Paige Bueckers made her WNBA debut on Friday night, and her family was in attendance at College Park Center in Dallas to cheer her on in person.

It was fitting that Bueckers faced her favorite team from childhood, the Minnesota Lynx, while playing with the Dallas Wings on Friday night. Her father, Bob Bueckers, spoke with Ion during the game and couldn't help but get emotional when talking about how special and surreal the whole night was for them.

"I'm very proud of her, but also just happy for her," Bueckers said while holding back tears."She's living out her childhood dream right now. To have her first game playing her hometown Lynx, who she grew up idolizing, is just surreal.

"Yeah, I started crying during warm-ups, I think," Bueckers continued. "It's something she's dreamt about her whole life."

What a very proud dad.

He does have a lot to be proud about, of course. His daughter was the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft last month after she helped UConn win a national championship. Her impact on sports was so big that her hometown of Hopkins, Minn., even renamed their city to Paige Bueckers on Friday to celebrate her debut, even though she was facing the local Lynx squad.

It didn't take Bueckers long to make her first official WNBA basket on Friday night. She scored the first basket of the game as she drove to the basket in the first quarter. It's just the beginning.

More WNBA on Sports Illustrated


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Paige Bueckers's Dad Details Emotions of Watching Her WNBA Debut.

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