- 2 days ago
Paige Bueckers joined the K&C Masterpiece to talk about how the team attacked free agency to reshape the roster, why the 2026 offseason has been so pivotal for the franchise, what it's been like reuniting with Azzi Fudd, and more.
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00:00Paige Beckers, good afternoon.
00:02Good afternoon. Glad to be here.
00:04He just said, turn the page.
00:06I swear I didn't do that on purpose.
00:08He did that as a pawn.
00:09No.
00:10That was definitely on purpose.
00:11Yeah, he did.
00:12Are you frustrated with him already?
00:14No, I'll let one slide.
00:15Okay, I can get it back then.
00:17How great are naps?
00:19Because my three-year-old this morning woke me up at four o'clock and asked me if I was
00:23awake.
00:24And I feel like I need a nap.
00:26Do you feel like a nap is the great equalizer for all people in society?
00:31Nap is like top five greatest things of all time.
00:34And I will always be a nap believer.
00:36And I understand you having children.
00:39Yes.
00:39I have some peers who have children, and they don't take naps anymore.
00:43So that's a rough reality check for me.
00:46But I'm not there yet, so I'm enjoying them.
00:48The day your kid quits taking a nap is an awful day because that's when you get to nap.
00:52Now, what do you think is the ideal nap time?
00:55We'll probably eventually get to basketball questions.
00:57We'll see.
00:57Who knows?
00:58But what's the ideal nap time?
01:00Hour and a half?
01:00What do you think?
01:01Oh, I'm like a two-hour plusser.
01:05What?
01:05I don't set an alarm.
01:08I don't like anything under an hour.
01:10But I do believe in those quick power naps in the car or something.
01:13But two to three is perfect for me.
01:17If it goes past three, are you just sleeping now?
01:19At that point, I'll see you tomorrow.
01:22Are you the kind of person who wakes up and does push-ups?
01:25Or do you lay there and go back to sleep?
01:28No, I tell people I need a 20-minute period of collecting all my thoughts, and then I'll
01:33be good after that.
01:34Okay, so let me get here, and then I'm ready to rock for the day.
01:38Because obviously, you use the energy while you're awake.
01:40You use it all.
01:41Yeah, for sure.
01:42Are you ever worried that you're going to be with somebody who's a morning person?
01:47Because my wife is the most morning person in the world, and I'm just like, Jess, I need
01:52you to tone it down just a little bit.
01:54Because I'm more like you, and I need my time and space.
01:58She does not appreciate that same level.
02:01No, yeah.
02:02That is rough reality for you.
02:05I also don't like to be waking up by the sun, by somebody else's alarm, by somebody else's
02:11movement.
02:12If you're interrupting my sleep, go to the couch, go to the guest room.
02:16At that point, it's kind of disrespectful.
02:19So I'm all about respect and respecting each other's boundaries and morals and sleeping habits.
02:25Well, then not to make this interview just about me, do you have any advice if my wife
02:30is a teacher and her first alarm goes off at 5.30?
02:33First alarm?
02:34First alarm.
02:35She doesn't get up.
02:36She's one of the first alarmers.
02:37She does not get up after that.
02:39Then it's 5.45.
02:40Then it's like 5.52 and some weird other time.
02:43And the alarms just keep going off.
02:46Yeah, that, I can't.
02:48I don't even know how to help you with that.
02:51But happy wife, happy life, right?
02:53That's true.
02:54And we're already married.
02:54It's too late.
02:55So, you know, we're just going to have to deal with that, Corey.
02:57Yeah, you're going to have to.
02:58The first time, Paige, we talked, it was a phone.
03:01We had a pretty good conversation.
03:03I really enjoyed it.
03:04But we did, I did ask you about sweating at the time.
03:07And it was a very awkward conversation.
03:09But you took it with grace.
03:10You were phenomenal.
03:11But then the other day, I noticed you were in a deodorant commercial with Asia Wilson.
03:15And I was thinking to myself, I was like, did we have something to do with that endorsement because of
03:21the question?
03:21Would you like to give us any credit on that?
03:24Yeah, you definitely set the stage and set the table for Secret NLA to shoot their shot and for me
03:31to accept that.
03:33And, yeah, I think I feel like I should give you guys a percentage or something, right?
03:37You did it.
03:37Hey, just frequent interviews would be fine.
03:40We'll accept that.
03:41That's a great currency in our world.
03:43Now, I know you're from Minnesota.
03:45Obviously, you're playing in Dallas.
03:47Are you rooting for the Wild or the Stars?
03:53Well, can I not say both?
03:55It started off very friendly, Kevin.
03:57I'm from Minnesota.
03:58Like, Minnesota, nice.
03:59We like to go on the safer side of things.
04:02So, I'll just say both.
04:03Well, if you think about it, we took the first Minnesota team.
04:06So, really, the Stars are partially Minnesota, too.
04:09Okay, yeah, then.
04:10Perfect.
04:11We did it.
04:12Right down the road.
04:13That's a very smart choice there.
04:15Now, of all the teammates that you have, who does DFW need to know better and more of?
04:22Oh, that's a good question.
04:23I think Isaiah James.
04:24I think Zaza's going to have a breakout year.
04:27We spent a lot of the offseason together working out, being in the same environment Adam rivaled.
04:33And just to see her work ethic and how much she poured into her body and her mind and her
04:37basketball abilities
04:38and just how much confidence she has right now, I think it's going to be a breakout season for her,
04:43and I'm really excited to see it.
04:44You just said something really interesting.
04:46Do you think people, maybe outside of the sport, ever underrate how much you need to pour into it from
04:51a mental aspect as well?
04:53Yeah, I mean, everybody talks about it.
04:55I feel like the game is more mental than it is physical.
04:59And just being able to, for me, I've started working with a sports psychologist
05:03and just pouring into the mental aspect of it and how much you invest in that is really important.
05:08As long as going to the gym and working on your skills, you also have to work on your mental
05:12skills as well.
05:13So I think it's a healthy balance of both for sure.
05:15What led you to start working with a sports psychologist?
05:18Is it something that you're like, hey, every little bit could help?
05:21Did you have to be kind of drug kicking and screaming into it?
05:24No, I definitely got, like, I was always a person who, like, internalized things and always kept things to myself
05:31and sort of bottled them up.
05:33And at some point, it just gets to be too much, and the people around you kind of notice that.
05:38And, like, getting help and asking for help is really a sign of strength.
05:43Like, it's not your weakness.
05:44It's your superpower.
05:45And that's what I've learned.
05:46So to be able to be pushed into that and have great resources around me who have helped me feel
05:51confident in that,
05:52I think was the key to starting that.
05:54I think, Kevin, this is a really unique conversation that we can dive into if you're open to it
05:59because we talk about mental health a lot on our show.
06:02I'm in NorthTexas.org.
06:04And Kevin needs something I don't need, and I need something he doesn't need.
06:08And I know I was listening to some Mavericks players back whenever they were going through their championship run,
06:12and one of our guys that played for the Rangers said he used the same therapist that they used.
06:19And a lot of the times it was talking about knowing that you belong in that moment.
06:24And I just don't see you having, like, struggling knowing that you belong in the moment at the free throw
06:29line when you do.
06:30Is that something that you need, or is there some other avenues that you can discuss there?
06:35Yeah, I think for me it was I was so future-focused and past-focused
06:40that I forgot to live in the moment and be present.
06:44And just that became my life motto was just, like, owning the moment, owning the possession,
06:51owning where my feet are because, really, the past can't help you, and the future can't help you.
06:56So, obviously, preparation and putting the work in, yes, but, like, in that moment,
07:02what your thoughts are in that second are what's going to drive you to succeed.
07:07So, that was, like, the main focus for me because I became, it was during a run,
07:12I became so afraid of losing that I forgot how to win just because I thought of all the ways
07:17it could go wrong,
07:18the fears, the doubts, instead of, like, confidence and all the work that I did put in
07:22and everything that led up to that moment and being more process-driven than result-driven.
07:27I think I got lost in my identity in basketball.
07:31So, to be able to find that, again, was great.
07:33I think that part we just, like, last week, Kevin, we were having the discussion of hate losing, love winning,
07:39what's more important, you know, and I think we rounded out, we were like, no, they're the same coin.
07:43They're just on either side of it.
07:45You've got to have both of them to actually enjoy that experience.
07:48Yeah, I agree.
07:49Now, since you were just kind of talking about that, do you, I know you don't want to, like, just
07:54linger on your successes,
07:55but do you take some time to enjoy successes along the way instead of just being like, all right, what's
08:00next?
08:01Yeah, I think just to be able to stop and smell the roses sometimes to see, for me, it's, like,
08:07the journey
08:07and all the people in the village around me that have helped me get to this point
08:11because success can be lonely and people can single you out and make it feel like you were the person
08:18that got, like,
08:19obviously, you work hard in this, but there's so many people that invest in you.
08:23So to be able to really emphasize that and the whole process along the way,
08:28you just really enjoy, enjoy the experience of it and become so obsessed with the journey
08:33that the results take care of themselves and you can control what you can control.
08:38Did you, this offseason, we saw a lot of movement and a lot of what we see as positive movement
08:43for this organization.
08:44Did you go kick a door open and pound your fist on the curtain's table and you're like, hey, do
08:49these things?
08:49How did you kind of take all that in?
08:51I mean, we did have conversations about the trajectory of where we want to go
08:56and how this is probably the most important free agency in WNBA history up to this point with the CBA
09:02negotiations
09:02and maybe over 90% of the league are free agents.
09:07And so we needed to do things that attracted free agents and we needed to be an attractive destination.
09:12And that's with the people, that's with how you treat your people
09:15and with all the amenities and resources that we can have.
09:19So the front office did a really good job of doing that, of selling the things that we needed to
09:25sell,
09:26of being more about actions instead of just words and talking.
09:31And the investment you can see in the Dallas Wings, they've just done a tremendous job this past year,
09:36just pouring so much into the organization and caring about who we are as people and just player treatment, really.
09:43I was, we had Rolando Blackman on a little while back and he was talking about Cooper Flags game
09:49and he was saying, you know, whenever Kai gets back, he still needs to know it's still Cooper Flags team.
09:54And I asked AZ and Coach this earlier, so we're definitely going to compare the answers and see if they
09:59match up.
10:00So good luck.
10:00But like when you look at it, this in your first year, it was Paige's team and it felt like
10:05it was like you took control pretty quickly.
10:07Do you look at it that way?
10:09How do you, how do you see that, that work?
10:12I've always loved being on teams to where on any given night it could be Arike's team, it could be
10:20AZ's team, it could be Paige's team.
10:22It's no singular person's team, it's the Dallas Wings and everyone around the organization's team.
10:28I think it's not just the players team, it's the training staff's team, it's the strength and conditioning staff's team.
10:34Like every single person who invests is a huge part of this team and on any given night it can
10:38be anybody's night.
10:39And I think that's what I've always admired most about basketball is teammates in the village around you.
10:46And so to never have to go through something alone and never be singled out, it's kind of, I mean,
10:53the media tries to do it respectfully.
10:55But as a team to have that mentality to where it's we over me, I think that's the most important
11:02thing.
11:02It is more fun when everybody feels like they have the ownership of it.
11:05You know, like this is all ours together.
11:07To be fair, though, we are a bunch of S-stirrers in the media, aren't we?
11:11Yeah.
11:12That's your job.
11:13Hey, you know, last time we had you on, we asked about like, oh, what did you think about those
11:19reports that you weren't going to come to Dallas?
11:21And you go, yeah, I really like it when people speak for me.
11:24Not so much.
11:25He loved that, by the way.
11:26Yeah, I thought that was a great answer.
11:29You talked about your time with Unrivaled or whether it's your previous three-on-three experience.
11:34How much does that help maybe your personal defensive growth?
11:38Yeah, it forces you to guard in space and guard in isolation as well.
11:44There's never an action or a play in three-on-three where you can take off and where you're not
11:48in action.
11:49So to be able to guard guards, to be able to guard forwards, to be able to switch, defend, guard
11:55some of the best one-on-one players in the league on an isolation on an island where you're not
11:59receiving help and you're not receiving gap defense and you don't have room protection.
12:04It's tough and it really challenges you, but you kind of just embrace that challenge and just work on it
12:08so much that you get better just by having the reps and having that experience.
12:13So it was a challenge for sure.
12:14I mean, I even had to play a RK one-on-one who's like the best one-on-one player
12:18in the league.
12:18So it's a good challenge.
12:20How did that go?
12:21How are the bragging rights right now?
12:25I mean, I won, but we both agree that we want to play.
12:31It's just like that's what basketball hoopers do.
12:33Like you just one-on-one, check it up, and obviously it's different when it's on national TV.
12:37Everything gets glorified and it's like, oh my gosh, if you're one-on-one, like that shit, it happens every
12:42single day.
12:44That's really interesting because when we were growing up, guys like Rolando Blackman and Mark Aguirre, they would just go
12:50to like Harry Stone Park and run.
12:52And like we could go watch them.
12:53Nobody tweeted about it.
12:55We could just go watch these dudes play and then they'd go play a game that night.
12:59And that's just what hoopers do.
13:00And I'm guessing it's not helpful if you would have said to the media, yeah, we had three other games
13:04y'all didn't see and I won.
13:05That would be helpful.
13:08You just used a phrase, and that's something we've heard AZ say about you is you see things as a
13:13challenge and an opportunity to grow.
13:16We were just talking about defense, but was there anything else this offseason, although I know you got unrivaled as
13:20well,
13:21that you saw as challenges and opportunities to grow as a player or as a person?
13:26Yeah, I think with the breeze, we were a really young team at Unrivaled.
13:31I think, I mean, the oldest person was like 26 or 27.
13:35And so I was forced to use my voice and be put in uncomfortable positions where I was leading an
13:41entirely new team that I hadn't really built relationships with.
13:44Like I'm a huge relationship person and I believe I can lead where I'm at.
13:47I can be vocal because I have those comfortable relationships, to have those tough conversations, to hold people accountable, to
13:53just be able to connect with people on that level.
13:56So I think having that experience at Unrivaled really challenged me to be a vocal leader and to be comfortable
14:01and find confidence in using my voice and building those relationships quickly.
14:05But I've learned that people respect my voice and know my intentions behind everything is just wanting to win.
14:12And at some points as a competitor, you get the fire, you let the passion get the best of you
14:17sometimes.
14:17But to be able to then be like, step back and be like, OK, like that was on me.
14:22Hold myself accountable.
14:23Take responsibility for all my actions and know that like this is that's basketball.
14:29Sometimes like your passion, your fire gets the best of you.
14:31And as a competitor, you just want to win.
14:33And sometimes it looks different.
14:36So to learn all that, have that experience just in like three months of basketball at Unrivaled, it was an
14:41amazing time.
14:42See, that's one of the benefits of being in pro sports, because when I do that in regular life, people
14:46think I'm just a jerk about being too competitive.
14:50But how much does it mean to you that people do respect your voice?
14:54Like, I would think that would be a huge thing.
14:56Yeah, it means the world because I feel like I've invested so much into the sport.
15:01I really live it like I'm constantly watching, constantly learning, constantly growing.
15:06And respect is the biggest thing for me.
15:07Just being able to have my teammates respect and know that everything I do is out of love and out
15:13of passion for the game and out of passion for what we want this Dallas Wings team to look like.
15:19Respect is a huge, huge thing.
15:20How much respect do you have, sorry, for this fan base that sold out season tickets third straight year, even
15:26after a couple of really tough years?
15:29Yeah, I mean, just the resilience.
15:31I feel like that's who we want to embody as a team.
15:33We want our fans to be that way to where they're sticking with us to the good times and the
15:37bad.
15:38And I mentioned it before, but the Oklahoma City Thunder were going through a rebuild and now they're at the
15:44top of the top of the league.
15:46And they talk about how the same fans who was with them in a losing season are the same ones
15:51that are here at the championship parade.
15:53And that's what that's what we aspire to be here.
15:55And we want that same loyalty, that same love and that respect.
15:59And we want to give back to the people who have just still believe, still invested and still came to
16:05support.
16:06The home opener, like you circle some dates on the calendar.
16:10And Kevin, I don't think you covered this enough, but she does not know about this.
16:14Angel Reese going to Atlanta.
16:15What do you think about like that?
16:16You were talking about the free agency, that kind of trade, but also you get to square off with it
16:20early.
16:20Yeah, I love Angel as a competitor.
16:23We're great friends off the court as well.
16:25And she just brings the best out of you.
16:27She's a she's a crap talker just like me.
16:30So to be able to have that sort of fun aspect just to begin the season, it'll be really cool,
16:35but happy for her.
16:36I know she's happy in Atlanta.
16:38And I mean, like like you said, there was so many different moves.
16:41So many people are in different jerseys and there's a there was a lot of movement going on.
16:45But it was great for the league and to get that CBA deal done and to get the free agency
16:49moves in play so we can start the season was great.
16:53She got traded about like three and a half weeks ago.
16:56We talked about it the day it happened.
16:58Two people missed it the next day.
16:59And I kind of ranted against them just a little bit every single day since then on the text, on
17:05my social media.
17:07People ask, when are you going to talk about the Angel Reese trade just to troll me every single day.
17:12So I said I'd cover it.
17:13I wanted to make sure we covered the ground and we did it with Paige Beckers.
17:15Got it.
17:16We appreciate it.
17:17But watch out for this press conference.
17:18There's a lot of Esther's in that meeting there.
17:20Yeah.
17:21Not over here, though.
17:22Not over here.
17:22Thank you very, very much for the time, Paige Beckers, ladies and gentlemen, right here on 105.3 The Fan.
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