#rotm

kiki iriafen winning rookie of the month was well deserved. she’s been hooping. she’s strong, aggressive, and clearly adjusting well to the league already. i’m happy for her. this post isn’t about her. it’s about the exhausting discourse that comes with anything paige bueckers related.

as soon as the announcement dropped, it was less “congrats kiki” and more “paige didn’t deserve it anyway,” like people have been waiting all month for any excuse to discredit her. and i think that says a lot.

paige leads all rookies in most major categories. she’s efficient. she’s consistent. she’s producing at a high level already. she’s not just a “hype pick” — she’s backing it up. but for some reason, when she does well, it’s “well she’s supposed to,” and when she doesn’t drop 30+ it’s “see?? mid.” like she has to overachieve just to meet the standard people set for her. she has to be perfect. no grace, no learning curve, no benefit of the doubt. the bar is so impossibly high because she was that good in college. because she was the #1 pick. because she’s the face. because people want her to fail.

and that’s the part that bothers me. it’s not just criticism. it’s this weird energy where people actively root against her. not because she’s doing anything wrong — but because she’s too good. too polished. too “marketable.” it’s almost like she’s being punished for living up to expectations.

like let’s be real — if any other rookie was averaging what she’s averaging, the timeline would be on fire. the narratives would write themselves. but because it’s paige, it gets brushed off or dissected to death. no matter what she does, there’s always some “yeah but…”

i get it. everyone has their favorites. but at the end of the day: good is good. the numbers are there. the talent is there. the impact is there. it’s not a popularity contest.

you don’t have to like her. but pretending she’s not one of the top rookies in the league right now or even maybe the top rookie - just because you don’t vibe with the hype? that’s not analysis. that’s bias.