The comparisons between Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark have been a theme in women’s basketball for years. When the Dallas Wings point guard joined the WNBA last year and waltzed to the Rookie of the Year award, many thought she had become a better player than the Indiana Fever superstar.
This year, as Clark continues to return to her best form following an injury-plagued 2025 campaign, an NFL star has already definitively put Bueckers over her.
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Paige Bueckers Gets Surprise Endorsement Over Caitlin Clark in Viral Take
Bueckers led the Wings to an 88-77 road win over the stacked New York Liberty on Tuesday. The All-Star guard led her team with 15 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 blocks.
The win improved the Wings to a 14-8 record, to climb into the fourth spot in the WNBA standings, prompting former NFL wide receiver Harry Douglas, on Wednesday’s “Freddie and Harry” show, to heap praise on the Wings’ franchise cornerstone.
“It’s so funny to me how a season ago you were the worst team in the league. You add one player…and now they have the fourth-best record. Paige Bueckers, I’m sorry to say it, folks, but everything we expected Caitlin Clark to be, Paige Bueckers has been in the WNBA,” Douglas said.
Last year, the Wings were excited to pair Ogunbowale and Bueckers. However, the veteran guard, after averaging 22.2 points, 5.1 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per game in 2024, had a big-time slump the following year. She posted 15.5 ppg, 4.1 apg, 2.5 rpg, and 1.3 spg in Bueckers’ rookie campaign.
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The Wings were projected to get two All-Stars, but only the former UConn star earned that selection.
Ogunbowale has arguably been worse this season, but Bueckers has had more help. Douglas was incorrect when he said that the Wings only added one player this year (No.1 pick Azzi Fudd). He must have forgotten or left out that Dallas also signed Alanna Smith and Jessica Shepard in free agency.
Smith is the reigning co-Defensive Player of the Year, whose presence helps the Wings to a 103.3 defensive rating, according to StatMuse. Without her, that number spikes to 114.0. Shepard, averaging 14.6 points and 11.5 rebounds, just earned her first All-Star selection as a starter.
Bueckers, putting up 20.0 points, 6.0 assists, and 4.0 rebounds, has been superb, but she also has a much-improved supporting cast, a key reason the Wings are among the top teams this year.
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Meanwhile, Clark’s 2025 campaign ended in a whimper when the Fever shut her down in September due to a variety of injuries. She averaged 16.5 points, 8.8 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.6 apg, a rather underwhelming performance after taking the league by storm in her Rookie of the Year-winning campaign in 2024.
The Fever are struggling this season despite Clark averaging 21.2 points, 8.2 assists, and 4.0 rebounds. After a 106-92 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks on Wednesday, Indiana dropped to 12-9 for No. 7 in the standings.
This year, Bueckers has been the more efficient shooter (51.3%, including 38.1% from deep) than Clark (43.0%/34.4%). The former is also turning the ball over just twice per game, while the latter is committing an error nearly five times per game.
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Bueckers could be better than Clark based on their head-to-head numbers this season, but saying she has that distinction because Dallas has been better after adding only one player is quite incorrect.
