MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Some of the biggest stars in women's basketball started their pro careers at the WNBA draft last night. The No. 1 pick was no surprise.
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CATHY ENGELBERT: With the first pick in the 2025 WNBA draft, the Dallas Wings select Paige Bueckers, University of Connecticut.
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MARTIN: That's WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert on ESPN. Jesse Washington from ESPN's Andscape is here with more about that pick and the rest of the draft. Good morning, Jesse.
JESSE WASHINGTON: Good morning.
MARTIN: So Paige Bueckers has been one of college basketball's biggest stars this season. She's just off of winning the NCAA Women's D1 Championship with the University of Connecticut Huskies. What does she bring to the league?
WASHINGTON: Yeah, she brings a real cool narrative, and that's what basketball has really been about a lot these last few years. So the story of Paige is that this wasn't preordained for her. We've been following her since she was in high school, and she had to make a slow climb back to stardom. She got knocked off track by injuries. Her team, UConn, wasn't dominating like it used to be.
But last season, she just had a tremendous year, shot over 50% from the field and 40% from three at the guard position - really hard to do. And then she won the National Championship nine days ago. So this is really her getting her swag back and bringing all of that to a league that's really on the upswing.
MARTIN: The second pick by the Seattle Storm, 19-year-old Dominique Malonga - she's already actually had a few years of pro experience in France, and she's getting compared to the men's NBA star, Victor Wembanyama. Why so much hype surrounding that 19-year-old center?
WASHINGTON: Man, young Nique (ph), man - she is 6-foot-6 but playing on the perimeter, got handle, got that chopper, will hit you from three, very athletic, dunking with ease. And so she's a different type of player that started to come to the League, playing over the rim - just really exciting to watch. She's only 19 but has been a pro since she was 15. Very exciting addition to the dub.
MARTIN: You know, I want to mention that a new team enters the League this season, the Golden State Valkyries. They had the fifth overall pick. But I'm really - I'm just curious about what it - do you think it means something that another team is joining the league?
WASHINGTON: I think it means a lot, you know? The - there's been this big story around women's sports these past few years that it's ascending, you know, and that the interest is finally coming to the women who deserve it. And this is further proof of that. Last year, Caitlin Clark came to the NBA and set it on fire with so much popularity, so many 35-foot jumpers, and people thought it might be a one-off. But Golden State coming to the league, Paige bringing a whole lot of excitement, two more expansion teams coming to the dub next season - it just shows that women's sports and the WNBA leading the way continues to ascend.
MARTIN: And I mentioned, you know - when I mentioned, you know - you mentioned last year incredible interest in the draft, you know, because of the Caitlin Clark effect. Also other players like Angel Reese, also exciting - demand for tickets to this year's draft actually went up this year. Ticket prices doubled in some cases. General admission tickets were actually sold out. So do you think it's going to stick? I guess that's my question. Do you think this interest in the W and women's sports in general is going to stick?
WASHINGTON: Man, I know it's going to stick because it's great basketball, you know. I shout to the Mystics who drafted a whole squad. A wing, a point guard - Georgia Amoore - a post, Kiki Iriafen. They got a new coach, a new GM. They just got a whole new team coming in. There's all this excitement around the league. All signs are pointing towards more interest, more buckets, more fun. I can't wait to watch this season. It starts in a couple of weeks. Let's go.
MARTIN: All right, let's go. That's Jesse Washington from ESPN's Andscape. Jesse, thank you.
WASHINGTON: Thank you.
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DELIA HUMPHREY: (Singing) Go bad, no. Let us be good. Please don't make us bad, no. Don't make the good girls... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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