Imago
Photo by Allen Kee / ESPN Images
Imago
Photo by Allen Kee / ESPN Images
At the WNBA Draft Paige walked right past her UConn teammates to where Azzi sat alone. Before Fudd could say a word, Paige whispered, “I’m mic’ed up.” And Azzi immediately got it — no explanation needed. That kind of shorthand doesn’t just come from friendship. What really raised eyebrows that night, though. It was the entire visual. Not just side-by-side, but in sync. The rhinestones. The silhouettes. The complementing glam. Fans called it chemistry. Brittany Hampton, who styled Paige, Azzi, and Cameron Brink for the night, calls it cohesion. And as she now reveals, none of it was accidental.
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When Paige Bueckers said she wanted to be “blinged out” for the WNBA Draft, Brittany Hampton knew she wasn’t asking for subtle. “She knew that she wanted like rhinestones and like just be iced out,” Hampton recalled. “So I was like, ‘Okay, like we’re going to go full throttle.’” But while the vision was bold, Hampton had one condition. “In my mind I was like, ‘I’m down to do that but like I don’t want you to just look like a boy that’s like iced out in the draft. I need you to look like a rock star.” That meant full glam extensions, dramatic makeup, and a Christopher Esber dress that didn’t even make the shortlist until the very end. “That was also same situation — the last dress that she tried on. We had tried on everything else on the rack,” Hampton added.
The styling process wasn’t just about Paige. It was about cohesion, because the plan was always to style her and Azzi Fudd as a pair. “We also knew that like they were going together, right? We knew they had to be a duo no matter what, ’cause the pictures were going to go viral,” she said. And Fudd, just like Bueckers, was all in. “She said the same thing. She was like, ‘What should I do with my hair?’ And I was like, ‘You really want to know?’” Hampton told her to go for a “little bust out” — a look they both committed to. “If we’re going to go for it, we’re going to go for it. And they ate it up. She ate it up.” And there was one final detail Hampton added — casually, almost as an afterthought, that shifted how people saw the entire night.
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Brittany wrapped it up with a grin — “So that’s why they’re besties”. Not sure if people are buying that, though. As soon as Cathy Engelbert announced Paige as the #1 pick headed to Dallas, Paige hugged her “bestie” with the sincerest passion. This was just one night, but truthfully, none of it read like just friendship. And what followed soon after only deepened that feeling.
WNBA rookie gives her stamp as Azzi Fudd hard launches Paige Bueckers’ romance
On Saturday, Azzi Fudd posted a mirror selfie to her Instagram Story while getting her hair done. Dressed in a robe and holding her phone at her side, the post looked ordinary — until fans zoomed in. Her phone case read: “Paige Bueckers’ girlfriend.” It wasn’t subtle, and it wasn’t up for interpretation. After months of speculation, screenshots, and close-read caption theories, this one left little to decode.
Connecticut Sun rookie Saniya Rivers saw it too — and didn’t miss a beat. During a TikTok Live that same day, she said, “The story thing was real cute. I thought some of the superfans had photoshopped it and put that on her case, but no. That was cute, that was real cute.” Rivers’ reaction echoed what much of the fanbase felt: a mix of surprise, validation, and finally, clarity. For the first time, the signal didn’t come through edits, outfits, or offhand glances. It came straight from Fudd’s own story.
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Edited by
Shreya Singh