UConn's Paige Bueckers Notes 'White Privilege' in Sharing Importance of Her Voice
Despite still being in college, UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers has blossomed into one of the biggest superstars in all of women's basketball.
Bueckers was extremely hyped coming into college and built upon that hype after being named AP Player of the Year as a freshman, making her the first freshman in NCAA women's basketball history to earn this accolade.
While Bueckers has dealt with some tough injuries since then, she is still one of the country's top players and is all but guaranteed to be the No. 1 pick of the 2025 WNBA Draft.
Bueckers has also benefitted massively from the NCAA's new NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) rule, with On3 estimating that her NIL valuation is well over $1 million.
When speaking about her business success with Sportico's Eric Jackson for a February 19 article, Bueckers made a powerful claim about understanding race's place in her off-court endeavors.
“I live with white privilege every single day,” Bueckers is quoted saying in the interview. “I’ve seen the effects of discrimination. I don’t face racism, but I’ve seen the important people in my life—a lot of my teammates, friends and family—dealing with it. I benefit from white privilege, so voicing that has been important to me since I was young.”
Jackson also writes in the article, “The top WNBA prospect often presses brands to include her lesser-known teammates on specific deals while using her platform to grow the pipeline for minority content creators and advertisers. Even as mainstream conversation about racial issues has taken a sharp turn in the years since her speech... Bueckers has not wavered in her beliefs.”
Bueckers later added, “NIL is about building your brand, image and wealth. But I want more of my legacy in the NIL space to be about what did she share with others? How did you she give back to people who’ve given so much back to her?”
Paige Bueckers Uses 'Ripple Effect' to Shape Business Strategy https://t.co/yF0bZrq4lH
— Sportico (@Sportico) February 19, 2025
Major props to Bueckers for being willing to speak her mind regarding race, which is something she has always been willing to do.
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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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