StudBudz showed what WNBA All-Star Weekend is all about: 'We're going to have a fun time'

Indianapolis Star

2 days ago

INDIANAPOLIS – A 72-hour livestream hosted by two Minnesota Lynx players this weekend has shown what players have known all along: WNBA players come to All-Star weekend to have fun, not necessarily win.
StudBudz is a Twitch stream hosted by Courtney Williams, a 2025 All-Star, and Natisha Hiedeman. They built a following of more than 20,000 subscribers by streaming frequently, including after practice and games. During All-Star weekend in Indianapolis, they committed to an uninterrupted, 72-hour stream.
Of course, that means fans get to see just about every single thing an All-Star does throughout the weekend. And fans learned that it's a lot of partying.
'What if we do that normally, and you just never saw it?' Fever star Caitlin Clark said in response to a question asking about how the players are staying out later than normal.
Brands, agencies and other sponsors host a countless number of events and parties throughout the weekend, and make no mistake, players are happy to take part in it.
The StudBudz stream started Thursday, featuring Hiedeman showing Williams running into the meeting between the league and the players' union for collective bargaining agreement negotiations and the two, who dyed their hair bright pink for the weekend, sharing using a motorized scooter while driving past the JW Marriott.
Then there was the orange carpet, where nearly all of the players were featured on the livestream.
Later, there was the first party of the weekend, attended by nearly all of the All-Stars — including Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, Angel Reese and others. At one point, Clark, multiple drinks into the evening, yelled into the camera as Boston quietly took the Truly out of her hand.
Clark, who didn't attend the orange carpet, told the StudBudz all she did on Thursday afternoon was watch their stream.
The next night featured another party, and WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert made an appearance on StudBudz, dancing with players. On Saturday morning, WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike pranked them by coming into their room and telling them there was a CBA meeting in 10 minutes.
'I wasn't telling them anything about preparing for the game,' Napheesa Collier said in response to the same reporter's question about balancing having fun and being ready for the game. 'We were preparing to be on StudBudz.'
There isn't any strategy to the All-Star Game; why should there be?
In the end, it really doesn't matter who wins the game. There's bragging rights, sure, and the two team captains can banter all weekend about which of their teams will win.
But players, in a non-Olympic year, aren't necessarily going to try to play their best basketball during the game. First off, they're not going to risk getting hurt in a game that doesn't matter in the grand scheme of the season.
Secondly, the game is really all in good fun. That was exemplified by Team Collier's Breanna Stewart giving Rhyne Howard, someone who isn't participating in the game because of injury, a ball to take a shot in the middle of play.
It's a break for the players, even if that break is short, and they're not going to over-exert themselves.
'I mean, I told my team to have as much fun as possible,' Clark said in response to the same reporter's question about telling her team to balance fun and preparing for the game. 'At practice, we just shot a little bit and then we shot a half court shot, then we headed out. I mean, that's All-Star weekend. We joke about winning, but at the end of the day, it's not that serious. We're going to have a fun time.'
What StudBudz has done this season is show the inside track of what players do during All-Star weekend. It showed players are not machines; they didn't, and never have, spent the weekend incessantly preparing for a game that doesn't matter.
Instead, the stream showed they have lives outside of being professional basketball players. They, like anyone else across the country, like to unwind after a stressful stretch of work. They like to have fun, they like to go to parties.
And that's what All-Star weekend is really all about.