Underrated Azzi Fudd skill gets coach’s praise after brutal injury

The rookie campaign of Dallas Wings star guard Azzi Fudd has come to an abrupt end after she was ruled out for the remainder of the 2026 campaign. Fudd needs to go under the knife to address a right knee injury, with an arthroscopic procedure scheduled for next week.

Fudd’s injury is a big blow to the Wings’ season. She was among those counted on by Dallas to deliver the goods on offense, but head coach Jose Fernandez also brought up her significant role on defense.

“Azzi brought so much on the defensive end because she had the assignment to guard the other team’s best perimeter player,” Fernandez said just before the Wings’ game versus Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on Thursday (h/t Myah Taylor of the Dallas Morning News).

For now, the Wings will have to find elsewhere the production and defensive tenacity the 2026 WNBA Draft’s top pick provided before going down with the injury. Entering Thursday, the Wings are sixth overall in the league with a 110.1 offensive rating and seventh with a 107.7 defensive rating.

In the 30 games she played for the Wings in the 2026 campaign, Fudd put up averages of 13.1 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists. To Fernandez’s point, Fudd is fifth in the WNBA with 1.7 steals per outing and averaged 0.8 blocks per game.

Without Azzi Fudd, the Wings’ road to the playoffs just got tougher, with the team precariously sitting on the edge of the league’s postseason picture with a 20-16 record (eighth in the standings) going into the Fever showdown.

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