Azzi Fudd sits out Wings’ home opener with right knee injury

Azzi Fudd’s first professional game came and went without the WNBA’s No. 1 overall draft pick making a significant impact.

Her first professional home game will come and go without her playing at all.

Fudd missed the Dallas Wings’ home opener Tuesday with a right knee injury, the team announced prior to tipoff against the Atlanta Dream. The former UConn All-American logged only 18 minutes off the bench in the team’s season opener at Indiana over the weekend, but Wings coach Jose Fernandez didn’t discuss whether that limited workload was a reflection of issues with a joint that has been surgically repaired twice before.

“Well, I’m not going to get into the minutes situation on the opening night,” Fernandez told reporters in Dallas during his pregame media availability. “Out of an abundance of caution and her long-term health, we’re keeping her out tonight.”

The first-year Wings coach also didn’t offer any specifics on the injury, but told reporters that no concerns regarding the knee arose during the predraft evaluation process. Fudd first tore her right ACL and MCL in April 2019 at a USA Basketball event and then tore the same ACL and her medial meniscus during a UConn practice in November 2023. She missed the remainder of that season.

“I’m not going to discuss anything medically in regards to her or what she has done in practice or what she hasn’t done in practice,” he said. “She’s a big part of this team. There’s a reason why we drafted her No. 1. And she’s going to have a great season for the Wings.”

Fudd scored just three points in that season-opening win over the Indiana Fever after scoring 1,687 over the course of her UConn career. She is expected to be a centerpiece for the Wings — and, really, the entire league — after being selected first overall and rejoining her former UConn teammate, Paige Bueckers, in Texas.

At least according to her head coach, Fudd is being duly patient with this latest bump.

“She was great,” Fernandez said. “Was on my way here and we had a very good phone call. The most important thing for her, like I said, it’s a long season, she just finished playing a long season, and we have to put her in the best positions to be successful.”

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Dallas Wings, WNBA

2026 The Athletic Media Company