Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd have confirmed they ended their romantic relationship more than a year ago, with the Dallas Wings star backcourt tandem rejecting suggestions that their relationship influenced the team’s decision to select Fudd with the No 1 pick in this year’s WNBA draft. The former University of Connecticut teammates announced their breakup on Friday’s episode of Fudd’s podcast, and asked fans to stop sending hostile messages to them and their families. I don’t know how else to say that.” Bueckers confirmed the split, saying the two had been separated for more than a year, well before Fudd joined her in Dallas in April.
She was not drafted because she was my girlfriend. She was drafted because she deserved it. She’s an amazing human, amazing basketball player.
We’re still cool.” Fudd’s selection in April had prompted considerable attention to her relationship with Bueckers, who was herself the first overall pick by Dallas in 2025. The pair became the first college teammates to go No 1 in consecutive WNBA drafts since fellow UConn standouts Tina Charles and Maya Moore in 2010 and 2011. Fudd, an All-American and one of the country’s top outside shooters, helped UConn win the national championship in 2025 before being selected first overall in a draft without a clear consensus top prospect.
She quickly made her mark in Dallas, hitting six three-pointers against the New York Liberty in May to break the franchise’s rookie single-game record previously held by Bueckers. The attention surrounding Fudd’s arrival in Dallas reflected a broader trend in the WNBA, where players’ romantic relationships have become subjects of intense social media speculation, at times overshadowing their accomplishments on the court. At the Wings’ media day in April, Bueckers addressed questions about their relationship and denied having any influence over Dallas’s draft decision.
Their relationship became public in July of that year, when Bueckers referred to Fudd as her girlfriend during an interview with the TikTok show WAG Talk. On Friday, Bueckers said the speculation surrounding their relationship had led to negative messages directed at both players and people close to them. We’ve seen a lot of hate,” she said.
We’ve had stuff sent to our family, our friends.” “I hate that we have to address this, but just to control the narrative, there’s been some crazy things said about us,” she added. And sometimes in life, two people are just at different points of their life.” Bueckers said their separation had not affected their ability to play together, noting that they had already spent an entire season as teammates after breaking up. They gave the eventual champion Golden State Valkyries a first-round scare, pushing the series to a deciding third game.
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