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NBA Shooting Legend Dirk Nowitzki Makes Paige Bueckers Prediction Without Hesitation

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Paolo Songco | Last updated May 19, 2025 10:26 PM ET

There was a legend in the building on Monday night as Dallas Mavericks icon Dirk Nowitzki made his way to College Park Center to support the Dallas Wings in their game against the Seattle Storm.

Nowitzki, a 14-time All-Star with the Mavs, also came to see No. 1 overall pick Paige Bueckers as the rookie looks to make some noise in her second WNBA game. When asked to share his thoughts on Bueckers, Nowitzki made his opinion of the young star crystal clear.

"It's going to take a while to obviously get used to the physicality in the WNBA, but I think she's got the talent," he said. "She's going to be amazing for us, and she's just going to get better from game to game, from season to season.

"And you already can see now she's gotten more comfortable out there from game one. She's going to be tremendous for this organization for a long time."

"I think [Paige Bueckers has] got the talent. She's gonna be amazing for us."

Dirk Nowitzki says Paige is going to be "tremendous" for the Dallas Wings pic.twitter.com/r9bTC069ZR
— ESPN (@espn) May 20, 2025

Nowitzki clearly has some high hopes for Bueckers, and the Hall of Famer has added to the pressure the 23-year-old is already facing. However, Nowitzki is far from the first person to voice their strong opinion about the former UConn superstar. Based on what we've seen from her during her iconic college career, it's hard to deny that Bueckers is fully capable of living up to all the lofty expectations.

Nowitzki went on to say that it's always "great" to see the addition of "young talent" in the squad. This is exactly why he's hoping that Bueckers will be able to turn the Wings franchise around now that she's arrived.

Marking her first career win and Dallas' first victory of the new season on Monday will go a long way for Bueckers in this regard.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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