Women's Fastbreak On SI

Paige Bueckers' LA NFL Outing Produced Playful Tampering From Rickea Jackson

LA Sparks rookie Rickea Jackson is making hilarious moves to try and lure Paige Bueckers to her team.

Grant Young

Apr 4, 2024; Cleveland, OH, USA; UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers during press conference at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Apr 4, 2024; Cleveland, OH, USA; UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers during press conference at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

UConn Huskies superstar guard Paige Bueckers has appeared to be on a world tour ever since her college basketball season ended back in April.

Bueckers has been seen at countless sports and pop culture events this summer and seems to appear somewhere new and unexpected each week.

The most recent instance of this was when Bueckers randomly showed up at the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Los Angeles Chargers NFL game in Los Angeles Sunday — despite her having class at UConn the next day.

Bueckers posted a series of photos from her LA NFL outing on Instagram Monday with the caption, "Better days🤍" (which is what her shirt read).

This prompted a reply from Rickea Jackson, one of the top players in the WNBA's loaded 2024 rookie class.

Jackson plays for the Los Angeles Sparks. And her comment made it clear that she's trying to keep her city at the top of Bueckers' mind.

Jackson commented, "LALALALALALALA" on Bueckers' post, while her Sparks teammate Azura Stevens added, "ayeeeeee la 😎".

While the order of the 2025 WNBA Draft isn't set yet, the Sparks will have the best chance to land the top overall pick because they had the league's worst record this season.

And Jackson's hilarious social media activity didn't end there.

X user @snoopyfudds took a screenshot of Jackson's comment and posted it, writing, "INVESTIGATION IMMEDIATELY THIS IS TAMPERING @WNBA @CathyEngelbert".

"snitch," Jackson replied on X.

The tampering accusation is a joke of course, because nothing Jackson says or does can affect which pick the Sparks will have in the Draft.

But if they do secure that top spot, expect Bueckers to be in Los Angeles much, much more often in 2025.

Published
Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

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.

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