Fans joked that Paige Bueckers spent the last days of her offseason in Croatia to conduct research about sharks.
“We’ve helped each other through a lot of times, dark times, times when we were fighting through injuries.”
Bueckers’ trip to Croatia capped an offseason that included attending multiple D-FW sporting events, playing in Unrivaled, representing Team USA at the FIBA Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico and checking out California music and arts festival Coachella, which Justin Bieber headlined this year.
“[When] I came in as a rookie, I wanted to gain everybody’s respect, wanted to just jell with the team. Not step on any toes,” Bueckers said. “ [I’m] taking ownership of who I want to be and who I want this team to be and who we all want this team to be and what [Wings] coach Jose [Fernandez] has poured into me and poured into the team.”
Fernandez, who Bueckers said reminds her of legendary UConn coach Geno Auriemma, wants to see the star guard expand her game after she averaged 19.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.6 steals in her rookie season.
“I’m gonna tell her the truth. Great players want to be told the truth. She’s going to get that everyday from me,” said Fernandez, who was hired as the new Wings coach in October after 25 seasons at South Florida.
On what he expects from Bueckers in Year 2: “She creates for others and we know about her mid-range, but she’s going to have to stretch the floor and take more transition threes and halfcourt threes. That’s something that she knows and we’ve talked about.”
Bueckers has heeded her coach’s advice, but she also has goals for herself in 2026.
“Definitely want to get up more threes, want to get to the paint more and get to the free-throw line more. Just get out in transition and play,” Bueckers said. “But my No.1 goal going into every season is to be the best teammate I can be and make everyone around me better and contribute to winning basketball for the Dallas Wings.”