CHICAGO — Azzi Fudd walked into Wintrust Arena on Friday night as the only first-year player in a six-player field and walked out with something the 12 previous editions of the WNBA 3-Point Contest had never produced. She became the first rookie champion and the first former UConn player to win the competition.
Fudd, the first overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft, scored 30 points in the State Farm championship. Bridget Carleton, who led the first round with 27, needed all 30 to force a playoff and finished at 19. Friday's top scorers were Rhyne Howard (20), Janelle Salaün (19), Marina Mabrey (18), and Natisha Hiedeman (17).
No rookie had ever scored 30 in a round. Howard's old mark was 24 in 2022. Fudd matched 24 and then surpassed it. Only two other first-year players were invited: Kelsey Mitchell with 16 in 2018, and Sonia Citron with 19 last summer.
A Stroke Her Parents Rebuilt
Fudd credited her parents for helping her to stay disciplined with her shooting mechanics throughout her basketball career, emphasizing a consistent foundation and attention to detail.
"It's really all credit to them—the time and effort they put into helping me stay disciplined and build a good foundation with my shot," Fudd said. "Without them instilling that repetition and attention to detail, it wouldn't be the same."
That foundation gained national exposure at 15, when she was one of the first two girls invited to Stephen Curry's camp.
"I was really nervous, but also excited because it was so much fun to be at that camp and to be one of the first two girls there," Fudd said. "Shooting against the boys, it's always a little extra something when you get to beat the boys."
Eight years later, holding a trophy, she went looking for a sequel.
"Steph, if you're listening, I've been asking for a rematch since high school, so maybe it's time to figure out a time and place," Fudd said.
Azzi Fudd scored 30 to begin the final round. pic.twitter.com/SHuVpAUNTg
— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) July 25, 2026
Injuries Made It Automatic
The mechanics that survived owe much to the years Fudd was immobile. Her UConn career was repeatedly interrupted by injuries, and her shooting in between was mostly from a chair.
"Honestly, I feel like it goes back to coming back from injuries," Fudd said. "It was a lot of chair shooting, a lot of stationary shots, so you get really good at shooting off a rack and being stationary and robotic and having your shot down pat."
Which is to say a rack format asks her for the one thing she has repeated more than anything else.
"It really is muscle memory. It's fun because—I don't want to sound cocky and say it's easy for me—but the set shot, taking the ball from the rack and shooting, it's really muscle memory," Fudd said. "It's what I've been doing since I was young, so I get to come here and do what I do every day."
She also entered this one upright. Past shooting competitions came with a walking boot attached.
"It feels great. It was a lot lighter without the boot," Fudd said.
Inside the Final Round
Fudd drew the first slot in the championship round, which she would have picked given the choice.
"You get your nerves out of the way. My hands were all sweaty, and then you don't have to think about it," Fudd said. "In the first round, I had to watch the first two people go and think about my shot and wonder, 'Am I going to miss it? Am I going to make it?' But once you get it done, there's nothing you can do."
She emptied the left-corner rack without a miss and stopped keeping track after that.
"When I'm shooting, I'm just thinking about making sure my feet are set, my follow-through is the same, and everything feels good," Fudd said. "When you're locked in, you're just thinking, 'Same thing, same thing,' not necessarily about what's happening. I was just locked in, in the zone—next ball, next ball."
Six shots missed across both rounds, and time left on the clock in each. Fudd thought the six was too many.
"You said I only missed six shots? That feels like a lot. I feel like I should've made more," Fudd said.
What the Night Paid
The trophy included $70,000, comprising $30,000 in league pay (with $10,000 for entry and $20,000 for winning), under the new collective bargaining agreement. The WNBPA contributed the remaining $40,000 from a fund supported by Aflac.
Union prize money for both Friday events increased to $170,000 from $115,000 last summer, marking the first time some funds go to shooters who don't win. Second place received a total of $40,000, with third earning $25,000. Starting in 2024, the WNBPA began adding to purses while striving for the NBA's $60,000 winner's share. This gap was broader under previous agreements, when a WNBA contest winner received only $2,575.
Shooting Stars, a new event built around three-person teams of a current player, a retired great, and a Nike EYBL prospect, accounted for the remaining $85,000. Front Office Sports reported this week that the union and Aflac had yet to settle on a formula for dividing it, with players in line for roughly $7,500 apiece and $15,000 more for the winning side. Elena Delle Donne, Shakira Austin, and GG Banks took that one for Washington.
Fudd's plans for her share are modest.
"First I'm going to save it, and then maybe at the end of the season take a vacation," Fudd said. "I feel like my family and I need a vacation."
Team Washington is your 2026 @Kia Shooting Stars champions ‼️
— NBA (@NBA) July 25, 2026
pic.twitter.com/etU8Dn0sHx
Quigley's Four
Allie Quigley won this event four times, a total nobody in either league has matched. Fudd said she had never stopped to consider it.
"I never thought about that, but maybe. That would be a pretty cool record to break," Fudd said. "It's impressive that she's won four times."
Nobody from UConn is known to have won it before her, either, which caught her off guard.
"Wow. Again, definitely honored. That's crazy. I don't know. I'm speechless," Fudd said.
Through 26 games, Fudd is scoring 13.2 points a night on 38.7% shooting from behind the arc, with 53 3-pointers made, and Dallas sits at 18-9 at the break. A contest built on stationary repetition suited a shooter who has done little else since childhood; the version with defenders in it resumes Wednesday against the Atlanta Dream.
