Paige Bueckers Says Azzi Fudd Relationship is 'Nobody's Business,' Hypes Wings' Top WNBA Draft Pick

Dallas Wings star Paige Bueckers issued what she plans to be her only statement regarding her relationship with teammate Azzi Fudd.

"Quite frankly, I believe me and Azzi's personal relationship is nobody's business but our own," she said Monday, per ESPN's Alexa Philippou. "And what we choose to share is completely up to us. We've never let anything that happens off the court carry onto the court, and that's what we'll continue to do."

Bueckers also refuted any notion that their relationship played a role in the Wings' decision to take Fudd with the No. 1 pick in the 2026 WNBA draft.

"Azzi Fudd was the No. 1 draft pick because she earned it, and it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with who she is as a human being, who she is the basketball player," she said.

Bueckers seemingly confirmed last July she and Fudd were dating. It's not something either player has publicized to a significant degree.

The situation was bound to come up, though, when Dallas reunited the pair of former UConn stars. During Fudd's introductory press conference, a Wings employee intervened to say she wouldn't be answering any questions related to her personal life.

That inadvertently turned this into a bigger story.

The fascination is understandable to a degree, but it's not a novel dynamic. There are past examples of WNBA players on the same team dating, and as Bueckers laid out, it's not something new to she and Fudd specifically.

There was also nothing to back up the idea the Wings picked Fudd because of her connection to Bueckers.

The 5'11" sharpshooter wasn't a reach for Dallas. ESPN's Michael Voepel projected her to go first overall in his final mock draft.

Targeting a three-point specialist also made sense for a team that has two ball-dominant guards in Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale.

During her final two years with the Huskies, Fudd shot 44.2 percent from beyond the arc. Working off the ball and firing away from deep on the Wings shouldn't present a big adjustment for her.

Not to mention, Dallas showed some ambition this offseason by signing co-Defensive Player of the Year Alanna Smith and Jessica Shepard. For a team trying to make the playoffs, an experienced college star was a safer bet than 19-year-old Spanish big Awa Fam.