MINNEAPOLIS — Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman were in lockstep, buzzing around the practice facility at Mayo Clinic Square. That’s not unusual, but there was added exuberance in their already quite bouncy steps that morning.
Slam magazine had just published their “Minnesota Twinz” cover story. The featured photo—highlighted by their bold, fluorescent pink cuts and Lynx rebel edition uniforms against a bright yellow backdrop— captured their bravado and cemented what’s been a legendary two-month run for the “twins.”
Since launching their official StudBudz instagram account with a picture of the pair at Disney World on June 2, they have amassed over 113,000 followers. Their Twitch livestream account, also launched in June, has over 78,000 followers. Many WNBA fans mostly experienced All-Star weekend through their now-famous 72-hour stream, which produced several viral moments, like WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert dancing to “Knuck If You Buck” and an after party with Diplo in Indianapolis. One of their livestream videos from All-Star has amassed over 500,000 views while another has over 300,000.
As the weekend was wrapping up, Seattle Storm forward and Women’s National Basketball Players Association president Nneka Ogwumike stopped Williams to tell her “Y’all changed everything for the league.”
But has it changed for the Budz?
“Business been boomin,” Williams said.
The duo has struck sponsorship deals recently with DoorDash, Togethxr, and the Knickerbocker hotel in New York. After the Lynx’s 83-71 win over the Liberty on the road on Aug. 10, they spent a couple of nights at the Manhattan hotel, detailing their city escapades—including a trip to Spotify’s New York office and some retail therapy at Footlocker—on the stream. Togethxr’s limited edition “Everybody Watches Studbudz” retailed for $45, and is no longer available on the company’s site.
There is even more on the way.
“We got something on the horizon,” Williams said. “But you gotta wait for it.”
“Y’all don’t gotta wait that long,” Hiedeman chimed in.
“It’s probably the littest thing in life,” Williams added.
The twosome’s surge in popularity may have sprung from the livestream started this season—their second with the Lynx—but it was years in the making. Hiedeman’s rookie season marked the beginning of their fruitful friendship when she was drafted 18th overall by the Connecticut Sun, where Williams was in her fourth season.
The secret sauce to their success is both the obvious—they’re funny and relatable—and the less so. Many masculine-presenting queer WNBA players have had to suppress their identities, league veterans say. The StudBudz definitively do not.
“I mean look at our name,” Hiedeman said.
“Look at our hair,” Williams followed.
“We’ve always been like this,” Hiedeman continued. “To use our platform and StudBudz and what we do, just be ourselves and show everybody we’re gettin it poppin right now. Everybody deserves opportunity, no matter what you look like, where you come from etc. This is really the step for that.”
Their coach, Cheryl Reeve, has been in the league since 2002, and the head coach of the Lynx since 2010. In addition to being one of the most decorated coaches in league history, Reeve has long been a human rights advocate, using press conferences as an opportunity to speak publicly on issues that matter to her.
Reeve said that at the beginning of her college coaching career—which began in the late 1980s at LaSalle and included stints at George Washington and Indiana State—being closeted felt like the only option for gay coaches and athletes like her. When the WNBA launched in the late 1990s, it went through what Reeve calls a “beautifying” period where players were pushed to adopt more feminine beauty standards.
The ESPN documentary Dream On—which told the story of the 1996 Women’s Olympic basketball team—highlighted the league’s early attempt to appeal to middle America by implicitly suggesting to players that certain norms should be adhered to. As recently as 2012, players were given a strict business casual dress code for the draft.
“If you have to come in and be something different because the higher ups in the league aren’t supporting you or maybe your team isn’t supporting you, that’s a bad place to be in,” Reeve said. “They get to show up now here in the WNBA, everyone is embraced for whatever it is.”
In the last few years, the WNBA has attempted to course correct in a variety of ways, most notably featuring different players through their offseason player marketing agreements. Most players say the shift has followed them taking ownership of their brands through social media.
In the StudBudz’s case it was Twitch, and the concept was simple: two athletes hanging out.
They take viewers inside some of their most mundane activities, like watching TV, but also exclusive moments like interviews with their teammates and the 72-hour behind the scenes look at All-Star weekend. Williams was named an All-Star reserve, her second All-Star nod, and she told the WNBA that “T is about to move like an All-Star.” (T is Hiedeman’s nickname.)
Hiedeman did. Everywhere Williams went, Hiedeman was there. During the All-Star game, while Williams was playing, Hiedeman was streaming from behind Team Collier’s bench. At one of the WNBA’s exclusive parties, the stream captured Indiana Fever forward Aliyah Boston taking a drink out of teammate Caitlin Clark’s hand. Another viral moment was when Ogwumike walked into the Budz’s hotel room to alert them to an upcoming Women’s National Basketball Players Association meeting.
As the Lynx returned from the All-Star break, the StudBudz went back to scheduling regular livestreams. Two days before beating the New York Liberty 83–71, the StudBudz had their new teammate, former New York Liberty guard Jaylyn Sherrod, on the stream.
During the stream Williams, a self described avid trash talker, got on the mic and shared her thoughts on Sherrod’s arrival in Minnesota.
“She left that punk ass team and she’s with the good guys now,” Williams said, stoking the early flames of what could be the WNBA’s new heavyweight rivalry.
Following her team’s third regular season win over the Liberty this season, Reeve acknowledged the livestream with a quip about Williams poking the bear and a need to back up her words with her play. The Lynx point guard did, finishing with a season high 26 points, five rebounds and five assists.
She doubled down after the win.
“I’m going to talk, it’s not going to change,” Williams said. “I don’t care if they like our team. They shouldn’t like our team because we don’t like their team.”
Neither Williams or Hiedeman dull themselves down, whether they’re talking about competitors or their dating life. “It’s just really cool that we really just get to be ourselves and people are supporting us for who we are,” Hiedeman said.
As a result, the pair is proving marketability in the WNBA is no longer wholly contingent on sexuality, presentation, or any other dated archetype.
The StudBudz are capitalizing on being themselves in the most basic ways.
“That means the most because I always took pride in who I am as a person,” Hiedeman said.
“Then just all the opportunities that we are getting. We come from very humble beginnings. To be able to support our family, help our family is life changing.”
