Something rarely seen in sports emerged over the past four WNBA seasons, with two teams getting back-to-back No. 1 picks in the annual draft, starting with the Indiana Fever selecting Aliyah Boston in 2022. They followed that up by adding a second All-Star in 2023 when they won the sweepstakes for heralded college basketball record-breaker Caitlin Clark. However, the Dallas Wings may have one-upped them, drafting former UConn teammates Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd back-to-back.
Fudd was the most recent first pick and is quite familiar playing alongside or against Boston and Clark. She recently appeared in an interview in which she was asked what makes Clark such a special player, and Fudd shared candid thoughts on what she's witnessed. "I mean it's hard to be able to do what she's doing is difficult, so to see her create the way that she is, to hit the shots that she's hitting, to play with that poise, it's impressive and then to also know that she's been doing it for so long," Fudd said.
More news: Dallas Wings Receive Devastating Azzi Fudd Injury Update Fudd said you can see the growth in Clark's game since she's joined the WNBA, but she'd previously witnessed her talents in AAU. "I honestly feel like Caitlin is similar to how she is now. Obviously, she's grown in her game and her confidence, but she was still that 3-point shooter.
She was still super competitive. She was still, yeah, fun to play with," she said in praising Clark. Clark has been making WNBA history and breaking records in a season in which the Fever have been among the top teams.
Clark is being mentioned among the WNBA MVP contenders along with Fever teammate Kelsey Mitchell and reigning MVP A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces. Fudd is looking to improve her game as well, but will have to wait for the next WNBA season to continue playing. The UConn great had to end her season early to undergo an arthroscopic procedure to address her ongoing knee soreness, but will still be with her team.
She called it "difficult" to watch from the sidelines as her Wings teammates push towards the WNBA Playoffs and is doing whatever she can to "cheer them on" from the bench as they play. "It's hard when you see that they're doing everything they can and you can't go out there and help them," she admitted. That said, Fudd believes the Wings' ceiling is very high ahead of a potential playoff series and said that they're "in a great place moving forward." That seems incredibly accurate, as the Wings have become a playoff team in an impressive turnaround this season after being tied for the WNBA's worst record last season.
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