Paige Bueckers Threads the Needle With Response to Geno Auriemma-Dawn Staley Question
The women's basketball community is still buzzing about what happened between South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley and UConn Huskies coach Geno Auriemma at the end of their Final Four matchup over the weekend.
Right before the final buzzer, Auriemma went to shake Staley's hand and said something to her, which set Staley off. The two were jawing back and forth at each other for a few moments before Auriemma was escorted away, which didn't stop Staley from airing her own frustration out about whatever Auriemma said.
After the game, it came out that Auriemma was upset about Staley making him wait to shake his hand at half court before the game, and felt compelled to say something to Staley about it.
Paige Bueckers Addresses Dawn Staley and Geno Auriemma Exchange
Former UConn Huskies star Paige Bueckers was asked about this exchange during an April 7 interview with TMZ.
"It's unfortunate, just because there was so much good basketball being played. UCLA had a dominant run, South Carolina was playing great basketball, [and] Texas was playing great basketball. And I feel like those should be the storylines. Obviously, the way that it was handled wasn't the best," she said.
When Bueckers was asked about whether the whole exchange will blow over and he'll ultimately get forgiven, she laughed and conveyed that it's not her doing the forgiving in this situation, so it's not for her to say.
It would not have been fair to expect Bueckers to say anything more about this situation than she did. For one, she clearly has a close relationship with Auriemma. And while this doesn't necessarily keep her from being critical, she wouldn't have anything to gain from calling him out during this airport interview a few days after the fact.
Instead, Bueckers took the right approach here. Instead of commenting on the situation directly, she noted that the fact that this situation has taken away from the actual basketball that had been played over the weekend is the most "unfortunate" aspect of the whole narrative.
And Bueckers then went on to talk about how great all the teams were playing, which shows she wants to flip the narrative back to UCLA's championship and all the other basketball that was played.
Props to Bueckers for wanting to redirect the conversation back to the basketball at hand. But her stance won't take away from Auriemma and Staey's exchange being the most talked moment from the weekend.
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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