Navigating life’s challenges can often require a dose of inspiration, and who better to offer that than Paige Bueckers, a beacon of resilience and determination? Paige “Buckets” Bueckers has overcome some serious adversity in her college career and has emerged stronger from those setbacks.
We may not all be generational basketball players at UCONN, but we can get inspired by Bucker’s encouragement and tenacity. So if you’re looking for a little motivation to push through your difficult times, our collection of 11 Paige Bueckers quotes can be powerful reminders of strength and perseverance. So read through these whenever life punches you in the face and you need the inspiration to continue pushing beyond limits and striving for greatness.
1. Living the Game
“Some people play the game, some people love the game. But I think I live the game.”
It’s easier to respond to challenges when you’re fully dedicated to your purpose. In this Paige Bueckers’ quote, she highlights her deep connection and commitment to basketball.
2. Strength in Adversity
“There is going to be good days and there is going to be bad days but my absolute love for the game and Godly strength will get me back to where I need to be.”
Focusing your actions, attitudes, and responses on what you can control when you go through challenging times also helps, as Bueckers shares in this message to her fans post-injury. She underscores her reliance on passion and faith to navigate setbacks.
3. Beyond a Single Moment
“Everybody can make a big deal of that one single play, but not one single play wins a basketball game or loses a basketball game. I feel like there were a lot of mistakes that I made that could’ve prevented that play from even being that big.”
Remember that controversial moving screen call at the end of UCONN’s Final Four loss to Iowa? Some players in Bueckers’ position would complain and harp on it. But there’s an important lesson in this Paige Buckers’ quote from after that game. She teaches resilience and accountability.
Paige Bueckers is expected to be the WNBA Draft’s No. 1 pick in 2025 because of her versatility. She’s able to score, rebound, pass for assists, and defend.
4. Ignoring the Noise
“We’re not worried about (the rankings). The best thing we can do right now is delete social media, stay off of Twitter, stay off Instagram. No offense to the media, but they have no idea what goes on here every day in practice, the struggles we go through, mentally, physically, and a lot of it is people putting a lot of pressure on us, sort of tear us apart. I feel we already have a lot of pressure on us, we already have super high expectations for ourselves. Right now, we’re just trying to become a better basketball team in every facet and focusing on that.”
When you’re in the middle of difficult times, it may sometimes feel as if you’re drowning in external pressure. According to this quote from Bueckers, she dials in her focus and limits distractions when pressure and outside expectations are high.
5. Onward and Upward
“It didn’t feel like real life… it’s been a process, but it’s only up from here.”
Many times, bad things pop up out of nowhere, and it takes a while to process what you’re now faced with. Paige speaks on overcoming these surreal challenges after getting injured, portraying an optimistic outlook toward her recovery.
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6. Self-Driven Excellence
“No one puts higher expectations on me than myself.”
It’s best to focus on the expectations you have for yourself, rather than others’ expectations. Here, Bueckers emphasizes that internal drive that pushes her to excel and navigate through pressures.
7. Challenging Narratives
“It’s really not that hard to educate yourself. But it’s like people create these narratives in their head and it’s so hard to undo it because then people just follow those narratives and then people who don’t know nothing follow other people who don’t know nothing and it’s just like a bunch of people who know nothing. It’s just impossible.”
One of the primary reasons to avoid worrying about what other people think is they have no idea of what it takes to do what you do. Here, Bueckers addresses the frustrations of these misconceptions.
8. Role Model On and Off the Court
“I take pride in being a good role model. If I’m a great player but a bad person off the court, it takes away from my game. I just want to be someone people can look up to.”
Bueckers recognized her influence early on. She said this at 18 years old after becoming the first high school girl to appear on the cover of Slam Magazine. Regardless of the high expectations and pressure she faced, she understood the importance of integrity and character outside of what she does on the basketball court.
9. Facing Challenges Together
“There’s no individual basketball at UCONN, it’s everybody working for the team goals.”
Getting support can make your hardship easier to overcome. In Paige Bueckers’ quote, she highlights the value of teamwork and collective effort in navigating obstacles and finding success.
10. Gratitude Through Trials
“It’s been a very rewarding journey, and I’m super, super grateful for it all. The tough times made me who I am, and it’s built my faith and … my appreciation for life and gratitude for anything that gets thrown my way.”
You’ve heard the saying about iron not becoming steel until it’s been put through the fire. Here, Bueckers touches on that point, expressing gratitude for how adversities have shaped her character and life perspective.
11. Still Recognizing Privileges
“With the light that I have now as a White woman who leads a Black-led sport and celebrated here, I want to shed a light on Black women. They don’t get the media coverage that they deserve. They’ve given so much to the sport, the community and society as a whole and their value is undeniable.”
While she’s experienced a long list of both accomplishments and challenges, Bueckers still recognizes that privilege has opened opportunities for her that others aren’t given. In her 2021 ESPYS acceptance speech, Bueckers used the moment of being named the best college athlete in women’s sports to highlight and address racial inequities within sports.
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Paige Bueckers’ photo in featured image: By John Mac – https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmac612/51976463877/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=135293244
