Paige Bueckers’ muscles are blowing the minds of WNBA, Dallas Wings fans originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Paige Bueckers has leveled up for her second WNBA season.
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The former UConn superstar has clearly been in the lab — or in this case, the weight room. She looks visibly stronger heading into year two with the Dallas Wings.
These photos on social media have fans particularly fired up:
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Bueckers didn’t necessarily need huge physical gains, at least based on how she performed as a rookie.
In her first WNBA season, Bueckers won Rookie of the Year. She averaged 19.2 points and 5.4 assists per game.
She also may have felt that to better put up with the defensive attention she gets from teams, added strength could be useful.
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Bueckers’ one relative weak point last season was her shooting — 47.7% from the floor, 33.1% from 3-point range.
She was an 88.8% foul shooter, which suggests she has all the shooting ability she needs. Bueckers just wanted to be sturdier and more able to put up with physical play in order to make those shots late in games when they really matter.
The WNBA is still in the preseason, but the Wings open the regular season soon enough in a big one — it’s Bueckers and the Wings at the Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark on Saturday, May 9 at 1 p.m. ET (12 noon CT).
That’ll be a highly anticipated clash, for sure.
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Before then, they actually play each other in the preseason on Thursday, April 30. An appetizer for the main event.
