After many eons of speculation and countless fan edits, U-Conn basketball star Azzi Fudd has gone ahead and made it clear that she is indeed in a relationship with Dallas Wings rookie and #1 draft pick Paige Bueckers. On Fudd’s Instagram stories today she posted a mirror selfie while getting her hair done. Her phone case reads: “Paige Bueckers’ Girlfriend.” Fudd has also consistently sported a rainbow emoji in her insta bio.

honestly, huge for @haylesloganhair

“I’m so happy!” said Coach Jackie on TikTok. “They were best friends and then obviously started dating and I think because they were friends they did all the things that two girlfriends would do and every single time they did those things, everyone would be like awww BFFs! Like they literally could kiss on the mouth, and everyone would be like, that is so nice that they do that for each other as friends.”

Way back in May, many fans noticed what appeared to be a Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd soft launch. Shyanne Sellers and her fiancee, Faith Masonius, participated in the dinner bill meme, and then on May 23rd, Azzi posted her and Paige doing the same meme. Azzi asks Paige, “how much was it?” Paige says “$200,” Azzi says, “that’s not that bad,” and then Paige gives her a look because of course she is the one paying, not Azzi. Azzi captioned the video, “princess treatment every time I’m with her.” In the comments, Paige favorited fans who shared sentiments such as “at least Paige is winning off the court” and “sooo thoughtful azzi’s former teammate paid for their bill she’s so kind.”

Elsewhere on #wagtok, Dallas Wings player Tyasha Harris’s girlfriend, Autumn Patrice, jumped on the meme as well.

On Tiktok, women’s sports creator Shenae posted about her deep investment in Paige and Azzi’s relationship and how it made her wish she was a lesbian, and a commenter wrote, “I hope this blows up so Azzi sees it and sneaky favorited it LOL” and indeed, it did blow up, and Azzi did, in fact, sneaky favorite it.

Across the web, self-identified “Pazziators” celebrated what they saw as a hard launch of their favorite and most beloved partnership. “They’re always together, they’re always making content together, they were always giving ‘we’re a couple’ without saying ‘we’re a couple,” explained TikToker @thebaddiegalore.

To sportscasters, Azzi is simply Paige’s “former teammate.” To straight people, Azzi and Paige are “best friends.” But many wondered, what constitutes a hard launch or even a soft launch? Is it a girl taking another to the WNBA draft as, seemingly, her date? Is it that same date wearing a golden necklace, featuring a heart and the player’s number, around your neck? Is it participating in a couples-oriented meme on TikTok? Well, it definitely is a phone case that literally says “Paige Bueckers’ girlfriend.”

The two exceptional basketball players have been best friends for years, having met in high school at a USA basketball camp and played together on youth national teams. Bueckers, who hails from Minnesota, headed to the University of Connecticut for college, where Azzi, who grew up in the D.C. area, joined her a year later. “We’re similar, but at the same time very different,” Fudd told the CT Insider in 2021. “I’m quieter, she’s louder, but we have a lot of the same qualities: our work ethic, our goals.”

The longevity and depth of this friendship, their ages, and the amount of time they’ve spent together as young basketball phenoms, traveling across the country and being teammates on a championship team — this is a friends-and-lovers story for the ages. We look forward to seeing them go on double dates with Buecker’s teammates D’Jonai Carrington and Nalyssa Smith, wouldn’t that be cute?

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