Dallas Legend Dirk Nowitzki Has High Hopes for 'Tremendous' Paige Bueckers

The former Dallas Mavericks forward thinks very highly of the young W guard.
Former NBA player Dirk Nowitzki watching the Dallas Wings-Seattle Storm game on May 19, 2025.
Former NBA player Dirk Nowitzki watching the Dallas Wings-Seattle Storm game on May 19, 2025. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
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Dallas legend Dirk Nowitzki sounds pretty excited to watch Paige Bueckers play in the Lone Star State.

Speaking during the Dallas Wings vs. Seattle Storm game on Monday night, Nowitzki, who played 21 seasons with the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, praised Bueckers's talent and what she will bring to the Wings franchise.

"It's going to take a while to, obviously, get used to the physicality in the WNBA, but I think [Bueckers has] got the talent. She's going to be amazing for us," the former forward said. "She's just going to get better from game to game, from season to season. You already can see now she's gotten more comfortable out there from game one. She's going to be tremendous for this organization for a long time."

Nowitzki also touched on how both the Wings and the Mavericks won their respective draft lotteries this year. "It's great to have good young talent come in for your franchise," he said. "In most cases, it can turn your franchise around, so hopefully that's the case in both teams."

Watch that below:

The Wings selected Bueckers, who won an NCAA championship with the UConn Huskies in March, with the No. 1 pick of the 2025 draft. In her debut on Friday, she dropped 10 points, seven rebounds, and two assists across 30 minutes played.


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Brigid Kennedy
BRIGID KENNEDY

Brigid Kennedy is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, she covered political news, sporting news and culture at TheWeek.com before moving to Livingetc, an interior design magazine. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, dual majoring in television, radio and film (from the Newhouse School of Public Communications) and marketing managment (from the Whitman School of Management). Offline, she enjoys going to the movies, reading and watching the Steelers.