The WNBA's most popular Twitch streamers, "StudBudz," took over All-Star weekend in Indianapolis and gained countless new fans for their 72-hour all-access live stream during the festivities.
Less than a week later, however, the beloved live streaming duo—made up of Minnesota Lynx's Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman—has faced heavy criticism from the WNBA community for allegedly rubbing shoulders with Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy in the wake of All-Star weekend.
Williams and Hiedeman addressed the recent backlash over their talks with Portnoy during Wednesday's live stream and discussed having him on the stream in the future. They specifically mentioned that they planned to press Portnoy about his public criticism of Chicago Sky star Angel Reese.
"Okay, so guess what? When Dave comes on, we're gonna ask him, 'Hey Dave, ‘Why are you talking about Angel like that?’" Williams said.
"Because we love her, bad," Hiedeman interjected.
"Y'all see how simple that is?" continued Williams. "Y'all all over like here like, 'No, no, no!' We don't run away from [this stuff]. ... I don't think he gonna deny it, he seem like the type of guy that's gonna stand on what he feels."
Stud Budz reveals they’re going to confront Dave Portnoy about talking about Angel Reese when he comes on their stream:
— StudBudz HQ (@StudBudzHQ) July 23, 2025
“We’re gonna ask him, ‘Why are you talking about Angel like that?’ Because we love her bad.” pic.twitter.com/8NKUI0Xr4H
Portnoy has since issued his response to the backlash:
"People are big mad at Studbudz just cause we talked. W fans are freaking nuts. I got one of biggest megaphones in the country. I love them. I love the league. Yeah I don’t like Angel and I love Caitlin. It’s called sports," Portnoy wrote on X.
Portnoy recently made headlines for clapping back at "morons" who complained about WNBA players asking for more money, amid the union's ongoing collective bargaining agreement negotiations with the league.
That said, the Barstool Sports founder, who is a well-known Caitlin Clark supporter, has been very public about his "hate" for Reese in the past and even encouraged fans of Clark to "hate" Reese as well. Back in 2021, a Business Insider article also detailed multiple sexual misconduct allegations against Portnoy; Portnoy denied the allegations and filed a lawsuit for defamation against Insider, which has since been dismissed.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as WNBA’s Beloved 'StudBudz' Discuss Potential Interview Opportunity With Dave Portnoy.
