Bueckers confirmed that Fudd was her girlfriend in a TikTok video last summer

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The Dallas Wings held an introductory press conference on Thursday for Azzi Fudd, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft. In the middle of the event, the team's PR staff shut down a question about Fudd's relationship with 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers, who was the top pick in last year's draft.

Here is the full exchange:

Reporter: "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?"

Wings PR: "I understand why you have to ask that question, but we're gonna respectfully decline on commenting on our players' personal lives."

Bueckers and Fudd have been friends for nearly a decade and met at Team USA tryouts in 2017. After Bueckers committed to UConn in 2019, she worked hard to recruit Fudd to Storrs, and eventually got her wish. The duo spent four seasons together at UConn, though they didn't actually play that many games together due to their various injuries. They were finally both healthy during the 2024-25 season, however, and led the Huskies to their 12th national championship.

At some point along the way, the two began a romantic relationship. Bueckers confirmed that Fudd was her girlfriend in a TikTok video last summer, but the two have largely kept their relationship private.

"That would be exciting," Bueckers said earlier this year when asked about the possibility of the Wings selecting Fudd with the No. 1 pick. "Again. I don't know all what I can say or what the future holds, but obviously we've had a lot of games together under our belt and we won a national championship together, so I think there's great success in that. But I guess time will tell."

Immediately after being drafted, Fudd gave a brief comment about reuniting with Bueckers to ESPN on the draft broadcast: "I'm excited to play again with Paige. She's an incredible person, an incredible player. It's going to be fun."

She expanded on those thoughts during her post-draft press conference in New York.

"I mean, Paige is an incredible player," Fudd said. "Everybody knows that she's someone that makes playing basketball with easy, and so I think just the prior experience knowing how to play with her, play off of her will only help going to this," Fudd said when asked about her on-court chemistry with Bueckers.

"Our time at UConn ... it was just full of injuries, either I was playing, she wasn't, she was playing, I wasn't. It wasn't until last year that we really got a chance to actually play together. And even then, it wasn't a full season," Fudd continued. "So I feel like there's still so much left on the table and so much unknown and just so much potential with not just her, but the entire Dallas Wings roster. So I can't wait, obviously, to play with her again, but to play with every single one of them."

Bueckers and Fudd won't have to wait long to get back on the court together. The Wings will begin training camp on Sunday and will play their first preseason game on Apr. 30 against the Indiana Fever. The Wings will meet the Fever again on May 9 in their 2026 season opener.

The Wings are 19-65 over the last two seasons and have not made the playoffs since 2024. They hope their fortunes will change after selecting Bueckers and Fudd with back-to-back No. 1 picks, re-signing Arike Ogunbowale and adding Alanna Smith and Jess Shepard in free agency.

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