The Dallas Wings made UConn superstar Azzi Fudd their top pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft, but subsequently made waves by prohibiting reporters to ask her about her personal relationship to their other star, Paige Bueckers.
Basketball fans were pretty annoyed by this decision. While it may not be any of our business what the relationship between Fudd and Bueckers is, banning reporters from asking about it outright is a little too far.
For ESPN's Sage Steele, it's downright terrible. She took to X yesterday and reposted a user who argued that Caitlin Clark gets asked "how she's going to end racism" yet reporters aren't allowed to ask basic personal questions to Fudd.
"Yall ok with reporters constantly ask Caitlin Clark how she’s going to end racism but they can’t ask Azzi Fudd about her girlfriend? who she is teammates with and the whole world already knows? 😂 fake activism," the user wrote.
Steele reposted it with a "100" emoji.
Fact or Fiction?
To be honest, it's a bit of a straw man argument. While Clark has been asked to weigh in on her thoughts on contentious social issues, she's never been asked to "end racism." She has, however, been repeatedly asked to weigh in on internet trolls who attempt to use her to push their own narratives.
Nevertheless, it does raise the issue of the WNBA trying to control media narratives through picking and choosing what's appropriate for players to talk about.
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Ultimately, it’s really not anyone’s business what the personal relationship between Fudd and Bueckers is like. Until we actually see the two of them play basketball together in the WNBA, questions like that don’t have a whole lot of value other than trying to stir up gossip.
