“She’s just a fiery competitor,” Christie Sides would say after Caitlin Clak had earned her 5th technical foul as a rookie. We have seen the result of that in her records, but on the other side of it? The disagreements and arguments with the refs were a constant. Remember the time Clark’s father had to mouth “shut up” after she got to complaining about a call, following a heated exchange? Yeah, that was just the start. The 2024 ROTY’s animated interactions with the officials in her first season have made constant headlines. Now, do we have a new rookie taking over?

In just her first preseason appearance, Dallas Wings rookie Paige Bueckers set the internet buzzing—this one not just for her talent, but for disagreements that felt all too familiar to the WNBA spectators.

It all started when the league’s newest arrival took the floor against the Las Vegas Aces at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center in Notre Dame, Indiana. No.1 pick, coming off a championship run, most points in the NCAA tourney by a Husky, you can guess the expectations. But no one ever said transition to the pros was easy.

For the first part of it, Paige finished with 10 points on a 4-for-7 shooting. Across 22 minutes, she’d also add 4 rebounds and an assist. But for the talk of the night? Paige went off against the officials, or as per a few, “had genuine conversations.” 

You do not see a fiery Paige often. But if she doesn’t agree with a call, she is going to speak up. Just last December she lost it when the possession was handed to Providence despite the ball rolling out of bounds from Grace Efosa’s case. She did a little bit of both today– calm yet confronting the officials and supposedly, often.

One of those instances came about in the second quarter. 4 and a half minutes on the clock, the Aces led 41-30, and just as Crystal Bradford looked to widen that gap, Paige was called for a shooting foul. Looks like the former Husky was not having it. She struck up a conversation with referee Isaac Barnett on the sideline, albeit looking pretty level-headed, to what we would have seen of Caitlin Clark. Fans were loving it.

The star guard kept at it throughout the game multiple times, and well now, isn’t that a complete welcome to the pros? The spectators had a field day watching the transition.

After a frustrating loss, fans introduce Paige Bueckers to W’s officiating!

When fans saw Bueckers clashing with the refs, they dived into the comment section to share their perspectives. “Paige already mad at the refs 😅 #WNBA,” penned one user. Well, it’s not the first time. We’ve already seen Bueckers’ competitive spirit and emotional intensity throughout her collegiate career. Now she’s in the pros to win it all. “we’re ready to invest all of ourselves into Dallas,” she had said in the introductory press conference. So, expect nothing less from Bueckers.

“Three minutes into a preseason game and Paige is already yelling at the refs… this is gonna be a hilarious season lol,” wrote another user.

The officials haven’t always been the fan favorite in WNBA. The controversial call during the Finals last year spoke a lot of it. “This sh-t ain’t that hard. Officiating is not that hard,” Cheryl Reeve had said after her team lost in overtime. Now, if the disagreeable calls were to follow into the season, you can picture the back-and-forths.

“Paige, welcome to the W refs! If you thought college was wild, the league officiating is a whole new level of messed up,” said one fan.

Rightfully. Paige has experience of it in college. The March Madness was half filled with spectators calling out the refs– men’s or women’s. Even UConn’s Sweet 16 game had that response when fans argued the officials ignored fouls against Bueckers. Maybe the experience has the No.1 draftee confronting the officials so often during the game.

Following the shooting foul, Paige also apparently had a disagreement over a ball possession that went out of bounds. “Paige blatantly smacking the ball out of bounds, and then getting mad at the refs for saying ‘Aces ball’ is MY kind of drama. Hell yeah,” one of them added, while another nodded along, saying, “Paige arguing with the refs, oh have I missed this.” 

This may have been her first pro game, but Paige is all in for the journey.