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Dallas Wings guards Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers talk practice on the team\u2019s opening day of training camp at College Park Center in Arlington on April 19.<\/p>\n
Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Last Monday night, while Dallas Wings fans gathered at Happiest Hour in Dallas for the 2026 WNBA draft watch party, I was glued to my TV after I got home from work, turning it on just in time to watch as WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert read the Wings\u2019 selection in their second consecutive year with the No. 1 overall pick.<\/p>\n
I was personally rooting for Dallas to get TCU\u2019s Olivia Miles, who was in my philosophy class at the University of Notre Dame not too long ago. But, the outcome of Azzi Fudd and Wings guard Paige Bueckers, who played together on University of Connecticut\u2019s national championship squad, reuniting on the same team is too perfect.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The cameras panned to Fudd\u2019s table, where she embraced her parents and made her way to the stage, walking past her UConn teammates cheering and capturing the moment on their phones. And of course, the cameras zoomed in on former-and-future teammate Bueckers, who was drafted to the Wings as the No. 1 overall pick in last year\u2019s draft. The Wings\u2019 star\u2019s smile spread across her face as Fudd took the stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fudd hasn\u2019t said much more than that she\u2019s excited to be playing on the same team as her best friend again. But people are wondering what exactly the status of their relationship is.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fudd and Bueckers have been friends since long before their UConn days, but it wasn\u2019t until last summer that they announced this was more than friendship. The couple hard-launched their relationship<\/a> during WNBA All-Star weekend, where Bueckers answered questions in a video about her \u201cdivision-1 girlfriend\u201d and Fudd posted an Instagram story showing off her pink \u201cPaige Bueckers\u2019 girlfriend\u201d phone case.\u00a0<\/p>\n Make Dallas News a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Columnist Kevin Sherrington asked the question on everyone\u2019s mind at a press conference last week<\/a> \u2014 if Bueckers and Fudd are still together \u2014 only to be shot down by a member of the team\u2019s media staff who said they would \u201crespectfully decline from commenting on our players\u2019 personal lives.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The question is a fair one from the press that covers this team, and the Wings could have phrased their \u201cno comment\u201d so it didn\u2019t sound so intense. But I worry that the public\u2019s fixation on the status of Bueckers’ and Fudd\u2019s relationship takes away from a great moment in a sport that is finding its audience.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a huge accomplishment to play a sport on a professional level, even more so to be the top pick of your class. Maybe Fudd wants to take a minute to bask in her hard-earned achievement without all the chatter about Bueckers. Maybe she wants to be able to be seen for her athleticism more than her relationship.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s rare for two No. 1 picks in back-to-back years to end up on the same team, and even rarer that two of the WNBA\u2019s top players could also be in a relationship. But whether they are still together or just trying to figure out what the next phase of their relationship looks like, expecting them to explain all of this days after they also just found out they will be on the same team isn\u2019t fair.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the end of the day, they\u2019re basketball players. Their talent, work ethic and ability to perform at the highest level got them here. If they choose to share something about their personal lives, they should be able to decide how, when and where.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n It\u2019s one thing to announce you\u2019re dating your former teammate on your own social media account or a short video clip. Answering questions at a press conference might be a little more out of your comfort zone than filming a TikTok video that\u2019s supposed to be lighthearted and fun.\u00a0<\/p>\n And sure, we ask male athletes about their relationships all the time too, but they aren\u2019t typically dating someone who is on the same bench as them.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wings training camp was underway this week, and Buckers and Fudd have been popping up in clips on the Wings\u2019 social media accounts, shooting hoops as their first preseason game against the Indiana Fever next week draws closer.<\/p>\n In all of this, if fans were excited about Bueckers\u2019 debut with the Wings last year, the addition of Fudd this season is sure to compound interest in the team.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n At the end of March, UConn played Notre Dame in the NCAA Elite Eight at Dickie\u2019s Arena in Fort Worth. There was a strong showing of Irish fans, but the rest of the arena was there for UConn, and for Fudd specifically.\u00a0<\/p>\n By signing up, you agree to our Terms Of Use<\/a> and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n There were just as many fans decked out in Wings merch as those in UConn gear. And even though the draft was still a few weeks away at that point, some had already secured Wings jerseys with Fudd\u2019s No. 35, confident that she would land in Dallas. At halftime, fans eagerly crowded in the aisle behind the UConn bench, hoping to snap a selfie with Fudd\u2019s parents, who were there cheering on the team.\u00a0<\/p>\n In time, we might learn more about the duo and their relationship, but for now, the Wings drafting their newest star should be enough to hold everyone\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777142294_846_rawImage.jpg\" "\\"#\\"")
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