When news broke that UConn star Paige Bueckers had torn her ACL, one of the first people to reach out wasn’t just a fan—it was a legend who had walked that same painful path.
Seattle Storm superstar Breanna Stewart, a former UConn standout from 2012 to 2016, reached out to Bueckers with a message of empathy and encouragement.
Stewart knows exactly what it feels like to have everything come crashing down in a single moment—she missed the entire 2019 WNBA season after tearing her Achilles tendon while playing overseas in the EuroLeague Women final.
“I was just devastated for her,” Stewart said. “Especially coming back from an injury, feeling at her best, and then to be hit with another one—it’s obviously tough.”
Bueckers, the 2021 National Player of the Year, expressed her own heartbreak, saying she’s “trying to make sense of it all” after working “so hard” to return to full health.
The injury marks another setback for the UConn guard, who missed 19 games during the 2021–22 season due to a previous knee issue.
Stewart, now one of the most respected voices in women’s basketball, offered Bueckers some powerful advice about the long road to recovery.
“It reminds me of going through injuries,” she said. “It’s going to be her journey, her story. I told her there will be good days and bad days, ups and downs—it’s a rollercoaster. But what’s most important is that you show up.
You show up every day, you do the rehab, and she’ll be back before she knows it.”
As UConn prepares to start its 2022–23 season on November 10 against Northeastern, the team will have to adjust to life without its star guard once again.
But if Stewart’s words prove true, Bueckers’ comeback story could be one of the most inspiring yet.
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