Dallas Wings star Paige Bueckers has finally revealed her feelings about her girlfriend Azzi Fudd joining the team, days after a reporter was prevented from asking about it.
Former UConn star Fudd was selected by the Dallas Wings with the first overall pick at the glitzy 2026 WNBA Draft in New York last Monday.
The selection reunited 23-year-old Fudd with girlfriend Bueckers, who was also selected by the Wings with last year’s first overall pick. The duo played three years together in Storrs, Connecticut, winning a national championship with UConn.
While the couple sparked romance rumors last year, they have kept their personal lives out of the spotlight, keeping details of their romance largely under wraps.
The Wings had hoped to maintain that after shutting down a reporter’s questions about the reunion between the former UConn teammates last week, but now Bueckers has broken her silence over the matter.
After the Wings’ first practice of the new WNBA season, Bueckers told reporters: ‘Obviously, we have a lot of experience playing together, going back to when we were like 16. I know her game really well, she knows my game really well.
Paige Bueckers has finally broken her silence on her reunion with girlfriend Azzi Fudd
Fudd was selected first overall in the 2026 WNBA Draft by the Dallas Wings on Monday night
‘So to be able to be back in this stage, to live out our dreams, this is stuff we talked about since we were freshmen in high school’, Bueckers continued.
‘We got to be together in college, we got to play together at the junior Olympic level, now we get to play in the WNBA together. It’s just a dream come true.’
Bueckers was in the crowd to cheer on Fudd for her big moment as she went No. 1 overall last Monday night, playing the role of a supportive girlfriend in New York.
‘In terms of the basketball aspect of it, she just affects the game in so many different ways,’ Bueckers said about Fudd. ‘Obviously, everybody talks about her shooting, but it’s her ability to slash, to cut, her IQ. Defensively, she disrupts a lot of stuff.
‘Her game has so many aspects to it, it provides us with so many different things to do offensively and defensively in terms of versatility.
‘Just having her on the floor, she’s a 40-plus percent three-point shooter, so to have that spacing, too, with her presence… she’ll do a lot of great things for us.’
Just a few days before the comments, a question about No. 1 overall pick Fudd’s relationship with Wings teammate Paige Bueckers was brutally shut down.
During her introductory press conference on Thursday, Fudd was asked about their romance. However, before she could answer, a member of the Wings PR team shut the question down.
A question about No. 1 pick Fudd’s relationship with Bueckers was shut down on Thursday
The duo played three years together at UConn and won a national championship together
‘Paige announced last year on TikTok that y’all were a couple, and I’m wondering if that’s still the case, and if so, if y’all have talked to any other couples in the league about how they negotiate that dynamic as pro teammates?’ the reporter asked.
The member of staff said that they understood why the question was asked but that they would have Fudd decline to answer, according to USA Today’s Meghan Hall.
Many social media users slammed the censorial move, including former football wide receiver Dez Bryant.
‘Hey hey hey… that’s part of the game…From the test of time, nothing has been off limits,’ he wrote. ‘That reporter had the right to ask that question. If they are dating… they are dating! What’s the problem?
‘Women wanting to be paid millions of dollars comes with it all. When hasn’t the media been in an athlete’s personal business?’
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy agreed, insisting that the reporter had a right to ask the question.
‘This is a totally fair question,’ he posted on X. ‘Sure it’s unusual but they are very public on social media. They are teammates.
‘They don’t keep their relationship private. I have no problem with them not answering it but I have no problem asking it. It’s fair game. I also don’t think they care.’
Others believed that the Wings’ media team should have allowed Fudd the chance to answer as they claimed that by blocking the question is only blew the subject up further.
