ESPN Analyst Asserts Paige Bueckers Puts People to Sleep
On September 16, news broke that Dallas Wings superstar guard Paige Bueckers won the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year award.
This didn't come as a surprise to anybody who watched or followed Bueckers' first professional basketball season. Despite her Wings team being tied for the league's worst record at 10-35, Bueckers put on sensational performances night after night and took essentially no time to prove that her college success at UConn would translate seamlessly into the WNBA.
There's also no question that Bueckers is one of the biggest stars in women's basketball. That said, she isn't in the same realm in that regard as Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark, despite the two having similar rookie campaigns (which resulted in Clark winning the WNBA Rookie of the Year award in 2024).
Many members of the women's basketball community don't like Bueckers and Clark getting compared. Yet, that isn't going to keep the comparisons from coming throughout their respective careers.
ESPN's Elle Duncan Explains Why Paige Bueckers Can't Match Caitlin Clark's Superstardom
ESPN anchor and women's basketball analyst Elle Duncan was the guest on a September 18 episode of the A Touch More podcast, which is co-hosted by WNBA legend Sue Bird. And at one point in the episode, the group got to discussing why Bueckers hasn't been able to match Clark's global superstardom despite their similar success.
"Why hasn't Paige resonated in the same way that Caitlin did? I think there's a bevy of reasons. But I also think that people find efficiency to be particularly sexy," Duncan said. "Caitlin is incredible, her dishes are stupid, all of those things.
"And Paige is efficient as h***. And that is enough to put people to sleep," Duncan continued. "Because [people are] like, 'I don't know what that means, and I don't care. Where are the highlights? Where are the crazy behind-the-back passes? Where are you shooting from the logo?' Paige just always makes the right decision."
She then added, "And I think those things are not particularly sexy, which is why people don't give her the same sort of attention, and they're not maybe as, like, crazy about what she's able to do."
While Duncan presents a solid argument, her word choice is sure to irk some of Bueckers' fans.
Elle Duncan's Stance on Paige Bueckers' 'Hot Girlfriend' Raises Eyebrows
This isn't the first thing Elle Duncan has said about Bueckers this week that's turning heads. When signing off a September 16 SportsCenter program, Duncan was speaking of Bueckers and said, "Yeah. Also, just like cool, chill, perfect, wonderful, has a hot girlfriend. Can I be Paige when I grow up?"
Paige Bueckers does indeed have a hot girlfriend pic.twitter.com/BhECFUjAlO
— Pazzi Bueckets (@PazziBueckets) September 16, 2025
Duncan was referring to Bueckers' girlfriend and former UConn teammate, Azzi Fudd. Several folks found this comment strange, especially because Duncan is 20 years older than Fudd.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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