After completing her first season in the WNBA after being drafted No. 1 in the 2025 draft out of the University of Connecticut by the Dallas Wings, Paige Bueckers is now a top-ranked player in her first-ever season with Unrivaled Basketball. Coming off being WNBA Rookie of the Year this off-season, Paige is using the opportunity Unrivaled brings to continue to get better all-around by playing in it.
Unrivaled Basketball is a player-founded, 3-on-3 professional women’s basketball league co-founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier. It’s a different brand of basketball and is about a two-month league with 14 games, a playoff, a championship, and a one-on-one tournament. Due to it being 3-on-3 instead of 5-on-5, the court is a little smaller, and there are also different rules than traditional basketball. It’s usually hard to play in the off-season without playing overseas, and now players are able to right out of Miami and get paid already higher than the average salary for the 2025 WNBA season, and the salaries will likely grow as the league does. Every Friday through Monday, games are airing exclusively on TNT, TruTV, and streaming on HBO Max.
The Next Generation Is Here
Due to having so many UConn connections in the WNBA, she’s had great mentors and help in terms of navigating her rookie season, being a professional basketball player with so much to handle, and even the business side of things. Now participating in Unrivaled, she’s in a new dynamic where she is playing with and sharing a court with women that she watched growing up. Professional teams are now so much younger and have a lot of “youth.” Especially the major role of the high school class of 2020, there is a lot of talk that they have less leadership and experience; however, these “younger” players are proving themselves and seem to just want to win, grow, and get better, and the future is bright when these talented players become vets.
Making an Impact in Every Way
She first joined the Unrivaled league as an NIL deal in her collegiate career, being more of an ambassador and using her large following on social media to promote the league during its first year of existence. Now this year, she gets to play in it for the first time. Out of the eight total clubs, Paige Bueckers is one of the six players (average Unrivaled roster size) currently playing for Breeze Basketball Club.
Unrivaled Basketball highlights her basketball IQ, versatility, and confidence. As of Jan. 23, she ranks third overall in player stats in her first-ever Unrivaled season. In just 19.8 minutes per game, she’s averaging an impressive 23.4 points and 6.8 assists, making her the league’s third-leading scorer and number one in assists. She also ranks fourth in total minutes played, showing just how needed she is out there already. Bueckers is shooting 52.4% from the field, 45.5% from three, and remains a perfect 100% from the free-throw line. Add in 8.2 rebounds per game, and it’s undeniable how she’s impacting the game in every way. This was all shown in a recent game, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, in Breeze’s 83–64 win over Mist Basketball Club, when Bueckers exploded for 37 points, shooting 14-for-19 from the field and knocking down five threes. On the same night, Bueckers also won the Unrivaled inaugural Free Throw Challenge, staying a perfect 13-for-13 on the season in the first five games and taking home a $50,000 prize.
She has taken the $50,000 she won and donated it to her hometown, Hopkins, Minnesota, to the local relief fund. She has pledged a $50,000 matching donation to assist children and families. The Hopkins Strong Relief Fund supports families facing food insecurity and struggling to pay rent and utilities. The Hopkins Strong Relief Fund is a partnership between the Hopkins Education Foundation and the ICA Food Shelf that provides support to families in the Hopkins Public Schools community. This is a true reflection of who she is, and gestures like this are not surprising to come from Paige. Her dedication to giving back has always been prevalent. She shows incredible aspects of both humanity and athleticism in all she does. While doing all of this, she is always working hard toward making the USA Basketball team. She went to training camp in December and is hoping to represent herself and the country while coming together with all Team USA sports at the Olympic level in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
Making a Difference in Basketball and Beyond
In her first season with Unrivaled Basketball, Paige Bueckers is once again proving that excellence has followed her long before she was a college star and continues well into her professional career. Bueckers is using this opportunity not only to refine her game but to lead by example both on and off the court. Her love for basketball doesn’t go unnoticed in everything she chooses to do in and for the sport. She is especially an inspiration to women and girls everywhere. Whether it’s competing at the highest level, giving back to her community, or inspiring the next generation of athletes, she continues to show what it means to be great in all aspects of life.