Bueckers goes No. 1 in WNBA draft, league addresses player safety

• The WNBA got yet another injection of star power when the Dallas Wings selected Paige Bueckers with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 draft. Bueckers led UConn to a national championship just one week ago.
• The Seattle Storm took 19-year-old center Dominique Malonga, standing 6 feet 6 inches tall, from France at No. 2.
• League commissioner Cathy Engelbert also announced a renewed focus on player safety.

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The WNBA is one month from its 29th season, and a new crop of star players is ready to bolster the sport’s popularity. On Monday, April 14, the league’s draft was held and much like last season, when Caitlin Clark was the No. 1 overall pick, this year’s top player was no surprise.

Who was the top overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft?

UConn’s Paige Bueckers, who led the Huskies to an NCAA title just one week ago, is on her way to Dallas to revive a Wings franchise that finished 9-31 last season.

Another feather in the league’s cap: WNBA Commissioner Cathy Englebert talked about capitalizing on the league’s growth and popularity during a pre-draft press conference.

“The momentum from last year has carried over in a big way, obviously fueled by incredible fan engagement, rising TV viewership and a league stacked with extraordinary talent,” Engelbert said.

How is the WNBA addressing player safety?

The league addressed some offseason issues, namely players’ health and safety and the battle against online hate and vitriol. Engelbert announced what she called a four-pronged approach to those problems and has set up a task force to make improvements.

The four touchpoints include:

1. Using artificial intelligence to monitor players’ social media accounts for negative comments and threats.
2. Instituting better in-arena fan conduct standards.
3. Ramping up security measures at league and player facilities.
4. Hiring dedicated on-call mental health clinicians for players.

“There is just a continuing drain on all of us –– on players, on staff, staff at our teams, I’m sure on all of you too, just continuing unaccountability for people who type things on social media,” Engelbert said. “Our players are digital natives. They are in their early 20s, and our veteran players are in their late 20s-early 30s, and they take everything very hard, and it’s a toll on them.”

Some of the youngest players were drafted Monday, April 14. After Bueckers went No. 1 overall, the Seattle Storm selected 19-year-old Dominique Malonga from France at No. 2.

Who are some of the other 1st round draft picks?

The third and fourth picks came back-to-back by the Washington Mystics. They chose Sonia Citron from Notre Dame and Kiki Iriafen from Southern Cal, meaning it’s not a stretch to say it could be an instant rebuild in Washington, D.C. They also had the sixth pick in the first round and chose Georgia Amoore from Kentucky.

The fifth pick in the first round went to the expansion Golden State Valkyries, who made their first-ever draft pick with 19-year-old guard Justė Jocytė from Lithuania.

Having multiple teams with high picks will help to build some parity. Raising up the bottom teams in the league standings is crucial for the WNBA’s success. Training camps for the league open in just two weeks.