Paige Bueckers, Top Draft Pick, Now In WNBA Concussion Protocol

Paige Bueckers’ WNBA career has been headed in the right direction after she was the number one overall pick by the Dallas Wings in the 2025 Draft. But a head-to-head point guard battle with the Chicago Sky’s Courtney Vandersloot on Thursday may have become literally head-to-head. A cranial collision between the two is what may have landed Bueckers—the Wings rookie star—in the WNBA’s concussion protocol for at least two games.

Bueckers May Have Suffered The Concussion On Contact With Vandersloot

The words “may have become” apply here since it wasn’t super clear at the time that Bueckers and Vandersloot had actually bumped heads forcibly enough to concuss Bueckers. The former UConn star point guard had grabbed an offensive rebound before driving to the basket with Vandersloot guarding her. During the drive is when the noggin upon noggin contact may have occurred.

A clue was when the Wings’ point guard stayed grounded with her hands covering her face for a short moment after Vandersloot had been called for a foul. Bueckers did get up shortly and stay on the court for much of the rest of the game. So perhaps no one knew how hard her head had been hit.

Bueckers ended up playing 36 minutes in the game against the Sky, totaling with 15 points, five rebounds, eight assists, three steals and three blocks. It turned out that the Sky was the limit for the Wings—at least for that night as the hometown team Sky was victorious 97-92. This left the Wings with just one win for the season so far—that one win and five losses.

Nevertheless, Thursday’s game did continue the impressive start to Bueckers’ pro career with per game averages of 14.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists, two steals and one block. In fact, she’s already been the first ever WNBA player to amass at least 80 points and 40 assists over the first six games of one’s pro career. That has left her fifth in the WNBA league overall in assists, trailing only Caitlin Clark, Alyssa Thomas, Natasha Cloud and Skylar Diggins.

Bueckers is also the early leader for Rookie of the Year honors, positioned second in scoring, third in rebounding, first in assists, second in steals and tied for second in blocks among the first-year players. Plus, in the course of a victory over the Connecticut Sun on May 27, Bueckers became the first rookie since 2005 to tally at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in a game. You could say that she’s been writing a new Paige in WNBA history.

Bueckers Will Be Out At Least Two Games

The length of Bueckers’ absence will depend on how severe her concussion is. Concussions are a very common type of traumatic brain injury but encompass a wide range of possibilities. A concussion is when a blow or jolt to the head causes the brain rattle back and forth inside the skull, leading to the stretching and damage of brain cells, which in turn disrupts brain functioning in some way. These disruptions and the resulting symptoms like headaches, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, difficulty concentrating, memory lapses, balance issues, sensitivity to light and noise and personality changes can last minutes to days to even weeks and months.

It’s already been determined that Bueckers will miss today’s rematch against the Sky and the June 3 game against the Seattle Storm. The soonest she could return will be for the June 6 tilt against the Los Angeles Sparks. Any return will only be after she’s been cleared by physicians per the WNBA concussion protocol. This will include an interview and neurological exam to check for any remaining symptoms.

A single concussion in most cases should not have any long-term negative consequences. However, that doesn’t mean that you should try to quickly in the words of Taylor Swift shake it off and return to whatever you were doing whether it’s playing a sport or head butting others. Residual symptoms could affect your reaction time and ability and thus leave you more susceptible to further injury like another concussion. Plus, multiple concussions is when you have to start worrying about more permanent changes in the brain and more serious effects.

While basketball players may not be at the same risk as football players (both types) and ice hockey players, it’s important to remember that basketball can be quite the contact sport. A study published in 2022 in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine did find that from 1997 to 2020, a total of 70 concussions among 55 players were reported in the WNBA. This translated to an average of 2.9 per season. On average, players returned from concussions after missing 3.8 games and 17.9 days.

Other notable WNBA players who have suffered concussion include Rickea Jackson, Tiffany Hayes, Te-Hina Paopao, Shakira Austin and Gabby Williams. Notable NBA player who have recently been diagnosed with concussions include Donovan Mitchell, Kevin Love and Nassir Little.

Paige Bueckers will probably want to turn the page on this part of her career sooner than later adn get back on the court. But she shouldn’t rush it. The WNBA concussion protocol is in place to protect the players. She should have plenty of time to be the star page-turning WNBA player many feel that she will soon be.