Dallas Wings rookie guard Azzi Fudd is set to make the first start of her WNBA career.
Wings head coach Jose Fernandez confirmed Thursday that Fudd, the franchise’s No. 1 overall pick of the 2026 WNBA Draft, will start Thursday in Dallas against the Las Vegas Aces. Although several starters turned up on the injury report ahead of Thursday’s game, Fernandez said it was always the plan for Fudd to start.
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“Azzi (Fudd) was going to start regardless,” Fernandez said during his pregame media availability on Thursday. “So if everybody was healthy, our starting lineup was going to be (Paige Bueckers), Azzi (Fudd), Arike (Ogunbowale), (Alanna Smith) and Jessica (Shepard).”
According to the league’s latest injury update, Ogunbowale is questionable due to an illness, although Fernandez said her status will ultimately come down to a pregame workout. Smith is also battling an illness and has been ruled out. Maddy Siegrist will start in Smith’s place.
Dallas Wings guard Azzi Fudd drives to the basket.
Fudd is coming off a career-best 24 point performance in the Wings’ 91-76 win over the New York Liberty on May 24, which reaffirms to fans “why we took her number one” in the draft, Fernandez said. Fudd recorded five of her six 3-pointers in the third quarter, marking the most in a single quarter by a rookie in WNBA history.
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“Obviously to keep shooting, but that’s what I’ve been hearing the last however many games I’ve been playing,” Fudd said after the win on Sunday. “They’ve been instilling confidence in me even when I’ve been missing all my 3s. So to have them believe in me when I was missing and then to finally make some tonight felt really good.”
Bueckers said it “was only a matter of time” for Fudd to find her way.
“It takes time as a rookie to get your legs under you, your feet going and just to get some experience and some reps at it … we knew the breakout was coming,” Bueckers added.
Fudd started both preseason games for the Wings, but shifted to the bench for the first six games of the season, a move that sparked lots of conversation about the Wings rotation. Fudd is averaging 11.0 points, 1.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 23.8 minutes off the bench, but her minutes have steadily increased. She played a career-high 32 minutes in the Wings’ win over the Liberty on Sunday, which Fernandez called a great sign.
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“Her minutes have increased game by game,” Fernandez said of Fudd on Sunday. “I’m really proud of her… What I like about her that she’s now creating off the ground and she has vision getting others involved as well.”
When asked if he was considering inserting Fudd into the starting lineup, Fernandez added, “We’re headed that direction. I think it showed with her being on the floor and what she did, she started in the second half.”
Reach USA TODAY National Women’s Sports Reporter Cydney Henderson at chenderson@gannett.com and follow her on X at @CydHenderson.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Azzi Fudd set to make first WNBA start for Dallas Wings
