Paige Bueckers has stated that her relationship with new Dallas Wings teammate Azzi Fudd is private, emphasizing that it is "nobody's business but our own." The two were college teammates at UConn and reunited when the Wings selected Fudd with the No. 1 overall pick in this year's WNBA draft. While they confirmed they were dating last year, they have shared few details since, leaving uncertainty about their current status.
Bueckers Addresses Speculation
During a press conference on Monday, Bueckers made an opening statement addressing speculation about her relationship with Fudd. "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," she said.
Bueckers and Fudd have been friends since their teenage years and played together for four seasons at UConn, where they won a national championship. Bueckers noted that the pair are accustomed to media scrutiny. "Me and Azzi have always been the utmost professional," said Bueckers, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft. "We've always conducted ourselves as such, and we've never let anything that happens off the court carry on to the court. That's what we continue to do."
Professionalism and Focus
She added, "Me and Azzi are not new to this. We've been doing this for a long time. We have countless reps at it. We have a lot of experience with it, so we will continue to use that experience to show up and be professionals, great teammates, great leaders, the hardest workers, and continue to show up and do our job and help the Dallas Wings win basketball games."
Bueckers declared she would not discuss her relationship with Fudd again. She also dismissed suggestions that she influenced the Wings' decision to draft Fudd. "Azzi Fudd was a 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 a basketball player, her resilience, her strength and her career-best year at UConn," Bueckers said. "So, Azzi is her own great individual person, and she should be celebrated as such."
Fudd's Reaction
After being drafted, Fudd told Dallas' ABC affiliate, WFAA, that she was thrilled to be on the same team as Bueckers, who was named WNBA Rookie of the Year last season. "Here I am, no control in where I get drafted, and I get to play with my best friend again. So it really is special," she said.
Wings GM on Draft Decision
Wings general manager Curt Miller confirmed that Fudd was selected on merit. "Words that we heard over and over again in the investigation of her was, a winner, competitor, a hard worker," Miller said about the decision. "Obviously the skill set speaks for itself, an incredible shooter – probably one of the quickest releases in the game today, a defender with a lot of competitiveness and toughness, and, ultimately, all the intangibles that goes along with Azzi in the locker room – being unselfish, being an incredible teammate, being a high-basketball-IQ player. [It] all pointed us through a very deliberate and thorough process back to Azzi Fudd."
The WNBA season begins on 8 May, with the Wings playing their first game on 9 May against Caitlin Clark's Indiana Fever.
