The Dallas Wings had the top overall pick in the WNBA Draft each of the past two offseasons and used those picks to select players who have quite a history together in Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd.
In 2025, the decision was clear-cut (though not without its own drama). UConn’s Paige Bueckers had been seen as a generational prospect since she was in high school. But this spring, most WNBA reporters presumed Dallas would select raw Spanish forward Awa Fam or TCU’s Olivia Miles, more natural fits next to Bueckers, a scoring guard.
The Wings surprised many by instead drafting Azzi Fudd, also of UConn, and who, perhaps not coincidentally, was publicly revealed last year to be dating Bueckers.
But if you followed the coverage of the WNBA Draft, that fact was scarcely mentioned. In a new video on his TikTok account, longtime sports reporter Jeff Pearlman questioned what happened behind the scenes that would lead top reporters to ignore what he called “the number one story” coming off the Wings’ selection.
“Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers are in a long-term relationship, and nobody’s mentioning it. And the WNBA clearly has asked people not to mention it. And it’s very journalistically confusing to me,” he said.
“Like, it is fascinating that these two people who have been dating for a long time, dating back to college, would be the starting backcourt for a team. To me, that is actually the number one piece of this story. It’s not just that they drafted Azzi Fudd, they drafted Azzi Fudd to play with her longtime partner, Paige Bueckers.”
@jeffpearlmanauthor Why is the media not covering Azzi Fudd and Page Bueckers in a journalistic manner? #wnba #azzifudd #pagebueckers #dallaswings ♬ original sound – Jeff Pearlman
Jeff Pearlman noted that the relationship between Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers was not addressed on ESPN’s broadcast of the draft, or in print write-ups about the Wings’ pick from ESPN.com, The Athletic, or the Dallas Morning News.
The clear pattern in coverage led Pearlman to speculate that either the WNBA or the players’ agents is demanding that the relationship not be mentioned. But, he argued, such a mandate would only reinforce the outdated “taboo” around LGBT relationships in sports.
“Either the agents of these players or the league itself is telling reporters, if you want access, do not mention this. Don’t bring it up,” he explained.
“I actually think it’s more of an unfair judgment of women, not to mention it. Like, why is this taboo? Why are two women in a relationship even remotely taboo in 2026? It shouldn’t be at all.
“Is that a sign of the times, is that the political world we live in? I don’t understand. But to me … it’s the number one story, that the Wings have taken this roll-of-the-dice on this. Hopefully it’ll work. What happens when you have two people, you reunite them together, they’re in the same backcourt, but they also date, and they love each other, and blah, blah, blah, young love. It’s an amazing, amazing story.”
If there was a mandate, it didn’t stop everyone from chattering. Notably, the People article on Azzi Fudd going to Dallas had no issue stating the obvious about her relationship with Paige Bueckers. A busy WNBA Reddit thread questioned the status of the relationship, given that it was ignored by the media and by Fudd herself in interviews.
Of course, there is a chance that Fudd and Bueckers have broken up, and that is why media outlets are ignoring the story. But Bueckers was at the draft as a show of support for Fudd on Monday night in New York City, and was seen throughout UConn’s eventful run in the NCAA tournament. And if they have broken up, the story arguably gets even more relevant to WNBA and Wings coverage.
Typically, players’ personal relationships are left to tabloids or online gossip. But it is rare for a team’s best players to openly be in a relationship.
If they are together, Pearlman’s questions are only the tip of the iceberg regarding what happened around the draft and how this glaringly obvious element of the Dallas franchise’s future is covered going forward by WNBA media and local reporters alike.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.