As the 2024 WNBA season nears its end, all eyes are on the 2025 draft’s expected first-overall pick, Paige Bueckers. The UConn Huskies star is the face of the new generation of women’s basketball. However, behind her innocent image in the media is a player who loves trash-talking on the court. Because she did it without rarely catching the eyes of the outside world, it flew under the radar. But there was one man who knew her opponent-rattling antics very well – Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma.

In the CT Forum’s season finale, “Husky Nation!”, in May 2023, Auriemma disclosed a hilarious anecdote about Bueckers’ trash talk. “One of our practice players got a bucket in Paige’s freshman year. He turned around and looked at CD (associate head coach Chris Dailey), anyone like, ‘Ah!’ (flexing on them). And CD’s like, ‘What’s wrong with this guy?’ And he said, ‘CD, I’m sorry but you have no idea what she was saying every time she comes in the lane’, and pointed to Paige,” he added, as the audience guffawed. “What she would say under her breath to those guys, you don’t want to know.”

Fast forward to today, the UConn Women’s Basketball posted some mic ‘d-up footage of Paige Bueckers from practice. In one clip, the 22-year-old Guard sank a three after she was left unguarded. “Stop leaving me for game,” she said, replicating Kobe’s signature unimpressed head shake. In another instance, seemingly after her team dominated the game, she doubled down on the loud trash talk. “Can we get some competition, please?” she tauntingly said, before adding, “Can we get a good group?” twice.

Because Bueckers can back her trash talk with consistently standout performances, her coaches see no problem. Though Auriemma exposed his star player for her intense vocal game, it is highly ironic when you come to know where she gets this skill from.

When Paige Bueckers exposed Geno Auriemma’s trash-talk-filled coaching style

Earlier this year, Auriemma named Bueckers the “best player in America”. Though Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese went after him for that comment, he stood his ground, backing his stance with her statistics. The 6’0 Guard has averaged 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.8 assists while shooting 53% from the field in the 2023-24 season.

This coach-player duo shares a special relationship and a good part of her success is attributed to Auriemma. A large part of their relationship also stems from their mutual love for trash talk. “With coach, it’s just like the exaggerations,” Bueckers shared in August this year. “Like the, you’re the worst player he’s ever coached. You’re the dumbest person he’s ever met. Like all these exaggerations. Like, I know you’re lying. I don’t care what you say.”

She also pointed out a loophole in Auriemma’s humorous vocal game. “My favorite thing is when he’s like, ‘I’ve been coaching for forty years, I’ve seen it all’ and then the next practice he’ll be like, ‘That’s the dumbest sh-t I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen that before in my life.’ And I’m like, ‘Bro, you can’t have both. You have to pick one. Have you seen it or have you not?'”

Such light-hearted banter between a coach and a player comes as a breath of fresh air. It also sustains the core value of having fun on the court while destroying your opponents. Bueckers, who is rumored to join the Golden State Valkyries in 2025, will be the prime candidate for Rookie of the Year. We can’t wait to hear what Auriemma has to say then.