How to watch Paige Bueckers' WNBA debut, as her hometown pregames with 'Paige's 3-Point Pale' ale

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Paige Bueckers will make her WNBA regular-season debut on Friday night as the Dallas Wings host the Minnesota Lynx to open the season.

The occasion is being marked in her hometown of Hopkins, Minnesota, with a temporary renaming of the city in honor of her WNBA debut and a local brewery's offering of "Paige's 3-Point Pale" ale. Streets were to be called "Bueckers Boulevard."

“That's crazy,” Bueckers said in an on-court interview about 90 minutes before tip off.

First-year Wings coach Chris Koclanes believes Bueckers was built to handle the hype.

“She’s been fantastic. She’s special in how she’s able to handle things with such grace,” Koclanes said. “As a team, like really preaching, lots of attention to evolving our mental game and just dealing with everything else, all the outside expectations, the outside noise, and really trying to expose them and give them all sorts of different ways to stay present.

“Credit to Paige, she individually comes in with an incredible amount of personal attention on that and already lives that way,” Koclanes said. “It matched up well with our style and what we’re trying to create with the type of person she is already.”

The 2025 first-overall pick had 10 points and four rebounds in the Wings' 112-78 loss to the Las Vegas Aces. Bueckers earned the start and matched guard Arike Ogunbowale for a team-high 23 minutes played.

Bueckers comes off a prolific career at UConn, capped with a storybook ending. The Huskies earned their 12th national title with a convincing 82-59 victory over a talented Dawn Staley-led South Carolina team. Bueckers contributed 17 points, six rebounds and three assists in the championship game.