Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers is one of three rookies participating in the 2025 WNBA All-Star game. She is also the player Breanna Stewart is most excited about playing alongside on Napheesa Collier’s team. 

“I’ve only watched her at UConn and seen her start her career in the W, but playing with her will be a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to it.” Stewart told CBS Sports.

The seven-time All-Star said the best advice she received from veterans as a rookie was to “be a sponge” and learn as much as she could in both wins and losses. Bueckers already seems to have that figured out, however. 

“I think my advice for Paige, she doesn’t even need it, it’s for her to continue to be herself,” she said. “You want to be genuine in everything that you are doing. I feel like that’s when you are feeling your best, when you are able to be yourself.”

Bueckers, meanwhile, wants to do everything she can to help her team win, but she is also excited to build new connections and take advantage of every moment. 

On Friday after the Team Collier practice, Bueckers and Collier stayed on the court to play one-on-one. 

“I love Phee, just who she is as a person but also as a basketball player,” Bueckers told CBS Sports. “I’m a huge fan of hers. I love competing, I think that is the highest form of respect, so being able to play one-on-one against her, I really enjoyed that.”

At one point, Collier tricked Bueckers by telling her that her dad was in the arena, and then proceeded to steal the ball from her hands. Bueckers hates to lose, but she enjoyed that moment because Collier is not usually a trash-talker.

“She’s funny. She’s quick-witted,” Bueckers said. “She doesn’t talk a whole bunch of trash, but when she does it holds meaning because she doesn’t do it often.”

Another of Bueckers’ teammates is Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, who is currently in her second WNBA season.

Reese and Bueckers saw a lot of each other through the AAU circuit and through high school, but they didn’t face each other in college.

“It’s been really fun. Me and Angel go way back … We’ve been friends,” Bueckers said. “We never got to play together on the same team at this sort of level, so it’s been really cool to do that [this weekend].

“There’s some stuff that we want to do together as a team,” she continued. “We just want to compete, play hard, get up and down the floor and make it a little bit entertaining.”

Bueckers will be one of three rookies competing this weekend, which hasn’t happened since 2011. She is joined the Washington Mystics duo of Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron — who participated in the 3-point contest on Friday.

Stewart is on the same team as Bueckers, but she is also looking forward to watching Iriafen and Citron on Team Clark.

“What’s really cool of the three rookies that are in the All-Star game is the fact that their games have really translated from what they have done in college to what they are doing in the WNBA,” Stewart said. They don’t get sped up. I think often times when you are in the W, the game is moving too fast. For them to be taking a moment to take advantage of whatever they get offensively and defensively.”

The 2025 WNBA All-Star game is set for Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET. Check out the full rosters and more information on how to watch.Â