04/27/26 03:00:00
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04/27 14:58 CDT Paige Bueckers says it's all business with Azzi Fudd as they
try to win with the Dallas Wings
Paige Bueckers says it's all business with Azzi Fudd as they try to win with
the Dallas Wings
By SCHUYLER DIXON
AP Sports Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) --- Dallas Wings star Paige Bueckers said her
relationship with teammate and fellow No. 1 overall pick Azzi Fudd will have no
effect on what they do on the court as they try to turn around a franchise with
a long history of losing.
Bueckers made a statement before taking questions from reporters during media
day for the Wings on Monday at the University of Texas at Arlington, where the
WNBA team plays home games.
The statement from Bueckers came 11 days after the Wings wouldn't let Fudd
answer a question about her relationship with her former UConn teammate during
Fudd's introductory news conference in Dallas.
The two went public with their relationship last year, after winning a national
championship together in Bueckers' final season at UConn, and haven't addressed
the status of that relationship since the draft.
"Quite frankly, I believe me and Azzi's personal relationship is nobody's
business but our own," Bueckers said. "And what we choose to share is
completely up to us. But as media members, I understand you guys have a job to
do. And you guys have to ask questions about the basketball aspect of it. So
that's what I'll be addressing today."
Bueckers, the reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year, said the Wings drafting Fudd
had nothing to do with her. After winning a title with Bueckers, Fudd's UConn
team lost to South Carolina in the Final Four this month.
"Me and Azzi have always been the utmost professionals," Bueckers said. "We've
always conducted ourselves as such. And we've never let anything that happens
off the court carry onto the court."
Fudd met with reporters about two hours before Bueckers did on media day and
wasn't asked about the relationship.
Bueckers was a three-time Associated Press All-American at UConn, and Fudd
joined that list last season. They were together for three seasons with the
Huskies.
"Me and Azzi are not new to this," Bueckers said. "We've been doing this for a
long time. We have countless reps at it. We have a lot of experience with it.
So we will continue to use that experience to show up and be professionals,
great teammates, great leaders, the hardest workers and continue to show up and
do our job and help the Dallas Wings win basketball games."
When Fudd was introduced, Wings general manager Curt Miller said the club
didn't hesitate on a decision that added to an already elite backcourt with
Bueckers and four-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale.
"Since the moment we secured the No. 1 pick, we set out on a plan to be
deliberate, thorough, with intention, on evaluating where we got to ultimately
in picking Azzi Fudd," Miller said. "We traveled all over the world watching
this incredible draft class, but it all came back always to Azzi."
Bueckers was a runaway winner for the rookie award after averaging 19.2 points,
5.4 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game. But the Wings tied for last place in the
WNBA, and their 34 losses were twice as many as Bueckers experienced in four
seasons combined at UConn. It was the 13th losing record in the past 16 seasons
for the franchise.
"The way she goes about things, she always sees it as a challenge, as an
opportunity to grow," Fudd said earlier this month. "So last year it was, she's
not used to losing, but how can she take those losses, continue to grow,
continue to be a great leader, make everyone around her better. So if I can
adopt anything from her, that's definitely one of the things that I want to
kind of use for myself."
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