ARLINGTON, Texas — Azzi Fudd met with reporters Tuesday, about three weeks after arthroscopic surgery on her right knee ended her rookie season with the Dallas Wings.
The first overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft had the procedure in Connecticut, where she starred at UConn. Fudd is the second straight Huskies player the Wings have taken first overall, one year after Dallas drafted Paige Bueckers.
Dallas is going to its first postseason since 2023, and Fudd will be on the sideline for it.
“I’m going to try to be the best cheerleader I can on the side, the best teammate,” Fudd said. “I’m going to try to be their hype woman.”
At 24-16, the Wings have won four straight games and have already clinched their playoff spot. They have four regular-season games left.
In 30 games, Fudd averaged 13.1 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists. She shot 45.6% from the field, 39.7% from 3-point range, and 82.6% from the free-throw line.
Dallas brought her off the bench for the first six games of the season. She scored 24 points in the sixth one and started every game after that, finishing with 24 starts. Her season high was 26 points in a June win over the Seattle Storm.
On July 24 in Chicago, Fudd became the first rookie to win the WNBA 3-Point Contest, taking the final round 30-19. Twelve days later, on Aug. 5 against the Washington Mystics, she played her last game of the season.
Fudd said she has been in a good place mentally since the Wings announced Aug. 19 that she would have surgery and miss the rest of the season.
“Obviously not how I wanted my season to end,” Fudd explained. “I was definitely a little frustrated at first, but feel like I’ve handled this one really well, been in a great place mentally. Just knowing that this was the right decision gave me peace of mind.”
Azzi Fudd’s Knee Soreness Came Back After Going Away
Fudd missed the Wings’ May 12 home opener against the Atlanta Dream with a knee injury, then played in 30 consecutive games.
Early in the season, the soreness in her knee went away at first.
“Then it came back up and we tried to manage it, and it wasn’t manageable,” Fudd said.
Before an Aug. 7 home game against the Golden State Valkyries at American Airlines Center, Fudd went through warmups and felt soreness in her right knee. Dallas held her out of that game out of an abundance of caution. She was also out Aug. 9 at the Minnesota Lynx and Aug. 12 against the Toronto Tempo, and she had missed five straight games by the time the team announced the surgery.
In mid-August, Fudd was in the team’s return-to-play protocol. José Fernández, the Wings coach, said the process involved the front office, the team’s data scientists, strength and conditioning staff, and sports medicine staff.
“The most important thing is her health and her return to play and her longevity,” Fernández said.
The right knee has needed treatment before. Fudd tore the ACL and MCL in that knee in April 2019, while she was in high school. In November 2023, she tore the ACL and meniscus in the same knee during a UConn practice and missed the rest of the 2023-24 season.
What Azzi Fudd Took From Her First WNBA Season
Fudd and Bueckers won the 2025 national championship together at UConn before Bueckers was drafted by Dallas. Bueckers was the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year.
This season, Fudd averaged 1.7 steals and 0.8 blocks per game. Her steals average was the highest on the roster. In late July, Wings general manager Curt Miller said she had been one of the league’s elite guard defenders.
Fudd is proudest of how she managed everything in her first season and adjusted to the WNBA. Her defense is on that list too.
“Your rookie season is a lot, it’s a lot all at once,” Fudd said. “Being at UConn, you have lots of alums you get to talk to and pick their brains, but I feel like no matter how much you learn and know before going in, there’s nothing that can fully prepare you.”
“So I think it was definitely different coming in and experiencing it and being here for myself,” Fudd continued.
Dallas hosts the Los Angeles Sparks (15-25) at 7 p.m. CT Thursday at College Park Center. It is the Wings’ first game since the FIBA Women’s World Cup break, and it airs on USA Network and KFAA. Dallas has beaten Los Angeles twice this season, including a 90-82 win July 19 in Arlington.
