Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd are more than just mere teammates—they’re close friends too. In fact, the 2021 National Player of the Year spent a lot of time convincing her Fudd to join her at UConn. “We want to make each other better. I think that works on and off the court,” Bueckers shared, highlighting the chemistry they’ve had since their early teenage years. A couple of years later, their bond remains as strong as ever.

On November 22, Bueckers posted an $145.57 billion brand, Uber’s commercial on her official Instagram account, urging college students to sign up for rides at just $4.99 per month. “#UberPartner As a student-athlete, #UberOneForStudents helps get me where I need to go during basketball season. Sign up for Uber One for Students and get one month free. @uber #UberEats,” read the caption.

In the video, Bueckers is seen wearing a backpack, booking a cab, and getting inside the car before stepping out again in the next scene. One of UConn’s softball alums, Mackenzie Patrick, made a hilarious observation there as she penned, “Did you get out of Uber just to walk down the street?” It was a lighthearted moment, but what caught fans’ attention wasn’t the ad itself—it was the cab driver, which seemed to bring Bueckers the real consumers.

A brief glimpse of the driver led fans to speculate that it might be Azzi Fudd behind the wheel. It was Patrick again who seemed to have brought it up. “@azzi35 you still takin rides?” she dropped.

Soon, the resemblance from the side profile sparked plenty of chatter, and the comments section exploded with remarks like, “I want Azzi to be my Uber driver too!” and “I’ll use the membership every day if it means Azzi’s driving!” But the question remains: Was Fudd really Bueckers’ driver?

As of now, there’s no confirmation from the two Huskies stars, and it’s likely just fan speculation. But it still did gain Bueckers the potential audience. However, one thing Fudd did join Bueckers for recently wasn’t in a car.

It was back on the court

Last Thursday, Azzi Fudd made her highly anticipated return in front of a sellout crowd at Gampel Pavilion about nearly 373 days later. She had missed the start of the previous season due to anterior cruciate ligament and medial meniscus tears in her right knee. Naturally, Bueckers was there to support her.

The leader of the Huskies on the court, Bueckers, wasted no time finding Fudd. Inbounding the ball, Bueckers spotted the 21-year-old in the corner and passed it to her. The redshirt junior fired a three-pointer, though the shot fell just short, bouncing off the rim.“We kind of have a specific play we run to get a three in the corner, so obviously with Azzi checking in, I wanted to give her a look and hopefully have her make a three as soon as she checked in,” Bueckers explained.

While the arena may have been momentarily disappointed, the night wasn’t a letdown. Fudd contributed four points in UConn’s dominant 85-41 win over Fairleigh Dickinson. Though it might seem modest, it’s worth noting that she played only 12 minutes. Maybe we get to see more of this dynamic soon.