{"id":829874,"date":"2025-05-16T11:00:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T15:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/?p=829874"},"modified":"2025-05-16T11:00:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T15:00:19","slug":"wings-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/the-magazine\/slam-256\/wings-story\/","title":{"rendered":"With Paige Bueckers, DiJonai Carrington and Arike Ogunbowale, the Dallas Wings are Ready to FLY this season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dallas Wings rookie Paige Bueckers is at the top of the key guarding Las Vegas Aces\u2019 Jackie Young when all of a sudden, it hits her. Every rookie has their \u201cWelcome to the W\u201d moment, a reality check on just how competitive the League is. But for Bueckers, in her debut game, hers was literally a shoulder check straight to the chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With 7:17 left in the first quarter, Young, one of the best scorers in the W, drove right at the 6-0 guard and former UConn star. \u201c[DiJonai] was there to get the jump ball so I could catch my breath for a second, but that was no joke<\/em>. The slide to contain, stay in front on a closeout, just get checked. Yeah, that was real,\u201d says Bueckers, who had 10 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist, with a smile. It\u2019s May, and Bueckers is here with us at the University of Texas Arlington gym, where she and her new Wings teammates, Arike Ogunbowale and DiJonai Carrington, are posing for their first SLAM cover together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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GET YOUR COPY<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Individually, they each have a swagger that\u2019s undeniable. Arike, who was drafted by the Wings in 2019 at No. 5, is their captain and the second-longest tenured player on the team with a game so flashy and clutch it\u2019s earned her All-Star and All-WNBA honors. Then there\u2019s DiJonai, who was last year\u2019s Most Improved Player and is bold and confident in everything she does, from guarding the best player on the floor to scoring over everybody and then hitting \u2019em with the seatbelt celly. As for the rook, Bueckers exudes an aura so captivating, she\u2019s become beloved\u2014from gracing our cover in high school to winning a national championship at UConn just two months ago to reinvigorating the Wings as the No. 1 pick. There are even hundreds of TikTok edits and fan pages obsessed with her every (dance) move. But like the braid she once wore in college, she\u2019s leaving the hype in the past and embracing her new role as a rookie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crazy, I went from being the oldest and I guess the vet on the UConn team to being the youngest here, or one of the youngest,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m [continuing] to stay humble, stay hungry and working to be the best teammate, best leader I can be, [and] working to find my voice. Obviously, I don\u2019t have as much experience, but I still feel like I have a lot of knowledge and wisdom for the game and a lot of love for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s here in Dallas that she\u2019ll learn how to compete in the pros. And it\u2019s together as a unit that she, Arike, DiJonai and their squad of standouts will look to show the entire League that the Wings can hold their own, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNew\u201d is the theme this year for the Wings, who are now led by first-year head coach and former defensive coordinator Chris Koclanes, who, per the Dallas Hoops Journal, is emphasizing \u201cplaying fast\u2026playing smart. Every action has to have purpose.\u201d New is also the word Arike uses when asked about the team so far ahead of the season. \u201cIt\u2019s just new, there\u2019s a lot of new, [which is] something that I\u2019ve wanted to happen and something that\u2019s needed to happen for the city,\u201d she says. \u201cI think the front office did a great job bringing in the players they brought in, drafting the players they drafted, the trades that they made happen in free agency. So now I feel like this team is really ready and willing to compete, and we\u2019ll have fun while doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Last season, the Wings were 9-31 and didn\u2019t make the playoffs. But this year, they\u2019ve got their sights on changing that. For Arike, who averaged 22.2 ppg and has experienced all the ups and downs over the years, including losing in the semis to the Aces in 2023 and three head coaching changes since she first arrived, her goal is to make everyone around her better. \u201cLast year, Year 6, it was tough in the win column,\u201d she says. \u201c[My goal now is] just being better than last year, getting my teammates involved, going higher in every statistical category. But definitely more wins is the main thing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her teammates will look for her to guide them. \u201cShe\u2019s been a leader for the team, she\u2019s captain of the team and she\u2019s your voice,\u201d Bueckers says. \u201cShe\u2019s a bucket, of course. Everybody knows that. Just being around her, she\u2019s super selfless, super welcoming.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While it\u2019s only been a few weeks since training camp started in late April, it\u2019s obvious that the key to the Wings\u2019 success this season will be their ability to develop chemistry quickly in a short amount of time. It\u2019s all happening before our very eyes\u2014from Carrington helping fix Bueckers\u2019 hair mid-photo shoot to attending the SZA and Kendrick concert as a team (the Wings even got them a suite, says Arike). \u201cWe\u2019re still finding our chemistry,\u201d Arike says. \u201cI think it helps that we like each other off the court. We\u2019ve been to a couple dinners together, we\u2019ve been to a concert together, we\u2019ve hung out these last couple of weeks more than I think I have in the past couple of years, which is good. To build that type of chemistry and relationship off the court, it\u2019s gonna transfer to on the court.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Wings\u2019 most recent exhibition game against the Toyota Antelopes at home, fans got a glimpse of just how flashy, energetic and most importantly, connected, their team can be on the floor\u2014from Bueckers dishing a crisp, overhead dime to Ogunbowale that was so on target, you\u2019d think they\u2019d played together for years, to Ogunbowale\u2019s buzzer-beater and Carrington\u2019s ability to finish at the rim. The three of them, along with Myisha Hines-Allen, all finished the game in double digits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all uptempo,\u201d says DiJonai. \u201cWe like to play fast and just get out and have fun. It\u2019s never too serious, which I like.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the 5-11 guard, the move from Connecticut, where she averaged a career-high 12.7 points and 5.0 rebounds last season, to Dallas serves as an opportunity to be in an entirely new environment that\u2019s unlike anywhere she\u2019s ever been before. \u201cThere are no similarities, actually, between here and Connecticut or here and Waco,\u201d she says. Carrington also brings a level of competitiveness, energy and leadership to the team, as well as a fun-loving attitude, which is especially apparent in the way her teammates talk about her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cNai\/DC\/DJ, she doesn\u2019t like DC or DJ [as nicknames], she only likes Nai\u2026she\u2019s great,\u201d says Paige. \u201cShe\u2019s like a baby vet because she\u2019s still young. She\u2019s just a fun time to be around. I\u2019m always trolling her, making fun of her, annoying her. That\u2019s been fun. She just has a heart and a passion for the game that you can tell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked about her first impressions of Arike and PB, Carrington dishes it right back. \u201cPaige is God punishing me for how I bothered my vets when I was a rookie,\u201d Carrington says, lovingly. \u201cRike, she\u2019s cool. She\u2019s a vibe. I already knew that, though.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And just like that, the building blocks of a team are already in motion. As for what the Wings will accomplish this season, we\u2019ll all have to wait and see, but as for what we can all expect: a lot of buckets, elite dimes and plenty of LeagueFits-worthy tunnel fits. It\u2019s never been a more exciting time to be a Dallas sports fan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI\u2019m sure big money NIL Paige will come correct and DiJonai as well, I know she\u2019ll be fitted,\u201d says Arike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what they got going on, but I\u2019m coming trim, Game 1,\u201d says DiJonai, hinting at the looks she has planned. \u201cI can\u2019t tell y\u2019all yet. Just know it\u2019s gon\u2019 be tea. I can\u2019t spill it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI do think we\u2019ll have the best dressed team in the League,\u201d adds Bueckers. \u201cI\u2019ll say that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SHOP WINGS COLLECTION<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Portraits by Atiba Jefferson. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dallas Wings rookie Paige Bueckers is at the top of the key guarding Las Vegas Aces\u2019 Jackie Young when all of a sudden, it hits her. Every rookie has their \u201cWelcome to the W\u201d moment, a reality check on just how competitive the League is. But for Bueckers, in her debut game, hers was literally […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":424,"featured_media":829977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65393],"tags":[46356,64465,62525,62952,1863,63726],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-829874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-slam-256","tag-arike-ogunbowale","tag-dijonai-carrington","tag-feature-1","tag-paige-bueckers","tag-wnba","tag-wslam"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/424"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=829874"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":829981,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829874\/revisions\/829981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/829977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=829874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=829874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=829874"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=829874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}