Arike Ogunbowale Is Elated About Potential Paige Bueckers Pairing With Dallas Wings
Dallas Wings star guard Arike Ogunbowale has had quite an exciting weekend.
Her weekend began with her attending the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing event (that was streamed on Netflix) which took place at the Dallas Cowboys' AT&T Stadium in Texas on Friday.
Ogunbowale (who was the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game MVP) didn't think too highly of that lackluster main event.
However, if she was feeling let down after that, her fortunes quickly turned around on Sunday, once the results of the 2025 WNBA Draft Lottery came out.
The results declared that Arike's Wings squad ultimately secured the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, which most likely means they'll be selecting the UConn Huskies' generational talent Paige Bueckers.
Many fans were expressing their disappointment over this result because they wanted Bueckers to go to the Los Angeles Sparks and pair up with star 2024 rookies Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson.
Alas, that didn't work out. And Ogunbowale couldn't be happier about it.
"I just fell to my knees. THANK YOU LORD! 😭😭😭😭," Arike wrote on X, which has over 125,000 views in less than 30 minutes.
I just fell to my knees. THANK YOU LORD! 😭😭😭😭
— Arike Ogunbowale (@Arike_O) November 17, 2024
Arike's partner in crime in Dallas over the past couple of seasons has been Satou Sabally. But Sabally is going to become a free agent and could very well be leaving the Wings in search of greener pastures elsewhere.
This means that Dallas will likely become the Paige and Arike show next season.
Arike clearly is happy about that — even if some of the league's fans don't share that same sentiment.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.