‘We’re still cool’: Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd confirm split and reject WNBA draft speculation

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.“Before we continue with anything else, Paige and I have something that we want to share with everyone,” Fudd said. “We are no longer together. 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.“We were not together before she got drafted,” Bueckers said. “So all of those narratives can go to bed. She was not drafted because she was my girlfriend. She was drafted because she deserved it. She’s an amazing human, amazing basketball player. And we’re still friends. 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 Associated Press 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.Paige Bueckers (left) and Azzi Fudd have confirmed they ended their romantic relationship more than a year ago but remain friends and teammates with the Dallas Wings. Photograph: Adam Davis/Icon Sportswire/Getty ImagesThe 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.“Quite frankly, I believe me and Azzi’s personal relationship is nobody’s business but our own, and what we choose to share is completely up to us,” she said.“Azzi Fudd was a 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 a basketball player, her resilience, her strength and her career-best year at UConn,” Bueckers added. “She should be celebrated as such.”The pair first met at a USA Basketball camp in 2017 and played together for four seasons at UConn, helping the Huskies end their nine-year NCAA title drought in 2025. 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.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“We’ve seen a lot of negativity. We’ve seen a lot of hate,” she said. “We’ve had stuff sent to us. 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. “Sometimes in life, there’s just seasons. And sometimes in life, two people are just at different points of their life.”Paige Bueckers (right) poses with former UConn teammate Azzi Fudd after the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis. The pair were reunited with the Dallas Wings in 2026. Photograph: Steph Chambers/Getty ImagesBueckers 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.“We’re the utmost professional,” she said. “We care about basketball and we’re still friends.”Dallas finished the regular season with a franchise-record 27 wins, a 17-game improvement from the previous year, and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2023. They gave the eventual champion Golden State Valkyries a first-round scare, pushing the series to a deciding third game.Bueckers earned her second consecutive All-Star selection, while Fudd averaged 13.1 points in 30 games as a rookie and shot 39.7% from three-point range. Fudd’s season ended prematurely because of a right knee injury that required surgery.Bueckers said the two would continue to support each other as friends and teammates.“We still support each other. We are still going to be great friends. We are going to be great teammates. We are going to be professionals,” she said. “At the end of the day, we still care about each other and want the best for each other.”