Dallas Wings players huddle in the third quarter against the Las Vegas Aces during a WNBA preseason matchup in Austin on May 3, 2026. They’ll play the Indiana Fever Saturday in Indianapolis.
Brendan Maloney/Hearst Newspapers
Ryan Ruocco will be on the call for a season opener the WNBA has never seen.
As the ESPN lead WNBA play-by-play commentator researched ahead of Saturday’s clash between the Dallas Wings and Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, he found an interesting stat.
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“This is the first season opener ever where you have each of the last four No. 1 overall picks playing in the game between the two teams,” Ruocco told The Dallas Morning News on Friday.
The Wings boast the last two in 2025 No. 1 overall pick Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd, the top selection in 2026. Indiana claims 2023 No. 1 pick Aliyah Boston and 2024 No. 1 pick Caitlin Clark.
Related: Dallas Wings’ season opener pits WNBA’s last 4 No. 1 overall picks against each other
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Boston, Bueckers and Clark all earned Rookie of the Year honors after their respective inaugural seasons in the league, and the young talent, along with Fudd, represent a new era for the league marked by massive growth and higher visibility.
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Saturday will also mark the first time Bueckers and Fudd play together in an official game as pros after the duo won a national championship at UConn in 2025.
“I think it’s just an amazing way to start off the season, to introduce audiences to this incredible young talent,” Ruocco said. “I think both the Fever and the Wings are going to be contenders for a very, very long time.
“I’m sure this is going to be a rivalry at some point in the not too distant future.”
Related: Azzi Fudd, Paige Bueckers ushering in star-studded era for Dallas Wings and WNBA
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The Fever, bolstered by back-to-back No. 1 picks advanced to the WNBA semifinals last season, though Clark sat out most of the year due to injury.
Dallas, which finished a combined 19-65 over the last two seasons, could follow the same blueprint with its own pair of consecutive No. 1 picks, a new coach in Jose Fernandez and a revamped roster.
In free agency, the Wings re-signed All-Star guard Arike Ogunbowale and signed a pair of former Minnesota Lynx forwards: reigning co-defensive player of the year Alanna Smith and Jessica Shepard. Dallas returned center Awak Kuier from overseas and other members of the young core that includes Aziaha James and Maddy Siegrist. The addition of three-time WNBA champion Alysha Clark and Odyssey Sims gave the Wings veteran leadership.
Ruocco said he loves what Dallas did in the offseason, including drafting Fudd.
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“I believe [she] is going to be an incredible pro,” he said.
Related: What made Azzi Fudd the right pick for Dallas Wings? Let the team’s leadership explain
For the Fever to further ascend, Ruocco said the team will need the health of its three stars: Boston, Clark and Kelsey Mitchell, an All-WNBA First Team selection in 2025.
“That’s a championship trio right there,” Ruocco said.
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They’re flanked by Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull, along with Monique Billings and rookie Raven Johnson.
Over the last five or so years, Ruocco said he’s seen the gameplay in the WNBA improve over time and more investment in the league at ESPN and elsewhere.
“The fire was simmering, and it was starting to burn, and then Caitlin [Clark] came along and that was jet fuel,” Ruocco said. “And it took the league to a completely different stratosphere.”
The arrival of Clark, who amazed audiences by willing Iowa to back-to-back national championship games behind the strength of her elite passing and logo threes, had a significant metric impact on women’s basketball that Ruocco likened to Tiger Woods’ effect on golf.
In 2025, the Fever ranked as the WNBA’s most-watched team on television and in 2026, lead the league in nationally televised games with a record 44 of their regular season games set to reach a national audience.
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The team with the second most nationally televised games? The Wings with 36.
Related: How to watch Wings-Fever: Season-opening showdown with Paige Bueckers, Caitlin Clark
Bueckers, one of the most visible WNBA stars with a huge sponsorship portfolio, has also greatly contributed to the popularity of women’s basketball and helped the Wings reach a historic level of relevancy. Fans and commentators often pit Bueckers and Clark against each other.
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But the players don’t feed into it, having competed against each other for a long time and with each other as USA Basketball teammates.
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“I think the greatest way to show respect is to compete and really bring the best out of each other,” Bueckers told reporters Thursday after practice in Arlington. “… I have great respect for her and what’s she’s done for the game of basketball and women’s sports in general. She’s a generational player, and every time we take the floor and get to compete against each other, it’s always a great time.”
That’s all fans can ask for Saturday.