WNBA

UConn star Paige Bueckers downplayed rumors Friday regarding the possibility that she could refuse to play for certain WNBA teams.

Bueckers, who is likely to be the first overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft, was asked by Annie Costabile of Front Office Sports whether she has a preference for which team she lands with.

Bueckers suggested that she doesn't, saying: "Nowhere specific. Wherever I end up." 

Back in January, WNBA reporter Howard Megdal appeared on the Hoffman Women's Sports show (h/t SI.com's Grant Young) and suggested Bueckers would attempt to influence which WNBA team she plays for.

Megdal said Bueckers "is going to go full Eli Manning," which was in reference to the 2004 NFL draft when quarterback Eli Manning made it clear he would not play for the San Diego Chargers.

The Chargers took Manning first overall anyway, but they traded him to the New York Giants for quarterback Philip Rivers and draft picks that same day.

There was also speculation that Bueckers would skip the 2025 WNBA draft and play in the three-on-three Unrivaled league before entering the 2026 WNBA draft, but Bueckers confirmed to ESPN's Rebecca Lobo last week that she would indeed enter the 2025 WNBA draft.

In response to a question about the rumors that have surrounded her lately, Bueckers said:

"I don't know. The reports are the reports. People write stories, and it's whatever. Honestly, I'm not really worried about that at the moment. I'm just worried about being here, being present with the team and trying to get better every single day. So whatever the future may hold, it's only in God's hands."

The Dallas Wings own the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft, and all signs point to them picking Bueckers, who is far and away the top player in the class.

Bueckers was named the Naismith National College Player of the Year as a freshman. Injuries cost her about half of her sophomore season and all of the following season, but she has bounced back in a big way in two seasons since tearing her ACL.

This year, Bueckers is a National College Player of the Year finalist by virtue of averaging 20.1 points, 4.8 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game.

Landing Bueckers would be a potential franchise-altering move for a Wings team that has had a record of .500 or worse in eight of the past nine seasons, including a 9-31 mark last season.

While the 2025 WNBA draft is on the horizon on April 14, Bueckers is currently focusing on the conclusion of her collegiate career.

On Friday, Bueckers will lead the second-seeded Huskies against No. 1 UCLA in the Final Four.

If UConn is victorious, it will face either South Carolina or Texas in the National Championship Game on Sunday, and Bueckers will have a chance to win her first national title.

Fresh off her retirement announcement, Prime Video announced Friday that WNBA legend Diana Taurasi will be the subject of an upcoming three-part docuseries.

Entitled Taurasi, the docuseries will focus on the life and career of one of the greatest women's basketball players of all time.

Prime Video Sports, Skydance Sports, Meadowlark Media and Institute are partnering to create the series, while Katie Bender Wynn will serve as director.

Taurasi will be highlighted by exclusive interviews with Taurasi herself, as well as her relatives, teammates, coaches, and others who witnessed her rise to the top.

The 42-year-old Taurasi officially announced her WNBA retirement in February, ending a 20-year run in the league spent entirely with the Phoenix Mercury.

Taurasi is the WNBA's all-time leading scorer with 10,646 career points, and she accomplished numerous other accolades, including being an 11-time WNBA All-Star, five-time WNBA scoring champion, three-time WNBA champion, two-time WNBA Finals MVP and one-time WNBA MVP.

She also starred on the international stage, winning six consecutive Olympic gold medals with Team USA from 2004 to 2024, making her the first basketball player to ever win six Olympic golds.

Even before going pro, Taurasi made a name for herself at the college level, leading UConn to three consecutive national championships, and winning the Naismith College Player of the Year Award twice.

There is perhaps no more iconic player in the history of women's basketball, and with the Taurasi docuseries, fans will get a more personal and in-depth look at her than ever before.

Elena Delle Donne's stellar WNBA career has come to an end after 10 seasons.

The seven-time All-Star announced her retirement in a post on Instagram.

Delle Donne has been a star since 2008 when she was the top-ranked college recruit in the country. She originally committed to play for Geno Auriemma at Connecticut but withdrew from the school shortly after enrolling in summer classes due to what she said were "a lot of personal issues to fix."

The Delaware native wound up attending the University of Delaware in the fall of 2008 and joined the volleyball team as a walk-on player during her freshman year, but she didn't join the basketball team until the 2009-10 season.

Delle Donne went on to become the best basketball player in Delaware history during her four years with the program. She is the Blue Hens' all-time leader in total points (3,039), points per game (26.7), field goals (1,030), three-point field goals (206) and blocks per game (2.4).

After her college career ended, Delle Donne was the No. 2 pick in the 2013 WNBA draft by the Chicago Sky. She spent her first four seasons with the Sky, winning MVP in 2015 and making the All-Star team three times.

Delle Donne was traded to the Washington Mystics prior to the 2017 season. She won her second MVP award and led the Mystics to the WNBA title in 2019, defeating the Connecticut Sun in the Finals.

The 2019 campaign saw Delle Donne become the first player to have a 50-40-90 season in WNBA history (51.5/43.0/97.4).

The 2023 season turned out to be Delle Donne's final year in the WNBA. ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported in February 2024 that Delle Donne was not going to sign her supermax contract with the Mystics because she wanted to take time away from basketball.

Delle Donne averaged 19.5 points on 47.5 percent shooting (39.2 percent from three) and 6.7 rebounds in 241 career WNBA games. She also won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2016 Olympics.

Serena Williams, who is reportedly part of talks to invest in women's pro flag football, talked up women's sports to NFL owners this week in Palm Beach, Florida.

The tennis icon spoke about the growth of leagues such as the WNBA alongside Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark on Thursday during the annual NFL meeting.

"I think that we've had so many amazing women athletes for so long, but you guys just noticed, and that's all it is," Williams said. "The men just finally noticed that women have been amazing for 50 years, 60 years. And it's great, because you have great people like Caitlin, here, who is able to bring that platform up."

Williams continued: "It's just investing in us. When we see what it does, investing in women, what we can do, there's an opportunity there for lots of growth."

One of those areas of growth mentioned by Williams and Clark is flag football, which will debut as both a men's and women's sport at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters in February that the league was "very aggressively" considering the launch of both men's and women's pro leagues in the sport.

Bloomberg's Randall Williams reported Wednesday that the NFL is considering 10 bids for the women's pro league, including one from Williams and her husband, Alexis Ohanian, through their investment firm, 776.

Clark told attendees at Thursday's meeting that having flag football available as a child might have changed the direction of her athletic career.

The reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year said watching her brother Blake Clark play, and her grandfather Bob Nizzi coach, made her want to try the sport out herself.

"I remember going to my brother's football games, and I was like, 'Why can't I play flag football?' I would've played it, I would have loved it," she said.

Clark went on to call women's flag football "a great opportunity."

"There's no reason why they can't play that. I think it's super accessible," she said.

The 23-year-old continued: "I think the more women that watch football—obviously, I grew up with it, but there's a lot of people that don't grow up with football, they don't grow up watching the NFL and things like that. The more people that can start that from a young age, I think will be very powerful."

Goodell said Tuesday at the annual meetings that there has been "a lot of interest in the pro flag league," and that he expects "there'll be progress soon," per ESPN's Michele Steele.