Paige Bueckers Admits Truth Behind Offseason Weight Gain

Dallas Wings All-Star guard Paige Bueckers accidentally started a wildfire of slight misinformation in the most earnest way imaginable.

During the Wings’ season-opening win over the Indiana Fever on May 9, ESPN’s Holly Rowe disclosed on the broadcast that Bueckers had gained 15 pounds of “lean muscle” in the WNBA offseason.

Bueckers’ purported 15-pound weight gain has been mentioned during several Wings’ games and generally became a popular narrative throughout the first month of this season.

Rowe was not lying. She repeated what Bueckers told her. But Bueckers gave her bad information.

“Yeah, I just made that [expletive] up,” Bueckers recently told ESPN’s Alexa Philippou for an in-depth feature about the Wings’ resurgent 2026. “I’ve gained like 18 pounds, so I did mental math. […] I’m hoping that most of what I put on is muscle. It feels like it.”

The nuances of Bueckers’ body composition are irrelevant. All that matters is that the 2025 No. 1 overall pick and reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year is balling. She’s six days removed from putting up a season-high 31 points on 14-for-20 (70%) shooting from the field. Overall, she’s averaging 19 points, 5.8 assists, and 3.7 rebounds across 13 games.

But Wings fans should feel even more encouraged by Bueckers’ latest outing. She recorded 10 points on 4-for-11 shooting, seven assists, and five rebounds against the Las Vegas Aces on Monday - and the Wings still beat the reigning champions by 30 points.

Under first-year head coach Jose Fernandez, Wings are 9-5 entering their matchup with the Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday night. The Wings won a league-worst 10 games in all of last season, and now, they can take down the WNBA’s heavyweights on any given night.

Sure, 14 games isn’t the biggest sample size, but it’s big enough to declare the Wings a contender and Bueckers an MVP candidate.

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This story was originally published June 17, 2026 at 3:32 PM.