It was nearly a year ago when the WNBA first announced that the 2025 All-Star weekend would be hosted by Indianapolis for the first time in its history.
When this occurred, many a pundit and many a fan already had visions as to what All-Star would resemble. After all, Indiana landing All-Star can be directly attributed to the Caitlin Clark Effect. Plenty of media would descend upon Indianapolis and the weekend would effectively serve as another platform to continue her meteoric push.
In addition, it was a very risky move by the WNBA given the concerns Black players have had regarding player safety because of increased racism among the Fever fandom. Clark herself, unfortunately, injured her groin and was unable to participate in either the 3-Point Contest or the All-Star Game itself.
Everything was in place for Indianapolis to be a complete debacle.
Then All-Star weekend itself happened – and it was anything but.
Indianapolis was a success. From the New York Liberty’s sweep of All-Star Friday (Natasha Cloud winning Skills Challenge and Sabrina Ionescu prevailing in the 3-Point Contest) to Napheesa Collier winning MVP by setting a new individual All-Star scoring record. Indy was a win.
And it was particularly a win because players reminded the WNBA of its true identity.
As the WNBA is growing by leaps and bounds in terms of money and teams, there is a growing concern among the more progressive side of the W’s fanbase that it is losing its identity in order to cater to a more upper class, less progressive audience. Catering to said audience is getting the W to go away from its truest of identities.
The best promotion that the WNBA had for this year’s All-Star weekend did not even come from the league itself. It came from a Twitch stream. It came from the Stud Budz. It came from Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman.
In many ways, the highly entertaining and highly hilarious Budz were the real winners of All-Star weekend. One could not escape Indianapolis this past weekend without seeing the Stud Budz at least once. Even Clark herself made multiple cameos with the Budz and she appeared to be having the time of her life even though she was not participating in any actual All-Star competition.
One of the reasons why that Stud Budz stream was needed was it gave those who may not be entirely familiar with the W a look at what the real W is – unapologetically Black and unapologetically LGBTQIA+. Not to mention, as much as new media who are “covering” the WNBA love to peddle this narrative of all the players “hating” each other, the reality is these women love each other – both as players and as people.
That is what Williams and Hiedeman showcased. The reality is many of these players have known each other since they played in AAU ball together and many today will likely be teammates either on another WNBA team or with entities such as Athletes Unlimited, Unrivaled, overseas teams or Team USA.
That reality may not make for a juicy movie plot as what much of the media has attempted to do with the Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese rivalry that it is not a rivalry, but it is the reality.
Not only did WNBA players remind the W of its true identity of being unapologetically Black and LGBTQIA+ – when both are needed more than ever nowadays – it also reminded the W of being unapologetically progressive.
Collective bargaining talk dominated All-Star weekend. From that large 40-player meeting on Thursday to the “Pay Them! Pay Them!” chants at the conclusion of the game itself.
The players and commissioner Cathy Engelbert struck diametrically opposing tones about the CBA talks. Players sounded extremely pessimistic following that meeting while Engelbert described negotiations as “constructive” and “productive” at her State of the W address. She mentioned that she is hopeful a deal can be reached prior to the expiration of the CBA in October.
The WNBPA understands that there is a record amount of money flowing into the W’s coffers – from its upcoming media rights deal to the skyrocketing franchise valuations to expansion fees from at least six new franchises. Players only receive a miniscule amount of WNBA revenue – and it wants to ensure it gets its fair share. Players wore black shirts during pregame warmups that said “Pay Us What You Owe Us” and fans following the game held up signs saying “Pay The Players.”
Brittney Sykes made sure to have her own “Pay The Players” sign in the background following the game when Holly Rowe was conducting postgame interviews at center court.
What was especially heartening about the chants at the conclusion of the All-Star Game itself was the fact that they were chanted. It told us that the sellout crowd in Indianapolis was not heavily populated by new “fans” who believe the league revolves around one Indiana Fever player who wears the No. 22.
Because many of these new “fans” only entered the W’s discourse only because of that one player. They are of the idea that WNBA players do not deserve to be paid their fair share because they peddle this nonsense about the W “losing money” – even though the NBA was in the red for 40 years before finally getting in the green.
Those fans who chanted and held up the signs are the ride or dies. Those fans are not new to this – but true to this. Those are the Indiana Fever fans who understand that before there was Clark – there was Tamika Catchings.
This weekend was a win for the players – and it was also a win for fans who were WNBA supporters before it became cool to be a WNBA supporter. A weekend that was set on a tee for the continued Clark push was actually one where player love and activism ruled the weekend.
A lot of new media who only discovered on an April evening in 2024 have tried to peddle this idea that the W is full of angry and jealous Black women. But Clark has wanted nothing to do with the “great white hope” stuff and players are including her in CBA talks because she is a major asset in the players’ push for a more equitable pact.
But between the Budz and the WNBPA, the players’ message to those who were clueless as to what the WNBA is could not have been more clear…
Welcome to the W – the real W.
