"Lost My Identity": Paige Bueckers Reflects on the 'Trauma' of Her Devastating ACL Injury Nearly 4 Years Later

It’s been almost four years since Paige Bueckers suffered the ACL injury that threatened to derail her basketball career entirely. While her left knee has since healed, the emotional scars from that devastating period remain very much present.

In a candid moment of reflection, the former UConn star opened up about how the injury left her feeling forgotten, stripped away her sense of self, and still influences the way she plays to this day.

“And when I tore my ACL, I just felt so isolated and alone,” Bueckers said on WNBA legend Sue Bird’s podcast.

“Like I felt like I was forgotten, like I wasn’t important anymore. I lost my identity. When I first tore it, I had anxiety. I had panic attacks because I didn’t know who I was outside of basketball. And I really wrapped up my identity in that. Funny, because people get mad because I don’t attack the rim as often. And part of that is kind of the trauma of playing in crowded areas, having to land on one leg. So I’m still fighting that three years later.”

That injury came in the aftermath of what had been a historic freshman year at UConn. Bueckers had helped the Huskies reach the 2021 Final Four, becoming the first freshman to be named national women’s player of the year. That momentum was supposed to carry forward. Instead, the next two years came to be defined by painful and consecutive knee injuries that forced her to a position where she had to rebuild from the ground up.

Paige Bueckers first suffered a tibial plateau fracture and lateral meniscus tear in December. She then returned for the NCAA tournament, leading her team to their 14th straight Final Four. But ahead of what was supposed to be her junior season, Bueckers tore the ACL in her left knee in August 2022. She missed the entirety of that season.

Fortunately, she found her way back and went on to win the championship in 2025. And was then drafted by the Dallas Wings as the No.1 pick. But what might read like a perfectly written full-circle story has not been without its lasting scars. And as Bueckers admitted, more than three years later, she still carries them.

The most visible evidence of that is her reluctance to attack the rim aggressively, something she has now acknowledged as rooted in the trauma of her knee injuries. Despite averaging over 20.9 points per game as an elite scoring guard, her free throw attempt rate sits at a very low 3.6 per game.

Bueckers further noted that she used to have more speed and athleticism back then, joking that she could “almost” dunk. Still, she made it clear that she loves how her game has developed since.

“But it helped me really learn how to get to my spots efficiently and like work smarter and not harder… On the court, I shot in the mid-range before, but that’s really where I love to get to. I feel like teams struggle to guard it ’cause not a lot of people play in it. And I think it’s a safer area than constantly getting to the rim, playing through physicality,” Bueckers added.

Earlier this season, however, Paige Bueckers did mention that rim attacks and free throw generation are areas she is actively working to improve. If she eventually overcomes the trauma and adds that dimension more consistently to her game, she will become significantly harder for any defence to contain. The talent has never been in doubt. The healing, physical and emotional, is still very much in progress.

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