Show Me the Moolah!: A Tale of Shoes, Getting Paid, A Couple of Budz, and Famdom.

Before you get all autocorrect on me, yes I said famdom. This year’s WNBA All-Star game saw team Collier best team Clark.

But at the end of the day there was just one team on the court. And in the stands.

Sure there was a game to play but there was also a point to make. Players united in matching tee shirts “Pay Us What You Owe Us” in response to stalled CBA negotiations. A message fans made their own, chanting it loudly to the commissioner during the awards ceremony. 

Let’s run it back for a sec…to the dawn of a different women’s basketball league, Unrivaled. Intentionally built around its players, the average salary, upwards of $200K, exceeds that of the WNBA. And, players get equity in the league along with revenue sharing.

When the Unrivaled season started, I personally chose to root for the Lunar Owls singularly based on the fact that my daughter’s elementary school mascot is an owl. Plus, both had a similar signature hoot.  

It was a fun league to watch and they were an easy team to root for. They had cofounder Napheesa Collier and they were killing it from the jump, undefeated their first eight games. But it wasn’t until Unrivaled had its 1-on-1 tournament, that I homed in on a new favorite Owl, Courtney Williams. I loved her hustle, her personality, and the fact that at just 5’8” (my height-ish) she went all the way to the quarterfinals, getting knocked out by the ultimate winner, 6’1” teammate Napheesa Collier.

Cut back to All-Star weekend. Although I thought about heading to Indy, I ended up settling for the view from my couch (sigh). Earlier that day I’d scored a pair of Moolah Kicks, a brand that designs its basketball shoes for women. A pair that even got the approval of my sneakerhead son. Soon after, I happened upon an article from the day before about WNBA players not being able to wear Moolahs in games because the brand doesn’t have a deal with the league. Guess who wears them anyway and gets $fined$ every time? Courtney Williams. She does have a deal with the brand and said, "Anything that is women supporting women,I want to be a part of it." (Yes girl!) She even wore a pair in the All-Star Game in a colorway seamless with her gear.

Which brings us to Studbudz. The Twitch stream hosted by Courtney Williams and fellow Lynx guard Natisha Hiedeman. The two, with matching pink buzz cuts made their own buzz livestreaming the WNBA All-Star experience for 72 hours straight on Twitch, giving fans a unique behind-the-scenes look at the entire event and its many personalities off of the court. From the pre-game partying to the post-game celebrations all the way to the private flight out of town. 

There was impromptu dancing, partying, inside jokes, bad camera angles, glitches and even some boring stretches. How do I know? Because I got sucked in. Did I watch them board their private jet with their happy hangovers, iced lattes singing their weekend anthem, “Pink Pony Club”? Guilty as charged. Because nothing beats being a fan than feeling like an insider. 

Despite the serious message, the event and the weekend managed to exude pure joy. And being a fan managed to feel more like being part of the fam.