Just for kicks: UConn star Paige Bueckers emerges as Caitlin Clark rival

Nike doesn't just go head over heels (pun intended) for anyone. That's why their relationship with UConn women's basketball star Paige Bueckers is so notable.

Nike released a signature shoe in collaboration with Bueckers in December 2024. Bueckers' Nike G.T. Hustle 3 became available during the holiday season. She's the first college basketball player, male or female, to have a signature sneaker in the name, image and likeness era of college sports.

The New York Post noted that Caitlin Clark supporters are a bit miffed by this development. Clark signed an endorsement deal with Nike in the spring of 2024, but the footwear powerhouse has yet to release anything in her name.

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Caitlin Clark set the WNBA on fire in her record-breaking rookie season, but is the stage set for a showdown with Paige Bueckers in the near future?

Bueckers has a long history with Clark, including notable on-court battles against each other at college level, earning her the tag of Clark’s biggest rival from some sports pundits, such as ESPN’s Kevin Pelton and columnist Jason Whitlock.

Due to her six-foot-tall frame, ball-playing ability, physicality and position, Whitlock thinks Bueckers could be the closest match to Clark when she does make her way to the WNBA, Sportskeeda reported.

Bueckers currently plays as the point guard for the UConn Huskies, and spent years playing against Clark while she was dominating that same position with the Iowa Hawkeyes. As such, Bueckers has kept and continues to keep a close eye on Clark’s game in a way few other players do.

In her first year at the Indiana Fever, Clark not only claimed the WNBA Rookie of the Year award and made the All-WNBA First Team and WNBA All-Star Game this year, she also set league single-season and single-game records in assists.

On top of all that, she also broke the rookie scoring record, and became the first rookie to achieve a triple-double.

Despite her media status as a chief rival, Bueckers isn’t threatened by Clark’s success – in fact, she’s incredibly proud of her.

"We've known each other for a very long time. We've been competing against and with each other for a very long time... I mean Caitlin's a competitor, she's a winner. She's a great basketball player, everybody sees it," she said, as reported by the Irish Sun. 

"She does so much for the game. And she's the best scorer college basketball has ever seen. But I think she's so much more than a scorer. I think the best thing about her is her competitive spirit and her fire, her passion, her joy for the game. Everybody loves watching it."

While Clark has been carving up the WNBA, Bueckers has carved out her own little place in history as the first freshman to clinch the Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy, AP Player of the Year, and USBWA Player of the Year in 2021.

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Clark is equally impressed by her supposed rival, and spoke about Bueckers ahead of a NCAA tournament game in April 2024.

"Her game is just so smooth, like she's fun to watch. She moves effortlessly out there like it's just so natural. It comes easy to her but that's always been her game as long as I've known her. She's just very naturally gifted and then she additionally works really hard at it and that makes a great recipe for success," Clark said, as reported by Sportskeeda.

Despite being a few months older than Clark, the 23-year-old Bueckers career has somewhat derailed after tearing her ACL following her junior year, Sportskeeda reported. Since her return last year, she has averaged over 20 points a game.

"I think the coolest thing about Paige is how resilient she is." Clark said. "Obviously, she's been kind of dealt a tough hand and only has positive things to say about her teammates. And the way she carries herself on and off the court and the way she works hard, none of that has changed."

Basketball fans will have to wait until April 2025 to see which team Bueckers will call home in the next WNBA season.

But once she makes her WNBA debut, we expect the Bueckers-Clark to be a leading narrative across next year’s basketball season.

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