As a shareholder, Paige Bueckers has found herself in a favorable position with Unrivaled. She’s upgrading her skills and getting paid for it. But that’s not even the best part.

During an on-court interview with TNT, PB got candid and shared a funny takeaway from her recent performances at Unrivaled.

“Getting to the paint more, trying to get to the free-throw line more. Now everybody’s calling me a FT merchant, so…” she said with a smile.

Honestly, the nickname fits. That’s because she’s put in hard work to win the challenge. For Unrivaled’s first season, she erupted for 37 points. She hit 14 of 19 shots from the field, including 5 of 8 from beyond the arc. She also sealed an 83–64 win over Mist BC with a pull-up jumper, snapping a two-game losing streak.

But her most profitable points came at the free-throw line. On January 20, Bueckers stayed perfect, going 13-for-13. And that flawless run earned her Unrivaled’s Free Throw Challenge, and yes, a $50,000 prize. She didn’t keep the money, though.

She donated the entire amount to the Hopkins Strong Relief Fund. Still, the path to that moment wasn’t as smooth as it might seem.

How Paige Bueckers Put in the Work?

The Dallas Wings superstar quickly established herself as one of the WNBA’s premier scorers. She once set a single-game scoring record with 44 points against the LA Sparks and finished the season as the league’s fifth-leading scorer at 19.2 points per game.

Yet, despite her scoring output, the self-proclaimed “big guard” didn’t get to the charity stripe as often as other elite scorers.

“I want to work on my left hand more, and I want to get to the free-throw line more,” she told Bleacher Report earlier this month. “So low-key, I’m working on a little foul bait.”

Notably, foul baiting involves subtle movements by driving players to draw contact and force officials to make the call. It’s a skill Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has mastered, one that has helped him rank second in FT attempts this season. Now, it looks like Bueckers has mastered it too.

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Written by

Yashika Dutta

Edited by

Joyita Das