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Paige Bueckers has lived in a big spotlight<\/a> since her senior year of high school. It, understandably, hasn\u2019t always been easy, but she is pretty comfortable with it these days.<\/p>\n She also is comfortable using her fame as a platform, and she has done so again.<\/p>\n The 24-year-old grew up in Hopkins, Minn., about 10 miles southwest of downtown Minneapolis. Immigration<\/a> and Customs Enforcement\u2019s recent swarming of the Twin Cities, from raiding homes and business to the killings by ICE officers of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, hit especially close to home for her.<\/p>\n On Friday night, Bueckers will be in another big spotlight, in a city that has paid much attention to ICE\u2019s actions<\/a>. The Unrivaled basketball showcase will have a sellout crowd at Xfinity Mobile Arena and another national TV audience watching from home.<\/p>\n \u201cInnocent lives are being taken; innocent families are being broken apart,\u201d Bueckers said Thursday amid the four touring teams\u2019 practices at the Alan Horwitz Sixth Man Center. \u201cPeople are afraid to send their children to school, people are afraid to go to work and provide for their family, people are afraid to go to the grocery store. What\u2019s going on is not OK, and at some point \u2014 we feel like, and we hope and we pray, that there\u2019s a change in direction in where this is heading.\u201d <\/p>\n All of Unrivaled\u2019s games this season except Friday\u2019s are played in Medley, Fla., just outside Miami, with the season running from early January to early March. That has kept Bueckers away from participating in protests at home, which she said she would do if she could.<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: What is Unrivaled, which kicks off its tour in Philly Friday night, and how is it different from the WNBA?<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very proud to be from Minnesota, and to see the community come together and show strength and unity and try to do everything possible to stay together through this really tough time,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of what Minnesota is all about. So it\u2019s tough, just being from there and not being able to go there and help and [have] feet on land, but you try to do everything from afar to support.\u201d<\/p>\n In the meantime, Bueckers has put her money where her mouth is.<\/p>\n At the start of the week, she won Unrivaled\u2019s $50,000 prize for having the best free-throw shooting percentage through the three-on-three league\u2019s first five games of this season. Soon after that, she put the same sum on the table as a donation match to the Hopkins Strong Relief Fund.<\/p>\n The fund describes itself<\/a> as \u201can ongoing drive to help feed Hopkins children and meet other urgent needs during this time of heightened stress and uncertainty in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Here\u2019s why Unrivaled picked Philadelphia to be the first stop on its nationwide tour<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018We have this platform to say things\u2019<\/p>\n Bueckers, who also plays for the WNBA\u2019s Dallas Wings, spoke resolutely about the importance of leveraging her fame.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I\u2019ve been very blessed and fortunate,\u201d she said, \u201cand God has given me this platform to speak out on things that are important to me and use my platform for good. And whether that be donations or just speaking out or standing up for what I think is right, I think that\u2019s very important.\u201d<\/p>\n She also was ready for a response she has seen often across society.<\/p>\n \u201cAs athletes, it can be so easy for people to say, \u2018Just play your sport. Don\u2019t worry about politics; don\u2019t worry about all of life\u2019s issues,\u2019\u201d Bueckers said. \u201cBut I think as somebody who\u2019s in the entertainment business, and we get this platform, and we have this platform to say things, I think it\u2019s important for us to use our voice and stand up for what we believe in.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Philly has long been a special place for tennis legend Billie Jean King. And she wants to see the WNBA succeed here.<\/a><\/p>\n Fellow superstar Breanna Stewart of Mist BC and the New York Liberty made a major statement Sunday when she held up a handwritten \u201cABOLISH ICE\u201d sign<\/a> during that day\u2019s player introductions.<\/p>\n