The rivalry between Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark has a new chapter. Speaking on a recent podcast, Bueckers shared the real story behind their dynamic, dating back to their successful youth team days, on an episode of Kylie Kelce's Not Gonna Lie.

“Me and Caitlin played together on the Junior Olympic level when we were younger,” Bueckers said. “We were in high school, and it was always a fun time. And we all played really well together. I still feel like we had one of the best U16 or U17 teams to ever exist,” she added.

Initially, their on-court rivalry started at the NCAA level when Clark played for the Iowa Hawkeyes, and Bueckers played for the UConn Huskies. However, their dynamic has always been solid, especially since they played on the same side before and won Gold at the 2017 FIBA Americas U16 Championship and the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup.

Bueckers also addressed the fan and media-driven narrative of their rivalry.

“It's crazy because everybody has pinned me and Caitlin against each other for the longest time. We’re cool, we are friends, but again, it’s just respect for the competition, so we understand that,” she continued.

“We understand how media works and how they want to pin two people against each other, and they’re supposed to hate each other and blah blah blah. So, we all understand that.”

But Will Bueckers Be Playing the 2026 FIBA With Clark?

Clark has said earlier that it’ll be great to have Bueckers on the roster.

“She can shoot it, she can score the mid-range, she can get to the basket. She’s a three-level scorer. I think that what makes it so tough is there are just so many different things that she can do. At the end of the day, she’s a winner, and those are the type of people that you want on your team,” Clark said about Bueckers.

But there’s an issue of overlapping schedules. The 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup will be held in Berlin from 4^th to 13^th September 2026. But the Wings’ star is currently busy playing for Breeze in the Unrivaled league. While Clark is expected to make a return after suffering a long period of injury, it’s still unclear for Bueckers.

Will Bueckers make it into Team USA’s final roster? What is your prediction? Let us know in the comments.

Written by

Deblina Roy

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar