Wings’ Paige Bueckers sets WNBA record ahead of Caitlin Clark, in company with Cynthia Cooper originally appeared on The Sporting News
Paige Bueckers continues to do special things in the WNBA.
That was the expectation for the No. 1 overall pick out of UConn, yes. But she has outdone even many of those hopes in her first season for the Dallas Wings.
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Her latest history: She’s the fastest rookie in WNBA history to reach 500 points and 100 assists.
She’s the second-fastest player ever to do it, with Cynthia Cooper doing it faster in 1997 in a season that players weren’t actually considered rookies, according to Real Sports.
Bueckers is coming off a huge Friday night in a one-point loss to the Sparks.
Against L.A., Bueckers scored 29 points on 12-for-21 shooting. She added five assists and four rebounds.
On the season, Bueckers is putting up 18.8 points, 5.4 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. She’s shooting 45.9% from the floor and 31.6% from 3.
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It’s easy when Bueckers does something to compare it to Caitlin Clark, and to an extent, that’s fair. Clark was the No. 1 overall pick a year earlier, and she took the WNBA by storm in her rookie season with the Indiana Fever.
But with Clark mostly hurt this season, it’s been a chance for other players to steal the headlines.
Bueckers isn’t ever going to be as popular as Clark, but she’s doing her best to prove she can be a superstar by the time her career reaches its peak.
To do something Clark never did, and to keep the all-time great Cooper company on the record list, is such a special place for Bueckers to be this early in her career.
And it certainly seems like this is only the beginning for Paige.
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