The Dallas Wings held the rights to the number one overall pick in both the 2025 and 2026 WNBA drafts. In both seasons, Dallas selected a former UConn Huskies guard: Paige Bueckers in 2025 and Azzi Fudd in 2026.
Interestingly, the former high school rivals and collegiate teammates went public with a romantic relationship last year, leading to speculation that their relationship may have factored into Dallas’s draft process.
Fudd was even asked about the relationship in her introductory press conference after being drafted, but Wings PR stepped in before she was able to provide an answer.
“I understand why you have to ask that question, but we’re going to respectfully decline from commenting on our players’ personal lives,” the team’s rep said.
On Monday, the Wings’ media day, Bueckers addressed the relationship publicly for the first time since Fudd was drafted, and made it clear that she doesn’t intend to do so again, per ESPN’s Alexa Philippou.
“Quite frankly, I believe me and Azzi’s personal relationship is nobody’s business but our own. And what we choose to share is completely up to us,” Bueckers stated. “We’ve never let anything that happens off the court carry onto the court, and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”
Paige Bueckers addressed her relationship with Azzi Fudd in an opening statement during Wings media day:
She said, in part: “Quite frankly, I believe me and Azzi’s personal relationship is nobody’s business but our own. And what we choose to share is completely up to us.
“Azzi Fudd was the No. 1 draft pick because she earned it, and it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with who she is as a human being, who she is the basketball player,” she added.
There’s an argument that a lot of the noise surrounding the story could have been avoided had Dallas allowed Fudd to give a similar statement in her introductory press conference. Regardless, it’s great to finally have the air cleared so that both professional athletes can focus on their upcoming season.
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