Paige Bueckers called playing with Azzi Fudd a “dream come true” after the Wings’ first practice of the new WNBA season, days after a team media relations staffer had shut down a question about their romantic relationship.
The moment during Thursday’s introductory press conference for Fudd drew renewed attention to the star guard and Buecker’s off-court connection. But the focus on Sunday was on their on-court dynamic between the now-teammates, after the Wings selected Fudd with the first overall pick in last Monday’s WNBA draft.
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“Obviously, we have a lot of experience going back to, shoot, when we were like 16 playing together. I know her game really well, she knows my game really well, so to be able to be back in this stage to live out our dreams,” Bueckers told reporters. “This is stuff we talked about since we were freshmen in high school. Being at this stage, we got to be together in college, we got to play together at the junior Olympic level, now we get to play in the WNBA together, it’s just a dream come true.”
Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers pose for a photo on the orange carpet during the 2026 WNBA draft on April 13, 2026. NBAE via Getty Images
The two have known each other since they were teens at USA Basketball’s U16 national team camp back in 2017.
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They played college ball together at UConn and were teammates when the Huskies won the national championship in 2025.
Bueckers went first overall to Dallas in last year’s WNBA draft, while Fudd played her senior season for UConn, averaging 17.3 points per game and helping the Huskies reach the Women’s Final Four.
Connecticut Huskies guard Azzi Fudd (35) and Connecticut Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) celebrate after the game against the Louisville Cardinals on Dec. 7, 2024. Lucas Boland / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
“In terms of the basketball aspect of it, she just affects the game in so many different ways,” Bueckers said about Fudd. “Obviously, everybody talks about her shooting, but it’s her ability to slash, to cut, her IQ. Defensively, she disrupts a lot of stuff. … Her game has so many aspects to it, it provides us with so many different things to do offensively and defensively in terms of versatility. Just having her on the floor, she’s a 40-plus percent three-point shooter, so to have that spacing, too, just with her presence. She’ll do a lot of great things for us.”
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The two talented hoopers are sure to help the Wings improve from last season, where they went 10-34.
Bueckers confirmed the pair were in a relationship during an interview with “WAG Talk” in July and the two appeared in an interview on “Close Friends Only with Instagram” the following month.
