So, here we are again. ESPN has dropped another ranking table, and we’ve entered yet another chapter in the never-ending saga of “ESPN Snubs.” Remember last year when ESPN unveiled its midseason Top 25 WNBA rankings, and Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark landed at No. 15? Now, technically, being a Top 15 player as a rookie is impressive. But fans? They weren’t having it. Clark was in the MVP conversation and had the Fever sniffing the playoffs, so 15 just didn’t sit right with the math. Fast forward to the freshly dropped 2025 midseason rankings and, drumroll, Paige Bueckers has joined the Snub Club with her.
Of course, this isn’t Paige’s first time being on the wrong side of ESPN’s numerical affections, as fans think. Heading into the 2024–25 NCAA season, she was the face of women’s college basketball. The hype was real. The numbers were solid. The leadership? Undeniable. And still, ESPN placed her at No. 2, behind USC’s sophomore sensation JuJu Watkins. Now don’t get it twisted, fans love JuJu. But they weren’t buying the logic. Sure, Bueckers’ points per game may have lagged slightly, but her efficiency was through the roof.
Well, ESPN’s Kendra Andrews, Kevin Pelton, Alexa Philippou and Michael Voepel are back to rank the players again. Notably, some names like Kahleah Copper and Jonquel Jones were ineligible considering that they missed half of their team’s games, as written by ESPN. Furthermore, the criteria, as explained, was, “As the WNBA All-Star break nears, ESPN’s midseason rankings are based on how players are performing this season, not on their career accomplishments. So some notable names who are typically in these rankings aren’t on the list now“.
In this table, Bueckers ranked at 13th behind big names like Napheesa Collier, A’ja Wilson, Satou Sabally, Breanna Stewart, Kelsey Plum, and Caitlin Clark. And yes, Philippou wrote a glowing review for her, saying, “She ranks top 10 in scoring and is one of three players to average at least 18 points and five assists per game. In just 17 contests, she has had eight games with 15-plus points and five-plus assists, already tied for third most all time by any rookie”. Yet, fans are not convinced. Clearly, as specified by ESPN, these ranks have nothing to do with where the team is ranked in the league or conferences. Instead, they are a reflection of individual performance, and how much a certain player has contributed to keeping their teams in the race, afloat, or even hanging by a thread.
As ESPN wrote for Stewart, “Stewart’s consistency is the foundation New York relies upon,” or for Aliyah Boston, “Boston’s role with the Fever has never been more important as Indiana navigated playing without Clark for nine games”. So, by that logic, shouldn’t Paige be a bit higher up? After all, she has been carrying the team on her shoulders in the absence or presence of major other stars like Arike Ogunbowale and DiJonai Carrington. She’s even putting up 18.3 points, 5.4 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game, a stat line that justifies her All-Star nod.
But then again, Bueckers is still a rookie, trying to adjust in the pro league. Also, there is no other rookie in the top-13 and all the players before her are proven forces. Still and all, as was the case with All-Star player rankings, maybe, these ESPN rankings don’t matter much as Richard Jefferson had said.
Considering that Clark was ranked as the 9th best guard by the players, Channing Frye called it sort of an adversity that’d only fuel her, comparing Clark’s journey to that of Kevin Garnett. “She is relentless. She walks on the court and starts talking and pointing to everyone. It’s how she gets herself riled up,” Frye further said. However, Jefferson was blunt with this take, saying, ““Players don’t give a s— about this. They care about how you lace up”.
So, Bueckers has nothing to worry about. She is having one of, if not the best, rookie seasons of all time while being in a pretty broken team like the Dallas Wings. She has surpassed the sky-high expectation that was set because of her stellar college career. As the commentator put it during the Dallas-Indiana game, “If the All-WNBA Team was made today, Paige Bueckers would make it.” Bueckers will focus on her and the team’s development for the future. Meanwhile, as for Clark, the 9 no. doesn’t seem to be getting off her back.
Déjà Vu: Caitlin Clark Lands at Ninth Again
The number 9 seems to be following Caitlin Clark. She was comfortably No.1 in the fan vote for the All-Stars and number 4 in the media vote. As we discussed, in the player vote, she was ranked a surprising ninth among guards. The fans went berserk after learning this and restarted the jealousy conversations again. Clark is again ninth, but this time it’s among all players in the WNBA.
That is comfortably above Paige Bueckers but behind her teammate Aliyah Boston, who has been just as elite, but without the injuries. ESPN cited injuries as the reason for the ranking, writing, “Clark is a difficult player to assess given her lack of availability due to injury.” The reason Boston is above her and so high on the rankings is her “all-around play” and the fact that her role has a high level of importance to the Indiana Fever.
July 11, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) goes up for a basket against Atlanta Dream forward Brionna Jones (24) at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Grace Smith/INDIANAPOLIS STAR-Imagn Images
Considering her shooting slump, it’s surprising she still made the top 10. However, her creativity on the court, and her standout performance against the Dallas Wings, helped her break into the top tier, as Alex Philippou noted., “She has shined with her playmaking. She has 19 assists over her past two games, including the 17th 10-assist game of her career Sunday — her first with no more than two turnovers.”
And that is exactly the stat that didn’t sit well with fans. 19 assist? But isn’t 13+9=22?? Even if the article was finalized before Sunday’s game, where Clark dished out 13 assists, and ESPN simply overlooked updating the stats, it would still not add up. Clark had 15 total assists in the two games before that.
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