularly because the squad experienced a downturn after a few wins.
The fans have responded in a big way to the team, though. On April 2024, the Dallas team sell out season tickets for the first time in franchise history. The support is there, as the people of the DFW Metroplex are eager to see a competitive team make a deep run on the WNBA playoffs.
Head coach Chris Koclanes believes there are no limits with this team. “We’ll challenge the rookies to lean on the veterans…and at the same time everyone can lead from where they are and I’m excited to empower everyone to do that.” The whole state of Texaas is counting on that.
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