Paige Bueckers made WNBA history on Wednesday night, tying Caitlin Clark’s rookie scoring record of 35 points.
Bueckers also joined Clark as the only rookie in WNBA history to score 35 points with five made three-pointers.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft made 13-of-19 field-goal attempts. She also dished out four assists and grabbed six rebounds.
Considering Bueckers missed the past four games, it was a remarkable effort. Yet, the WNBA’s reaction to it rubbed the Phoenix Mercury the wrong way.
The league produces a daily highlight video that covers all the games from a given night. Wednesday’s WNBA action featured three games, which included the Seattle Storm’s upset of the previously unbeaten Minnesota Lynx.
That game was featured prominently. Bueckers was, too. She got a couple of highlight clips. The Mercury, however, didn’t get any, despite winning the game over the Dallas Wings 93-80.
Satou Sabally, for instance, led the Mercury with 20 points. She made four treys in the win as Phoenix improved to 7-4 on the season.
Yet, of the six WNBA teams that played on Wednesday night, Phoenix was the only one without a single highlight.
The Mercury’s official account on X reposted the WNBA’s video, with a highlight video of its own, as well as some sharp words.
“When we won the game, but don’t have a single highlight in the 2:24 recap video from the WNBA, so we put together some Mercury highlights from last night’s game in case you watched the other video and didn’t see a single one … because there wasn’t a single one.”
Bueckers deserved her due for one of the greatest performances by a rookie in WNBA history. But that doesn’t excuse forgetting about the Mercury, who quietly have the fourth-best record in the league.
