USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Dallas Wings star Paige Bueckers addressed the media about her relationship with this year’s #1 overall pick Azzi Fudd for what she says will be the first and last time. Bueckers claimed the Wings selecting her has nothing to do with their suspected romantic relationship.
The Dallas Wings selected Azzi Fudd out of the University of Connecticut with the No. 1 pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft — a selection that generated immediate speculation given Paige Bueckers’ presence on the roster as the franchise’s star player and the widely reported but never confirmed nature of their relationship.
Paige Bueckers says that the Dallas Wings drafting Azzi Fudd #1 overall in the 2026 WNBA Draft has nothing to do with their personal relationship
“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. We’ve never let anything that happens off the court carry onto the court, and that’s what we’ll continue to do,” the #1 overall pick in 2025 told the media.
“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.”
Paige Bueckers addressed the media today on her relationship with Azzi Fudd and only plans on addressing it once:
“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. pic.twitter.com/OI8uiOqlJ4
— Landon Thomas (@sixfivelando) April 27, 2026
In her final season at UConn, Fudd started all 39 games, averaged a career-high 17.7 points per game on career-best shooting percentages, and set single-season highs in every major statistical category, while also leading the nation with 117 three-pointers made.
sShe was named the 2025 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player when UConn won the national championship, earned unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team honors, and became the seventh No. 1 overall pick in UConn history — joining Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles, Maya Moore, Breanna Stewart, and Bueckers herself.