CLEVELAND — In 2016, a 14-year-old Paige Bueckers was inspired by watching her basketball idols lead the Cleveland Cavaliers on a remarkable title run. Now, the UConn superstar is in Cleveland hoping to win a title of her own.
In a press conference ahead of her highly anticipated NCAA Women's Final Four matchup against Caitlin Clark and Iowa at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Bueckers fondly recalled watching the Cavs erase a 3-1 series deficit to beat Steph Curry's Golden State Warriors for the 2016 NBA title.
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"That 2016 Finals was everything to me," Bueckers said. "When they came back [from] 3-1, that was the greatest Finals I had seen in my life up to this point."
The Minnesota native lauded the impact of two particular ex-Cleveland stars, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, on her burgeoning basketball career. Bueckers, a two-time unanimous first-team All-American and winner of two Big East Player of the Year awards, said watching James, Irving and the Cavaliers "really grew my love for the game."
"Kyrie's my favorite player, so growing up watching him here, that's when I really started to like him," Bueckers said. "I'm a huge LeBron fan as well. I love what they did here. I love the whole Finals run."
UConn is no stranger to title runs in its own right; the Huskies have won a record 11 NCAA championships, including a women's record 4-year title streak from 2013 to 2016. They're back in the Final Four after being bounced in the Sweet 16 last year, a loss that snapped a remarkable streak of 14 consecutive Final Four appearances from 2008 to 2022.
Fans in Cleveland will surely hope that Friday night's matchup between Bueckers and Clark will live up to the billing and rival the excitement of the James-Curry clash in 2016. Iowa and UConn will top off on Friday at 9:30 p.m., with the winner advancing to the NCAA Championship against the winner of the 7 p.m. semifinal between South Carolina and NC State.