‘We’ll Figure This Thing Out’: Paige Bueckers Echoes Stephen Curry in Message to Dallas Wings Fans
The Dallas Wings have endured a difficult WNBA season, but Paige Bueckers is keeping the bigger picture in mind. After Friday’s 100-78 loss to the Atlanta Dream, the rookie guard pointed to Stephen Curry’s early years with Golden State as an example of why she believes in Dallas’ future.
“I mean, just stick with it. Whoever we have in that locker room, whoever puts on a Wings jersey that night, that’s who we’re going to war with,” Bueckers said after the team’s seventh straight defeat, which dropped them to 9-31. “I remember Steph Curry, before the Warriors became the Warriors, he tweeted out like, ‘Just stick with us. We’re going to figure it out.’ That’s the message. I just have this undying belief in it.”
Paige Bueckers Drawing Inspiration from Stephen Curry
Curry, now regarded as one of the greatest players in NBA history, didn’t see a winning record until his fourth season. Two years later, Golden State broke through for a championship, the first of four during the dynasty run led by Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green.
Bueckers is hoping to help guide Dallas through a similar climb. The franchise has three championships from its days as the Detroit Shock, but has posted only one winning record since moving to Texas, a 22-18 season in 2023 that ended in the semifinals.
For Bueckers, accustomed to UConn’s dominance in college basketball, the rookie year has been an adjustment. She made clear in the preseason her focus was on growth, not immediate results.
“Even with the struggles, I just want to get better every day,” Bueckers said earlier this year.
Dallas Wings Finding Positives Despite Losses
Against Atlanta, she recorded 16 points and matched her career-best with 10 assists, giving her a second points-assists double-double, the only rookie with more than one this season. Maddy Siegrist added a career-high 23 points, but the Wings faded late after cutting the Dream’s lead to four entering the fourth.
“We just ran out of gas a little bit,” Siegrist said. “We had some lapses defensively, and they’re a great team—they’re going to take advantage. They hit some threes off second chances, and you can’t let that happen in the fourth.”
Head coach Chris Koclanes noted the toll of a short-handed rotation, with Dallas dressing only eight players, three of them added on hardship contracts in the past week.
“Tremendous fight in the third to bring it to four, but that 8-0 run to start the fourth was a punch, and we couldn’t get it back,” Koclanes said. “Credit to Atlanta for responding. I think we just ran out of gas late.”
Even so, he emphasized the optimism Bueckers has carried all season.
“That’s genuine belief, not lip service,” Koclanes said. “Paige pours into her teammates, believes in everyone in that locker room. It’s hard when things are tough not to crumble, but Paige and this group keep perspective. They maintain standards, hold each other accountable, and believe in the future.”
The Wings have four games left, starting Monday against the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx. With the playoffs out of reach, Dallas is leaning on Bueckers’s vision that patience and persistence will eventually lead to results.
More Dallas Wings News & WNBA Rumors
- WNBA News: “She Shows Up Every Night”: Cynthia Cooper Lauds Paige Bueckers’ Historic Rookie Season With Dallas Wings
- WNBA News: “We’ve Got Eight, and That’s Enough”: Shorthanded Dallas Wings Fight Before Falling to Atlanta Dream in Paige Bueckers’ Return
- WNBA News: Paige Bueckers Says Body Rejected IV Before Late Scratch, Feels ‘Ready to Go’ vs. Atlanta Dream
- WNBA News: Inside Dallas Wings’ Navigation of Hardship Signings Amid Injury Crisis
- WNBA News: Dallas Wings Add Christyn Williams on Extreme Hardship Deal, Re-Sign Amy Okonkwo to Seven-Day Deal
- WNBA News: “We Just Have to Be Better”: Dallas Wings Fall to Connecticut Sun as Injuries Pile Up
- WNBA News: “Paige Will Be a Unifier”: Curt Miller Details Dallas Wings’ Roster Plan Around Paige Bueckers
