The ICE’s actions in Minneapolis attracted the world’s attention, as the task force took strict measures and even resorted to taking the law into their own hands while performing their duties. Many WNBA players, including Breanna Stewart, Angel Reese, and Cameron Brink, sent prayers to the victims. Minnesota native Paige Bueckers also opened up on the subject.
PB spent her early years in Minnesota as she started her basketball career in the region, playing for Hopkins High School. It was natural that she felt the pain of the people there and recently opened up about the actions.
Paige Bueckers Gets Real Over Minnesota Tragedy
Minneapolis made the headlines for the wrong reasons as heightened Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity took the lives of ICU nurse Alex Pretti and Renee Good within the space of a month. During the Unrivaled game, the Wings’ guard addressed the topic.
Bueckers said, “Innocent lives are being taken; innocent families are being broken apart. People are afraid to send their children to school, people are afraid to go to work and provide for their family, people are afraid to go to the grocery store. What’s going on is not OK, and at some point – we feel like, and we hope and we pray, that there’s a change in direction in where this is heading.”
Paige Bueckers speaks out against ICE and the brutality it has unleashed: “innocent lives are being taken; innocent families are being broken apart. People are afraid to send their children to school, people are afraid to go to work and provide for their family, people are afraid… pic.twitter.com/WEXy2XWZHc
— j (@thearkvi) January 30, 2026
She even supported the people uniting against the actions and said that she is proud to be from Minnesota. She added that she feels heartbroken just being from there and not being able to go there and help.
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While the player spoke bluntly about the ICE situation in Minnesota, she is equally aggressive on the court at the Unrivaled league. The player even received a new name after her recent award.
Paige Bueckers Receives New Nickname
Paige Bueckers has been one of the consistent performers in the Unrivaled league season 2 and even one of the top candidates for the MVP award. Ahead of the season’s conclusion, the star even won $50K for the Xfinity free-throw contest. Though she didn’t reveal her plan upon winning the prize money, she decided to donate the prize to the Hopkins Education Foundation.
After the award, PB revealed her new nickname – free-throw merchant. In an interview, she said, “Now everybody’s calling me a free-throw merchant. So we got to take the wins and the losses.”
The player spontaneously said she would take the nickname after the interviewer pointed out that the reigning NBA Finals MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, also has the same nickname. PB earlier mentioned that she is working on her offensive game and adding SGA’s foul bait technique to her arsenal.