After an incredible year with the Dallas Wings after being selected with the first pick in the 2025 draft, Paige Bueckers was officially named WNBA Rookie of the Year.
Meanwhile, despite her great personal achievement, Wings failed to qualify for the Playoffs, finishing in last place with a record of 10-34. Now, Paige is looking to make history in Unrivaled Basketball.
Paige is not leaving the courts
The WNBA season is just a short time away, but the second Unrivaled campaign will begin in January.
This league, co-founded in 2023 by Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx and Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty, seeks to compensate its players not only financially much better than the WNBA (the minimum salary is $100,000), but also provides a great opportunity to train during the WNBA off-season.
For this reason, the names of the stars that will be part of its 48-player roster have already been announced. Paige is joined by Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally of the Phoenix Mercury and Rickea Jackson of the Los Angeles Sparks. All three had already been present in Unrivaled’s inaugural season and will be playing in their second year. In addition, Saniya Rivers of the Connecticut Sun and Erica Wheeler of the Seattle Storm join Bueckers as new players in the league.
Following the confirmation of the recent ROTY’s addition to the three-on-three league, many other young women are expected to follow in their footsteps, increasing the likelihood that the league will continue to grow and, consequently, their salaries.
Unlike some players, Bueckers has some contracts with brands and sponsors, but not all of them have this backing, so they often choose to travel abroad in search of a better salary. In order to avoid this, Napheesa and Breanna founded this league.
Paige arrives after being WNBA ROTY, averaging 19.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.6 steals in 36 games played with Dallas Wings, and became one of only 10 rookies to be a starter in the All-Star Game. Now, she is ready to continue to showcase her talent in Unrivaled Basketball.
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