WNBA team's public relations staff shuts down reporter's question about players' relationship
The Dallas Wings selected Azzi Fudd with the No. 1 pick, reuniting the UConn alum with Paige Bueckers, who confirmed they were a couple last summer.
One year after selecting Paige Bueckers with the first overall pick, the Dallas Wings had the No. 1 pick again in this week's WNBA Draft, and they selected fellow UConn alum Azzi Fudd.
The selection is much more than just an on-court improvement, however — last summer, Bueckers confirmed that she and Fudd were a couple.
The two have been relatively quiet about their relationship, prompting Kevin Sherrington, a Dallas Morning News columnist, to ask Fudd in her introductory press conference if they were still an item.
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On the precipice of that question, Sherrington also asked Fudd if she and Bueckers would talk to "other couples in the league about how they negotiate that dynamic as pro teammates."
Fudd was not given a chance to answer, as a staffer for the Wings public relations team butted in.
"I understand why you have to ask that question, but we're going to respectfully decline from commenting on players' personal lives," the staffer said.
Sherrington placed blame on the Wings in a column.
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"Refusing to acknowledge whether players are still in a relationship after one of them went public about it a year ago suggests they’ve done something wrong, feeding an ugly narrative. What are we afraid of here? What are we saying when we try to hide something already out in the open?" he wrote.
"If anyone’s at fault here, it’s the Wings, who invited the obvious question by drafting Fudd when they had other options, then acted as if they were covering for something that didn’t need hiding. Bueckers and Fudd didn’t deserve this. No matter what their status from here on out, I wish them better luck."
Players in the WNBA have dated each other as both teammates and opponents. Notably, Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley got married while playing with the Chicago Sky.
It's unknown how long Fudd and Bueckers have, or had, been dating, but at the very least, they were teammates from 2021 up until last April, when Bueckers was drafted. But they have now reunited.
The duo played in two national championship games together, winning last year's — Bueckers joined the school one year prior to Fudd.
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