Newly minted Dallas Wing Paige Bueckers was unveiled to the city at her introductory presser on Wednesday afternoon, during which she cracked a dad joke or two, talked teaming up with vet Arike Ogunbowale, and even took a moment to praise her favorite player in the sport, Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving.

Speaking with reporter Dorothy Gentry, Bueckers fangirled over Irving's influence on her game before offering some encouraging words regarding Irving's ongoing ACL tear recovery.

"Just in terms of his skill work and his dedication to the game. The stuff you see on the court, how much preparation and how [many] reps and how much practice it takes to be that elite at basketball is something that I want to take with me in my journey," Bueckers said of the future Hall of Famer. "I think his finishing abilities, the way he uses his quickness, he's extremely underratedly strong, and just his creativity are things I want to take away. You can't be that elite at basketball without having a great work ethic, so I know he's going to dominate this recovery process just as he does basketball."

She added: "Kyrie, I know you're gonna do great. I know you're going to come back from this better than ever, and I appreciate you for being an inspiration on and off the court. Being authentically yourself, being unapologetically yourself. It's an inspiration. ... Thank you for everything."

Watch that below:

If anyone understands the trials of this recovery process, it's Bueckers. The former UConn Husky tore her ACL back in 2022, and was consequently sidelined for the full 2022-23 season. Irving, meanwhile, went down in March of this year—though, like Paige, he also dealt with some devastating injuries during his time in college, too.

Surely, Bueckers's message to the star guard will be much appreciated. If anything, she's getting him back after he congratulated her in a special video following the WNBA draft.

"You know you're always my little sister and I'm just so proud of you," Irving said in the clip shared online. "Congratulations, Queen."

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Paige Bueckers Was the Ultimate Fangirl Talking About Mavs’ Kyrie Irving.

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