How ‘StudBudz’ Twitch stream redefined WNBA All-Star weekend

Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman are still laughing.

After the Lynx’s post-practice huddle Monday, Hiedeman scooped up Williams and spun her around. Coming off an All-Star weekend in Indianapolis that felt more like a girls trip to Miami — social media was flooded with their shenanigans for days — the duo looked surprisingly refreshed.

The carefree energy of Hiedeman and Williams powers their now-viral “StudBudz” Twitch channel. After launching a 72-hour livestream challenge in Indianapolis, the best friends emerged as the undisputed breakout stars of All-Star weekend.

“I just couldn’t keep up with them,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “Every time I turned around, somebody was saying something about ‘StudBudz.’”

“StudBudz” began June 2 as a fun side project — just two friends turning on a camera and letting fans hang out — and snowballed into an internet phenomenon over the weekend. Named as a playful nod to Williams and Hiedeman’s identities as black, masculine lesbians, the channel is the latest example of WNBA players using social media to engage with fans in a unique, authentic way.

The duo had more than 23,000 Twitch followers heading into All-Star weekend. Over the past few weeks, it was normal to see fans at games with homemade signs, merch and pink wigs in support of Williams and Hiedeman.

By Monday, after three days of nonstop streaming, “StudBudz” reached 70,000 subscribers on Twitch and 85,000 followers on Instagram. They became memes, had compilation edits made of their funniest moments and were generally inescapable on social media.

Armed with little more than cellphone cameras, infectious personalities and matching pink hair, the Lynx guards produced a reality show-style look behind the scenes in Indianapolis.

Viewers who didn’t watch on Twitch could catch the highlights on X and TikTok, including but not limited to:

As chaotic as the stream appeared, real intention went into it.

The duo created merch ahead of time, wearing colorful branded sweatsuits throughout the weekend before releasing them for sale Sunday night. They also dropped a limited-edition collab T-shirt with Togethxr — a media and commerce company co-founded by Jess Robertson, former head of content at the Players’ Tribune, and professional athletes Alex Morgan, Chloe Kim, Simone Manuel and Sue Bird — available for presale until Aug. 1. It reads, “Everyone watches StudBudz.”

Lynx star Napheesa Collier, who scored a record-breaking 36 points in the WNBA All-Star Game, applauded Williams and Hiedeman for monetizing their personalities and building their brands through the stream. With WNBA collective bargaining negotiations looming, she said “StudBudz” showcases players’ value at a crucial time.

Collier, Reeve and Williams are hopeful the “StudBudz” stream will help to shift perceptions of the league — pointing to a negative online discourse that often paints WNBA players as bitter rivals.

For Reeve, in particular, the weekend felt “cathartic.” She has long battled sexist commentary surrounding the league but said a new, harsher wave of vitriol emerged with the 2024 rookie class and an influx of unfamiliar spectators.

While Reeve didn’t get specific, talk has circulated about players being jealous of newcomers like Clark.

“As you saw, you can be competitive and you can have moments on the court, but then they all genuinely care about each other and root for each other,” Reeve said. “That was, I thought, one of the best things that came from [‘StudBudz’] — to show what really exists and drown out the stuff that’s fake news.”

Williams seconded that, saying it was “dope” for fans to see “we really are a community.”