Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd. Image via: Melanie Fidler/NBAE via Getty Images
Bueckers and Fudd met in 2017. By December 2019, Bueckers was already at UConn and campaigning on social media to get Fudd there too. Fudd committed in November 2020 and joined the Huskies in July 2021. Joint posts filled both feeds by mid-2022, and in September 2024 they sat front row together at a New York Fashion Week show. Their UConn run ended with the 2025 national title, an 82-59 win over South Carolina in which Fudd scored a game-high 24 points. Dallas took Fudd first overall in April 2026, with Olivia Miles going No. 2 to the Lynx and later winning Rookie of the Year. Under first-year coach Jose Fernandez, and with signings like Alanna Smith and Jessica Shepard, the Wings went 27-17 and claimed the No. 7 seed. 2 Valkyries, who went on to win the title.
They lost in round one to the No. Year two flipped the script. Their chemistry is rare among WNBA duos, built over years that included a shared NCAA title and shared injuries. Fudd is still recovering from the knee injury that ended her rookie season.
The rumor had followed the pair since draft night in April 2026. Both were teenagers trying out for the USA Basketball U16 team in 2017. A July 17 Instagram post cleared up any leftover doubt. In August 2025, the pair interviewed each other for an Instagram Close Friends Only series. 1 to Dallas on April 14, 2025. The Wings finished 10-34 that year, dead last, though Bueckers scored 35 points on June 18, matching Fudd’s UConn jersey number. At the All-Star Game in Indianapolis, she helped lead Team Collier to a 151-131 win over Team Clark with Fudd cheering her on.
Two weeks later, Bueckers told reporters her personal life was “nobody’s business but our own. Fudd has said she sized up Bueckers at the camp and figured, “I have a better chance of making it than her. In a Wag Talk game, Bueckers answered questions about her “D1 Girlfriend” correctly, including the high school, the Gatorade Player of the Year year and the class ranking. Asked for the name, she said, “Azzi Fudd.
At Fudd’s introductory press conference, a Dallas Morning News columnist asked whether the two were still dating and how they would handle it as pro teammates. The Wings’ PR team shut the question down. Competition turned into friendship, and Bueckers reportedly began visiting Fudd in Washington, D.C., to train together. The moment that settled it came at All-Star weekend in Indianapolis. Bueckers joked that Fudd takes clothes from her closet, and Fudd answered by finishing her sentence for her. Fudd called Bueckers her favorite WNBA player. Bueckers described a perfect day off as a show, video games and a nice dinner, with some kind of competition thrown in, even if it is only board games. The two also reportedly wore rings with each other’s birthstones that summer. Bueckers went No. Fudd was beside her at a Good Morning America stop two days later.