Wings' Paige Bueckers' status for FIBA World Cup qualifiers unknown

Will Paige Bueckers play for Team USA in March?

Sep 7, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) looks on during the first half against the Los Angeles Sparks at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Dallas Wings star Paige Bueckers has had quite the calendar year. Since March of 2025, she has won a national championship at UConn while being a First Team All-American for the third time in her college career, was selected first overall by the Wings, made the WNBA All-Star Game as a starter, won Rookie of the Year, made Second Team All-WNBA, and is now off to a strong start in the Unrivaled League.

Bueckers also went through Team USA training camp in preparation for the 2026 FIBA World Cup, which is set to take place in September. Team USA is already locked into the event since they won the 2025 AmeriCup, which counts as an automatic qualifier. So these qualifiers will be more for familiarity, getting the players used to playing with each other, more than anything.

However, it's not so certain that Paige Bueckers will play in the qualifiers that start on March 11th. With Bueckers participating in the Unrivaled League for Breeze BC, there's a chance that Bueckers is playing in the Unrivaled playoffs.

Welcome to your first 🇺🇸 #USABWNT camp, @paigebueckers1! pic.twitter.com/Fktzp8y9vp

— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) December 12, 2025

READ MORE: Wings' Paige Bueckers closing in on $50k reward in Unrivaled League

The regular season ends for Unrivaled in late February, and the championship will be held soon after that. If Breeze makes a little run, which is very possible given the talent they have, that could force Bueckers into either a late flight down to Puerto Rico.

Lauren Jones wrote a piece for the Olympics where she confirmed Bueckers' status is up in the air for March.

"A few scheduling factors may influence who ultimately competes in Puerto Rico. Although there is a strong possibility that [Caitlin] Clark will play, Bueckers, on the other hand, is competing in the Unrivaled league in Miami as a member of Team Breeze BC. Two of her Unrivaled teammates, Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson, were also participants in the recent USA Basketball training camp.

"With the Unrivaled championship game scheduled for 4 March, it is still uncertain whether Breeze BC will advance to the title game. The tight turnaround between the end of the Unrivaled season and the start of the World Cup qualifiers on 11 March is one reason why it remains unclear if Bueckers will be available to compete in Puerto Rico."

Bueckers is as talented a player as they have scheduled to play for Team USA, but she's also going to need a break at some point. She'd go from Unrivaled straight into Team USA qualifiers, almost directly into WNBA play (if the CBA ever gets agreed to), and then the World Cup is in September. That's a lot of basketball.

READ MORE: Dallas Wings have to be strategic in free agency frenzy

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