Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers was named the Kia 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year, the league announced on Tuesday, Sept. 16.
Over 36 games in 2025, Bueckers averaged 19.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.6 steals while shooting .477 from the field and .331 from three.
Bueckers’ rookie campaign was one for the record books. She tallied the third-most points (692) and assists (194) by a rookie in WNBA history, while posting the highest single-game scoring performance ever by a rookie with her 44-point outing at the Los Angeles Sparks on Aug. 20. Her 30-game double-digit scoring streak to start her career is the third-longest in WNBA history behind A’ja Wilson (33 games, 2018) and Candace Parker (32 games, 2008), while her 17 20-point games finish tied for fifth all-time.
The UConn graduate who was selected No. 1 overall in the 2025 WNBA Draft set Wings franchise rookie records for points, points per game, assists, assists per game and points-assists double-doubles (2).
The 6-0 guard is the only player in the WNBA to finish in the top nine in scoring (5th), assists (9th) and steals (6th). Her 20.3 efficiency rating was tops among all guards in the WNBA, ranked seventh overall, and she was the only rookie to finish in the top 19.
Her 44-point outing on Aug. 20 was the most points scored by any player since 2023, while she is the only player in WNBA history to score 40+ while shooting at least 80 percent from the field.
Bueckers is the only rookie in WNBA history to average at least 19 points per game while shooting at least 47 percent from the field, and just the second player (Candace Parker, 2015) in WNBA history to average at least 19 points, five assists and 47-percent shooting. She is the lone rookie in league history to average at least 19 points and 1.5 steals per game.
In July, Bueckers became just the 10th rookie in league history to start a WNBA All-Star Game. She set a league record for most All-Star Game fan votes ever received by a rookie with over 805,000 and received the second-most votes among all guards. Bueckers becomes the seventh player in league history to be an All-Star Game starter and Rookie of the Year in the same season.
Bueckers is just the seventh rookie in WNBA history to record multiple points-assists double-doubles and just the second in the last decade. She was honored as WNBA Rookie of the Month three times in 2025 (June, July, August), becoming just the 10th player in WNBA history and first in Wings franchise history to earn the distinction three times.
On Friday, Bueckers was named the Associated Press Rookie of the Year, becoming the 10th straight newcomer to sweep both AP and WNBA Rookie of the Year honors. She was also tabbed to the AP All-WNBA Second Team and was a unanimous choice to the AP All-Rookie Team.
Bueckers is the second WNBA Rookie of the Year for the Wings since the team moved to Dallas prior to the 2016 season. The Wings are one of three teams to have multiple Rookie of the Year honorees over the last 10 seasons along with the Indiana Fever and Minnesota Lynx.
— from staff reports