Bueckers and Fudd Say They Split Over a Year Ago
The Dallas Wings teammates announced on a podcast that their relationship ended before Fudd's No. 1 pick, and asked fans to stop sending hostile messages.
Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd have confirmed that they split more than a year ago. The Dallas Wings teammates also reject any suggestion that it played a part in Fudd's selection with the No. 1 pick in this year's WNBA draft.
A first season that went well on the court
Dallas set a franchise record with 27 wins, 17 more than the year before, and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2023. In round one the Wings pushed eventual champion Golden State to a deciding third game. Bueckers was picked for her second straight All-Star team. Fudd, a rookie, averaged 13.1 points in 30 games and shot 39.7% from three-point range. A right knee injury that needed surgery ended her season early.
Fudd had already set a mark in May, when she hit six three-pointers against the New York Liberty. That broke the franchise's rookie single-game record, which Bueckers held.
Working together after the breakup
Bueckers said the split has not hurt their play. By her account they already spent a full season as teammates after it. She said they stay fully professional, care about basketball and still support each other.
How the pair got here
The two met at a USA Basketball camp in 2017 and played four seasons together at UConn. The Huskies ended a nine-year NCAA title drought in 2025. Their relationship became public that July, when Bueckers called Fudd her girlfriend on the TikTok show WAG Talk.
Bueckers was the first overall pick by Dallas in 2025. Fudd followed a year later, and the pair are the first college teammates taken first overall in back-to-back WNBA drafts since Tina Charles and Maya Moore, who went in 2010 and 2011. That drew considerable attention to their relationship. Across the WNBA, players' romances have become a frequent target of heavy speculation online.
What they said on Friday
They shared the news on Friday's episode of Fudd's podcast. "We are no longer together," Fudd said. Bueckers said the two were separated well before Fudd joined her in Dallas in April. "She was drafted because she deserved it," Bueckers said.
At the Wings' media day in April, Bueckers had already said her relationship with Fudd was nobody's business but their own. She added that Fudd was the top pick because of her resilience, strength and career-best year at UConn.
Both asked fans to stop sending hostile messages. Bueckers said negative messages had gone to the two players, to their families and to friends.
Source: The Guardian