Paige Bueckers sees and hears all the chatter around her.
The UConn Huskies superstar had a busy offseason. She appeared all over the place, supporting women’s basketball players and throwing out the first pitch at a Minnesota Twins game, among many other thrilling moments.
While she maintained a busy lifestyle, Bueckers was hard at work. Please don’t get her wrong. What you see isn’t always what you get. On Thursday, Bueckers addressed her “pretty good summer” to reporters after practice.
“I had a pretty good summer. I enjoyed it,” Bueckers said. “It was like my first healthy offseason where I wasn’t in a place rehabbing, staying at school, getting stronger. So I took advantage of it.”
“Everybody saw the world tour; they didn’t see the work tour. Which is fine,” she joked. The UConn star then set the record straight on the situation.
“They think they see like, me, 3-4 hours a day, they think they know my entire 24 hours, which is cool. It’s fine. The work will always show; I’m a believer in that. I have confidence in that,” she said.
“I can already see if I don’t have a game up to other people’s standards,” Bueckers suggested. “It’s like, ‘Should’ve been in the gym all summer. Shouldn’t have been doing this, shouldn’t have been doing that.’ But luckily, I don’t play for their approval,” she emphatically said. “I play for God, I play for my teammates, I play for my coaching staff. I play for the people who support me, good game or bad, in their opinion.”
In other words, before you criticize her, know she’s seen it, and doesn’t pay any mind.
