Veteran Reporter Accuses WNBA of Pressuring Reporters to Ignore Fudd-Bueckers Relationship

Pearlman framed the situation as an “amazing” tale of young love and on-court chemistry, while acknowledging the risk of pairing romantic partners in a high-stakes professional environment.

The relationship between Bueckers and Fudd, who played together at UConn and publicly confirmed their romance in 2025, has drawn limited mainstream attention despite Bueckers attending the draft to support Fudd. One outlet, People magazine, did reference it directly in its draft coverage. Even in the headline.

“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,” Pearlman added.

“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.”

Fudd was, by no stretch of the imagination, a guaranteed number-one pick in the WNBA draft, which makes one wonder whether the deciding factor for the Wings was to make their star, Bueckers, happy.

Any media blackout is almost assuredly not about the relationship itself. The WNBA and ESPN would be thrilled to highlight the couple.

In reality, some critics maintain that the Fudd selection has shades of the Los Angeles Lakers drafting Bronny James to placate LeBron situation. Except Fudd is a legitimate WNBA player, whereas Bronny isn’t anywhere near NBA-caliber. And Dallas likely doesn’t want to share the embarrassment of being manipulated into a particular draft pick, as the Lakers were.

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