Paige Bueckers names her all-time WNBA starting 5 ft. A’ja Wilson
UConn guard Paige Bueckers named her all-time WNBA starting five. She had four Huskies women's basketball greats in the guard and forward slots and a former South Carolina star in the center.
The fifth-year senior, who is pegged as the No. 1 overall pick for the 2025 WNBA draft, answered one of the questions by podcast show host DJ Hamilton of DJ's Sports Show during the Big East Conference media day.
Bueckers named former UConn stars Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart with South Carolina center A'ja Wilson in her all-time WNBA starting five.
"Women's basketball starting five? All right Sue, Diana, Maya, Stewie and A'ja," Bueckers said (0:34).
Diana Taurasi, who still plays in the WNBA after 20 seasons, is a three-time WNBA champion and a former MVP with Phoenix Mercury while Sue Bird is a four-time WNBA champion for the Seattle Storm from 2002-2022.
Like Bird, Maya Moore is a four-time WNBA champion for the Minnesota Lynx and was the WNBA MVP in 2014. Stewart, on the other hand, is a three-time WNBA champion, with the last being the 2024 title with the New York Liberty. She was a two-time WNBA MVP and a six-time WNBA All-Star in eight seasons.
A'ja Wilson is a two-time WNBA champion with the Las Vegas Aces and a three-time league MVP.
Paige Bueckers names four UConn greats in her WNBA starting five
UConn guard Paige Bueckers identified four Huskies greats in her WNBA starting five who contributed to the legendary run of 11 national titles between 1995 and 2016.
Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird were teammates at UConn from 2000 to 2002 while Maya Moore played for Geno Auriemma from 2007-11. Breanna Stewart was acquired a year later and played for the Huskies from 2012-16.
Bird helped the Huskies win the national crown in the 1999-2000 and 2001-2002 seasons while Taurasi led UConn to three straight national titles from 2001-02 to 2003-04.
Moore was part of UConn's back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010, while Stewart led the Huskies to a four-peat from 2012-2013 to 2015-201. During that period, Stewart was also named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament.
A'ja Wilson, on the other hand, played for South Carolina between 2014 and 2018 and won a national title in 2017.
Bueckers is still looking for her first women's national championship title. She came close to winning the crown in the 2022 season where UConn reached the final but lost to South Carolina by 15 points.
The six-foot guard was just two points away from securing her second finals stint but Caitlin Clark and Iowa closed the door on Bueckers in the Final Four.
This season, Bueckers is determined to win the elusive national title for UConn to cap off her women's collegiate basketball career with a flourish.