UConn’s Paige Bueckers speech about racial bias at the 2021 ESPY Awards resurfaces after LA Times column called LSU ‘dirty debutants’
- Bueckers used the spotlight of winning an award to thank black women
- Speech resurfaced after a weekend story from the LA Times sparked controversy
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As Paige Bueckers led UConn women’s basketball to another Final Four on Monday night, another clip of her from the 2021 ESPY Awards talking about racial bias has surfaced.
Bueckers’ acceptance speech three years ago went viral in part thanks to a Los Angeles Times report last weekend that labeled the LSU women’s basketball team as “dirty rookies.”
The column was immediately criticized for being ‘sexist’ and was updated online for not meeting the newspaper’s editorial standards.
It also prompted LSU star Hailey Van Lith, one of the Tigers’ two white players on a roster of a dozen, to say negative comments about the team are fueled by racism.
Buecker’s speech felt timely, even though she hasn’t spoken directly about the issue since the LA Times piece was published.
Bueckerts won the Female College Athlete of the Year award at the 2021 ESPY Awards
Bueckers has been one of college basketball’s most popular players in recent years
“With the light that I have now, as a white woman leading a black-led sport and being celebrated here, I want to shine a light on black women. They don’t get the media attention they deserve,” Bueckers said in 2021.
“They have given so much to this sport and to the community and society as a whole and their value is undeniable,” Bueckers added. “In the WNBA last season’s postseason awards, 80 percent of the winners were black, but they got half as much attention as the white athletes.”
‘I think it’s time for a change, sports media has the key to storylines. Sports media and sponsors tell us who is valuable,” Bueckers continues. “And you told the world that I matter today.”
“Thank you to everyone who voted, but I think we need to use this power together to celebrate Black women as well,” Bueckers said.
Bueckers led UConn to another Final Four by beating USC in the Elite Eight on Monday
Bueckers has been one of the biggest stars in college basketball since she started her career at UConn in 2020.
On Monday night, she was instrumental in helping the Huskies defeat USC in the Elite Eight.
Now Bueckers will face Caitlin Clark for the first time in college as Iowa plays UConn in the Final Four on Friday.
Clark and Bueckers were the two highest-rated point guards in the 2020 class, with Bueckers being the No. 1 player in the country and Clark coming in at No. 4.