In August 2022, Paige Bueckers suffered an injury while playing pickup basketball at the Werth Champions Center. The point guard would later say that she “felt” a pop before gingerly walking to the locker room.
Shortly after, the UConn Huskies announced that Bueckers tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her left knee, an injury that would force her to sit out the 2022-23 season.
On Friday, Bueckers shared the impact of that gruesome injury with WNBA legend Sue Bird.
Paige Bueckers Explains How ACL Injury Trauma Made Her a Better Player
Bueckers was the No. 1 prospect in 2020 over the likes of Caitlin Clark, Cameron Brink, and Angel Reese. The former Hopkins High School (Minnetonka, Minnesota) star finished her rookie season at UConn as the consensus national player of the year, the first freshman to gain that distinction.
Amid sky-high expectations, Bueckers suffered multiple injuries that limited her to 17 games the following season. She dealt with an ankle injury, a tibial plateau fracture, and a lateral meniscus tear in her sophomore campaign.
She returned to help the Huskies in the NCAA tournament, but the school lost to South Carolina in the title game. Just as Bueckers was getting ready to return to her old form, she tore an ACL, an injury that she said impacted her in different ways.
Now a two-time WNBA All-Star, Bueckers looked back at that obstacle and told Bird how her game has changed due to that setback.
”It’s funny because people get mad because I don’t attack the rim as often. And part of that is kind of trauma of playing in crowded areas, having to land on one leg. So I’m still fighting that three years later,” Bueckers said.
“But it helped me really learn how to get to my spots efficiently and like work smarter and not harder… On the court, I shot in the mid-range before, but that’s really where I love to get to. I feel like teams struggle to guard it ‘cause not a lot of people play in it. And I think it’s a safer area than constantly getting to the rim, playing through physicality.”
Bueckers added that she had more speed and athleticism back then and raved that she could “almost” dunk.
However, she emphasized that she loves how her game has developed over the years.
The versatile guard finished her final two seasons at UConn with a flourish. She left in 2025 after leading the Huskies to the championship, breaking a nine-year title drought.
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The 6-foot guard hasn’t looked back since. She was the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, earned her first All-Star nod, and won the Rookie of the Year award.
This year, she broke Clark’s stranglehold at the top of WNBA voting for the All-Star Game. More importantly, the Wings, after finishing last year with a league-worst 10-34 record, are No. 4 this season with an 18-9 mark.
Bueckers is still dealing with the effects of that ACL injury, but that hasn’t stopped her from recapturing her status as one of the best in women’s basketball.
