Paige Bueckers is the oil that makes this rusty Dallas Wings system work. They have a new coach in Chris Koclanes, who has never headcoached a team before. Most of the core of their 2024 squad was shown the door, with the team citing a complete rebuild. And they are doing that around their No.1 pick, Bueckers. Early in the season, she was the lone player who stood out from the rest of the team. They looked unprepared a lot of the time during that 1-9 start, but Bueckers showed that she belongs at this stage.
However, as GM Curt Miller said, “It’s a fun time here in Dallas. And again, success is gonna be defined in many ways this year. It’s not always gonna be by the win, but many other ways too.” The team has since evolved and developed some contributions around her. But Bueckers’ extraordinary talent has kept them in the game more times than we can count. It was a similar story in their last loss against the Golden State Valkyries when Bueckers put up 17 points, 6 assists, and 4 steals, a game-high stat line in all three metrics. Even with that performance, the Wings fell 76-86.
That’s why it came as a surprise when the Wings completely ruled her out of their upcoming game against the Las Vegas Aces without any injuries. The team has cited rest as the reason for leaving her out of the game. The Las Vegas Aces have admittedly dipped this year, but not so far as to where you can rest your best player against them. The move comes because of the demanding schedule, which Coach Koclanes emphasised after their game.
“Health and safety is the number one priority,” Koclanes said. “There are days when players may need to take the whole day off or be on minute restrictions. Those are conversations we’re having constantly.” The demanding schedule is asking a lot from the players, but the fans aren’t taking this as a good enough reason. The fans have heavily criticized the Dallas Wings management and the coach for this move during this crucial time of the season.
Why Did Wings Bench Their Star Rookie With No Injury?
We are entering the business end of the season. This is the time teams will push for a playoff spot and give that extra effort to get those W’s. The Dallas Wings’ postseason fate is hanging by a thread because of their second-worst in the league 7-18 record. While they are not chasing results in a more zoomed-out lens, the fans expect a full effort in at least trying to make it there. And this Paige Bueckers move signals just the opposite, leading to this fury.
Tanking to sit out the winnable game against the old fat and slow aces to come back and get blown out on Monday…
— John Zoidberg (@DoktorZoidberg1) July 26, 2025
This fan pointed out that the youth of Bueckers does not warrant this reason, writing, “Wth is rest for a rookie and 30 game season….” A star mark to this as this is a 44-game WNBA season with a four-game increase from last year. These increased games have been condensed into the same period as earlier, which makes things more difficult for the players. Keeping that on the side burner, a rookie sitting out to rest is certainly a unique situation.
Generally, the rookies are eager to prove themselves and give their absolute best. Which means playing every game you physically can. Another fan echoed a similar sentiment, writing, “Load management for a rookie, what happened to the game I love??” While the WNBA season is increasing, it is nowhere near the NBA season, as each team plays 82 games. The concept of load management is pretty common there, but this his one of the rare occasions where it has made its way to the WNBA, leading to this intense reaction.
Whenever there is talk regarding Bueckers, the comparison with Caitlin Clark has to come in, and sure enough, a fan wrote, “Caitlin would never do this.” However, Bueckers’ sitting out is not exactly without reason. As she admitted with her lingering knee issue earlier, saying, “I’ve been dealing with patellar tendinitis since I was in high school. In a sense, you’re managing it at all times. There’s no day when it probably doesn’t hurt. But to be on the second night of a back-to-back where I just played 38 minutes, it usually never feels great the day after the game.”
They are just coming off an intense game against the Valkyries, where Bueckers played 35+ minutes, which is a trend consistent throughout this season. And sure enough, she is taking the safe route with that knee issue. Clark is suffering from an injury issue of her own, and both teams are taking a cautious approach regarding their young superstars. While Clark hasn’t been completely rested, she was on a minute restriction during her brief comeback. So, she is not an exception to this brutal schedule.
As another fan mentioned, “No reason to get her injured. Season is cooked.” This mood seems to be around the Wings camp, and they are looking at the long term. The management is prepared to slightly sacrifice this season to maintain the long-term health of Bueckers. She is the key piece of the puzzle and the face of the franchise for hopefully many years.
The post ‘Fully Fit’ Paige Bueckers Getting Rest Makes Irked Fans Lash Out at Wings Management appeared first on EssentiallySports.