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\u00a9 Lucas Boland \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n
The Azzi Fudd-Paige Bueckers relationship is getting a bit awkward for the WNBA.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, Fudd was drafted #1 overall by the Dallas Wings. Fudd has been in a romantic relationship with Bueckers since last year and appeared excited to play alongside her significant other.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited to play again with Paige. I mean, she\u2019s an incredible person, incredible player\u2026 it\u2019s gonna be a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s someone who makes playing basketball easy. Just with the prior experience, that I had to play with her and play off her will only help going into this.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur time at UConn was filled with injury\u2026it wasn\u2019t until our last year that we got to play together, and it wasn\u2019t even for a full season, and I think there\u2019s so much left to play on the table, so much uknown, and so much potential, with not just her but the entire Dallas Wings roster.\u201d<\/p>\n
Azzi & Paige are about to be quite the DYNAMIC DUO for the Wings \ud83d\ude24\ud83e\udd1d pic.twitter.com\/IoSFIBcgZb<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 theScore (@theScore) April 14, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n While Fudd\u2019s relationship with Bueckers is not a secret, WNBA journalists have been extremely quiet about it.<\/p>\n Former Sports Illustrated writer and best-selling author Jeff Pearlman believes the WNBA is instructing journalists not to talk about the Fudd-Bueckers relationship.<\/p>\n \u201cAzzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers are in a long-term relationship, and nobody\u2019s mentioning it. And the WNBA clearly has asked people not to mention it. And it\u2019s very journalistically confusing to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cLike, it is fascinating that these two people who have been dating for a long time, dating back to college, would be the starting backcourt for a team. To me, that is actually the number one piece of this story. It\u2019s not just that they drafted Azzi Fudd, they drafted Azzi Fudd to play with her longtime partner, Paige Bueckers.\u201d<\/p>\n Pearlman says he believes that Fudd-Bueckers story should be the biggest story in sports, and he\u2019s confused as to why no one is covering it. <\/p>\n \u201cI actually think it\u2019s more of an unfair judgment of women, not to mention it. Like, why is this taboo? Why are two women in a relationship even remotely taboo in 2026? It shouldn\u2019t be at all.<\/p>\n \u201cIs that a sign of the times, is that the political world we live in? I don\u2019t understand. But to me \u2026 it\u2019s the number one story, that the Wings have taken this roll-of-the-dice on this. Hopefully it\u2019ll work. What happens when you have two people, you reunite them together, they\u2019re in the same backcourt, but they also date, and they love each other, and blah, blah, blah, young love. It\u2019s an amazing, amazing story.\u201d<\/p>\n Update: The Wings shot down a reporter trying ask Fudd about her relationship with Bueckers. <\/p>\n A reporter asked Azzi Fudd about her relationship with Paige Bueckers, but the Wings’ media team said they won’t be commenting on their players’ personal lives. pic.twitter.com\/iH3enGfoVE<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 The Sporting News (@sportingnews) April 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t