Wings star Paige Bueckers won the WNBA Rookie of the Year award on Tuesday to little surprise, as the UConn Huskies product had put together a truly impressive debut season in 2025.
Bueckers, who was drafted by Dallas as the No. 1 pick back in April, was just two votes shy of being the unanimous winner following a productive campaign that saw her finish in the top-10 in points, assists and steals per game. The Wings guard managed to thrive even while her team struggled, with Dallas finishing 10-30 on the year and throwing their hat in the draft lottery for next year.
Throughout her first pro season, Bueckers set plenty of WNBA and franchise rookie records and can look back on several memorable highlights, including her stellar 44-point game against the Sparks last month, but she chose to celebrate her individual ROY honor with her teammates in a sweet Instagram post on Tuesday.
"Thank you God for an amazing rookie year," Bueckers wrote in the caption. "Process over results. Unconditional joy and gratitude, so much to be thankful for. Love my squad, they all deserve Teammates of the Year in my book, nothing is possible without them. Now let’s keep on keeping on. Go wings!"
Powerful stuff.
In the last year, Bueckers has grown close with Wings teammates Arike Ogunbowale and Li Yueru as well as former teammates DiJonai Carrington and NaLyssa Smith, who were traded to the Lynx and Aces respectively mid-season.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Paige Bueckers Shares Humble Message After Winning Rookie of the Year .