Paige Bueckers Says She and Azzi Fudd Split Over a Year Ago

Paige Bueckers wanted to put a number on it. 'It's been a while,' she said on 'Fudd Around and Find Out' on Friday. 'Like, over a year.' The two WNBA teammates had just told the public, for the first time, that they were no longer a couple.

Bueckers and Azzi Fudd, both starters for the Dallas Wings, announced the breakup on an episode of Fudd's podcast released November 6, 2026. The relationship had been public since Bueckers disclosed it at a July 2025 media event. By the time Fudd joined Dallas as the No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft, Bueckers said, the two had already ended things.

She went straight at the loudest question. 'She was not drafted because she was my girlfriend,' Bueckers said. 'She was drafted because she deserved it.' The Wings had bypassed Olivia Miles, the pre-draft consensus No. 1, to select Fudd. That decision landed in a media environment still processing the fact that the two players were publicly dating. Bueckers is now on record saying that context was wrong.

A Season Played in Secret

The 2026 WNBA season ran from May through September. Fudd played 30 games before a knee injury ended her rookie year. Dallas finished as the seventh seed and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2023. Bueckers finished sixth in MVP voting. Through all of it, neither player confirmed that the relationship had ended. By Bueckers' account, they had been broken up since before Fudd's first game as a Wing.

We broke up over a year ago, so we played an entire season together. We're the utmost professional. We care about basketball, and we're still friends, we're still cool.
Paige Bueckers on "Fudd Around and Find Out," November 6, 2026, per Awful Announcing

Fudd kept her statement short. According to BroBible, she told listeners they were aware of the curiosity and had addressed what they needed to, adding that 'the rest will stay with us.' She also asked fans to stop sending each player information about the other.

What Changed and What Did Not

The two are under contract with the same franchise for 2027. Bueckers said they remain friends and that neither has let anything off the court carry onto it. That framing is consistent with what Dallas's season log shows: Fudd averaged respectable numbers in her 30 games before the injury, and nothing in public reporting from that period suggested professional friction between the two.

What is different now is the public record. The 'nepotism draft' story was a persistent narrative from April through September. Bueckers has now named it and disputed it. That does not settle the question for everyone, but it is the most direct statement anyone connected to the decision has made. Fudd was selected by Wings management, not by Bueckers personally, and Bueckers is not speaking for the front office. Her 'she deserved it' claim is her own read, not evidence of the front office's criteria.

The Case Against Reading Too Much Into the Timing

The announcement came in the offseason, on a podcast controlled by one of the two people involved, with no press questions. That is a media move, not a confession booth. The couple chose the moment, the platform, and how much to say. Bueckers acknowledged they were not required to share any of it. The managed nature of the reveal does not make the substance false, but it is worth noting that this is not the same as a neutral disclosure.

Bueckers also said something that functions as a reframe rather than a denial: 'Sometimes in life there are just seasons. And sometimes in life, two people are just at different points of their life.' That is a graceful statement. It is also not an explanation of what happened or when.

What is known: they broke up, by their own account over a year ago. They played a full WNBA season as teammates. They are both still on the roster. Dallas has not commented. The 2027 season begins in spring.

Ad Watch News is an independent commentary site with no affiliation with Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, the Dallas Wings, or the WNBA.

Paige Bueckers Says She and Azzi Fudd Split Over a Year Ago

A Season Played in Secret

What Changed and What Did Not

The Case Against Reading Too Much Into the Timing

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