Paige Bueckers Got One of the Weirdest Technical Fouls of the WNBA Season

It was the Wings rookie's first tech of her professional career.

Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) reacts after a play against the Connecticut Sun in the second half at Mohegan Sun Arena. / David Butler II-Imagn Images

Dallas Wings rookie Paige Bueckers got her "Welcome to the league" moment from a WNBA ref in her team's victory over the Connecticut Sun on Friday night.

Bueckers, who finished with 21 points in the 86-83 win, logged her fourth 20-point performance this season despite missing time due to a concussion and an illness. The Wings guard was all over the court, adding seven dimes as well as two steals—while also getting slapped with her first technical of the year.

After hitting a tough jumper over her Wings defender, Bueckers immediately turned to the nearest ref and clapped her hands. The ref stopped play and promptly issued Bueckers a technical, causing Bueckers to clap even harder in protest:

Paige gets a tech for clapping at ref lmao pic.twitter.com/AmkZXopXZV

— Shabazz 💫 (@ShowCaseShabazz) June 21, 2025

Even the Sun players seemed to be surprised at Bueckers's weird tech:

having ur opponents take ur side and encouraging u while still playing the game speaks volumes about paige’s character and how well she’s loved by the league… shes everybody’s baby oml pic.twitter.com/Ppllwdwa8i

— phoebe (@paigesbear) June 21, 2025

There doesn't seem to be a postgame pool report explaining why Bueckers got T'd up, but the Wings rookie herself relayed her brief conversation with the ref after the call.

"I clapped twice and I said 'And one!' And he said I clapped in his face. So, that's all," Bueckers said in a press conference.

If the ref did indeed give Bueckers a technical for clapping too hard or too close to his face, it's certainly one of the stranger calls we've seen in the league so far. At least Bueckers will be paying the $200 fine knowing she helped her team get a big win and improve to 3-11 on the year.

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