Paige Bueckers Has Lakers Luka Doncic Trade on Mind in UConn Postgame Interview
The sports world is still reeling after one of the most shocking trades in perhaps all of sports history was announced on Saturday night.
The Los Angeles Lakers have acquired former Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic in a three-team deal while sending Anthony Davis back to the Mavericks, as was first reported by ESPN's Shams Charania.
BREAKING: The Dallas Mavericks are trading Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick, sources tell ESPN. Three-team deal that includes Utah.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 2, 2025
In addition, the Lakers have also received Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris from the Mavericks, Dallas also got Max Christie and the Lakers' 2029 first-round pick, and the Utah Jazz received Jalen Hood-Schifino, the Los Angeles Clippers' 2025 second-round pick, and the Mavericks' 2025 second-round pick.
Nobody saw this trade coming, as the Doncic led the Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals. This is why this trade is still the talk of the sports world on February 2.
Still, there was basketball from other teams to be played on Sunday. And the UConn Huskies women's basketball team didn't seem distracted during their contest, as they dominated the Butler Bulldogs by a score of 101-59.
While Huskies star guard Paige Bueckers finished the game with 18 points, the story about her on Sunday was that she wasn't wearing her iconic braided hairstyle, and instead went with a simple ponytail.
Bueckers was asked about this hairstyle shift by SNY's Chelsea Sherrod after the game and delivered a hilarious answer.
"See, like, the world woke up to Luka getting traded to the Lakers, so crazier things have happened," she said with a smile when asked whether this new hairstyle might be staying around, per an X post from SNY.
"Nah, this is like a one-time thing. My friend Kayla was sick... so I think this is just a one-time thing," she added.
"The world woke up to Luka getting traded to the Lakers, so crazier things have happened"@ChelseaSherrod asks Paige Bueckers about her hair during today's game pic.twitter.com/z2547UOJfY
— UConn on SNY (@SNYUConn) February 2, 2025
Even Bueckers couldn't help but mention this Doncic trade in the wake of her team's big win.
Recommended Reading:
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.