The Twin Cities suburb of Hopkins is changing their name - but just for this Friday.
Hopkins, Minnesota will be known as Paige Bueckers, Minnesota in honor of Bueckers making her WNBA debut Friday night for the Dallas Wings. The day includes a ribbon cutting, a watch party, and several other events. Bueckers played her high school basketball at Hopkins and grew up in the area.
Mayor Patrick Hanlon says they haven't heard from Bueckers about the name change.
"We haven't. I heard she was a little surprised," says Hanlon. "She did have her coach, her family had her coach come receive the proclamation, and I don't think they quite understood the extent of what we were proposing. It wasn't your normal proclamation that we were actually changing the name of the city, so I heard that she was a little surprised. Obviously she's very busy and getting ready for her big day."
After Bueckers went to Hopkins she played collegiately at UConn. She was the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft and will try and help revitalize the Dallas franchise. She was the most efficient player in college on the offensive end and capped off her career helping UConn win its 12th national championship. Before she went through a series of injuries at UConn, Bueckers became the first freshman ever to win AP Player of the Year.
For Bueckers, her regular season debut comes with a little bit extra hometown drama too. Her Dallas Wings host the team she rooted for growing up in Minnesota, the Lynx. But her arrival in Dallas has their fines fired up. Friday night's opener is a sellout.
But Bueckers shared how it will feel playing against her favorite team from childhood.
"It's definitely full circle how I went to a lot of their games growing up, watching that dynasty play out, I was their biggest fan," Bueckers said on Tuesday, via Dallas Morning News' Myah Taylor. "Now I'm apart of a different organization playing against them, so it's very cool to experience. I don't take it for granted. ... It'll be really cool and fun and sort of surreal."
The celebration in her childhood town of Hopkins comes with all the fixings too.
"There's going to be beers from Bear Cave Brewing, LTD Brewing, named after her," notes Hanlon. "We have ice cream from A to Z Creamery, which if you've ever tried that, it's amazing ice cream. Amy's Cupcakes is having a cupcake, there's a latte named after her, there's probably a bunch of things I haven't even got to. Everyone seems to be doing something."
As for the game and the start of the season, expectations are very high for Minnesota which was overlooked at the start of the season and led by Napheesa Collier. They made it back to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2017 before losing in a decisive Game 5 to New York.
While they didn’t make many offseason moves, the Lynx return all five starters. Collier, the league’s Defensive Player of the Year last season, anchors a solid defense that held opponents to a league-best 41% shooting from the field.
Bueckers and the Wings face the Minnesota Lynx at 6:30 p.m.