Wings Player Weighs In on Caitlin Clark-Paige Bueckers 'Killer Instinct' Debate
Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers produced a fantastic rookie 2025 WNBA season.
In 36 regular season games (her Wings didn't come close to making the postseason), Bueckers averaged 19.2 points per game on 47.7% shooting from the field to go along with 5.4 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game. This was enough to earn Bueckers the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year Award.
Bueckers will never be able to escape comparisons to Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark. This is owed to them being women's college basketball's two biggest stars during their respective careers, along with both being the No. 1 overall pick in their respective WNBA Draft (Clark in 2024 and Bueckers in 2025).
In Clark's rookie 2024 campaign, she averaged the same number of points per game as Bueckers (19.2) on 41.7% shooting from the field, along with 8.4 assists, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game. This was enough to secure her the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year Award.
Stats can't tell the entire story of these women's basketball icons' careers. While both are big stars, there's no question that Clark is a much bigger name at this point. And there's a case to be made that her competitive fire and passion on the court is a reason for this, given how much added intrigue it brings to No. 22.
That's not to say Bueckers doesn't play with the same passion are fire. It's just typically not as visible as that of Clark.
Wings Player Gets Honest About Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers' 'Killer Instinct'
2025 Wings rookie Luisa Geiselsoder offered an interesting opinion about Bueckers in the comments section of an Instagram post on November 8. The post shows a clip of her being interviewed (in German), and seemingly being asked a question comparing Clark and Bueckers. Whatever the question was, Geiselsoder seemed to answer by saying her teammate from last season.
Whatever has answer was prompted a fan to comment (in translated German), "Caitlin Clark is revolutionizing women's basketball right now. Paige Bueckers is extremely good but without 'killer instinct'."
Geiselsoder then replied to this comment, saying (in translated German), "Caitlin Clark is definitely and an important part of the revolution in women's basketball. Definitely not the only one tho....Paige Bueckers has a 'killer instinct' I can confirm 100% from live experience. :)".
Geiselsoder's response has been screenshotted and reposted on X and has since gone viral. Fans love that she's showing love to both superstars and crediting both of their respective killer instincts.
you cool with me #18 pic.twitter.com/IOo9re173K
— ۟ (@dijopaigel) November 8, 2025
Props to Geiselsoder for propping up both Clark and Bueckers without diminishing the other.
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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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