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“Not even close” - WNBA fans argue 2025 projected No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers’ comparison to Caitlin Clark as ‘generational’ talent
Caitlin Clark was the consensus top pick in 2023-24 mock drafts while Paige Bueckers landed in the top three. Clark eventually went to the Indiana Fever as the No. 1 pick, but Bueckers opted to stay for her final year at UConn. The Huskies point guard is expected to take over Clark’s spot in the 2025 WNBA draft.
With the WNBA draft lottery happening on Nov. 17, the comparisons between Clark and Bueckers have only gotten louder. Most consider the former a “generational talent” that the latter could not match.
Fans reacted to the comparisons between Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers on X/Twitter:
“Agree. Paige is good but we've seen good players before. Nobody accomplished what all Clark did how she did it before. Not even close,” one fan said.
“The impact she has on this era of women’s basketball… we will never see again,” another fan added.
“You make a good point. CC is not even the best player in the W (yet), but her impact on the sport is undeniable. No one has brought more attention to any woman’s sport to the degree she has, because she put the WNBA on the radar screen of the sports world. That’s generational,” one fan added.
“Exactly. When I think generational I think Lebron, Wemby, Mahomes or Tiger. Paige just doesn’t have the draw or the impact that Caitlin has. Paige is a good player but not at the same level," another fan said.
“If Paige and JuJu can do what CC has done in the WNBA then we can have this debate. Both Paige and JuJu are exceptional players at the college level and so was Caitlin. It took what she brought to the WNBA that makes her generational and just different," one fan wrote.
Caitlin Clark was undoubtedly the biggest draw in college basketball in her last two seasons at Iowa. She brought that popularity to the WNBA where she continues to be sought after by even non-basketball fans. The Fever regularly set records in viewership and attendance because of the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year winner.
Most fans aren’t putting Paige Bueckers in the same stratosphere as Clark until she proves to have that kind of impact.
Does Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever have a chance to draft Paige Bueckers?
Four lottery teams are battling for the shot to earn the right to get the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft. The LA Sparks, having a 22-55 record in the last two years, have a 44.2% chance to win the draft lottery. The Dallas Wings (22.7%), Chicago Sky (22.7%) and Washington Mystics (10.4%) round out the top four.
The Indiana Fever, which will draft No. 8, is out of the running in the Paige Bueckers lottery. As most mock drafts’ best collegiate player, the UConn star will likely go to the team that wins the draft lottery.
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