WNBA All Star Weekend 2026: All The Gay Gossip and Athletic Achievements

The WNBA All-Star Weekend is the best weekend of the year. All of my favorite people are hanging out together, wearing cute outfits, playing the best sport of all time and also being extremely gay and chaotic. This year, on every measurable level, the gays dominated, winning every available contest, often while deeply hungover.

This year’s All-Star team was stacked with gays. Team Spoon, with gay coach Cheryl Reeve, included Olivia Miles, Jessica Shepard, Jonquel Jones and Courtney Williams. Team Coop, with gay coach Becky Hammon, featured Paige Bueckers, Breanna Stewart, Natasha Howard, Gabby Williams, Marina Mabrey, Kahleah Copper and Jackie Young. Team Spoon won despite having less gay players, but winning isn’t everything.

So, let’s get into all the gay shit that went down for the Second Annual Studbudz 72-Hour Livestream / 2026 WNBA All Star Weekend! I’ll be updating this post through tomorrow morning as new news rolls in, I will admit it’s difficult to provide timely coverage of weekend events while also parenting a feral child, but I’m doing my best. Also speaking of sports and things that take a lot of time, the new issue of our print magazine just debuted this week and it’s ALL ABOUT GAY SPORTS and it’s so good!!

Last year’s WNBA All-Star weekend was a game-changer, a triumphant experience we all knew at the time would never be replicated at the same tenor. It was the Studbudz’ big breakout moment. They were earning sponsors in real time, breezing through Indianapolis on Door-Dashed scooters, singing “Pink Pony Club,” asking Diplo to play the hits, catching Paige and Azzi together, dancing with Cheryl Reeves at the club, inviting fans for the first time into a world to which we’d previously lacked access. At the weekend’s end, a characteristically earnest Natisha Heideman declared it the best weekend of her life. It was unfiltered, glorious, and by definition, fleeting.

It was always gonna be tough to recreate that vibe for Season Two in Chicago, where WNBA functions were spread out around a traffic-congested city hosting several major events simultaneously, and this year the Studbudz had a far more packed calendar — a seemingly endless stream of sponsor events and scheduled appearances to pack in around their athletic and social commitments.

But Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman are incapable of being anything but themselves, and uniquely suited to their sophomore challenge to somehow, despite the sponsored hair color and viral fame, continue to keep it real. They remained the weekend’s stars and its most prominent instigators of mayhem, mischief and moments that set social media ablaze. Courtney’s laugh is infectious, as are T’s sweetness and storytelling chops. But somebody’s gotta get more naps into T’s schedule.

After a few years of playing it extremely low-key and a few months in which both Jonquel Jones and a WNBA announcer blew up their spot, Golden State Valkyries’ Gabby Williams and New York Liberty’s Marine Johanes have been much more public about their relationship recently. Consequently, they were fully and completely and beautifully out and about as a couple during All-Star weekend, and Gabby spoke fondly of her partner’s support during a press conference. They played barista for Unrivaled together and, during the All-Star game, Gabby landed a one-legged three-pointer — Marine’s signature shot — and Marine was in the stands wearing Gabby’s old U-Conn jersey.

After looking both incredible and couple-y with Jackie Young throughout the weekend, Carrington chose to end the festivities with a self-described “bomb drop” — confirming her ex-girlfriend NaLyssa Smith cheated on her with a variety of women including but decidedly not limited to (Charlotte Crown point guard) Deja Kelly and (Atlanta Dream forward) Aaliyah Nye. This revelation was in response to Smith’s choice to consistently show up at Studbudz parties where Carrington was present, including bringing Deja Kelly (who is also allegedly Jackie Young’s ex) to a Saturday night party. As stated on twitter by @zavanchy, “no one should go to their ex’s best friends’ party with the person they cheated on them with especially when they don’t follow or fuck with their ex’s best friends.” An off-camera confrontation led to Nalyssa being escorted out of the party by security. The Baddie Galore can break it all down for you on TikTok —and also, by the way, she has an article in the new issue of the Autostraddle print magazine about why the WNBA is her favorite reality TV show and has that ever been more accurate?? (Update:

Anyhow we are all waiting for info on the ++++++

Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd stay attempting to live their lives in a world determined to deeply analyze every videotaped interaction between them — amd thus the twosome primarily spent the weekend apart, creating extremely on-brand moments for their respective personalities. Paige was really herself on the mic whenever given the opportunity. Thursday night Azzi was misidentified by a seemingly heterosexual male outside a bar as a 16-year old political figure (Heideman was trying to say “public figure” but was a lil tipsy and thus “political figure” was born), a moniker that is now destined to be hers forever. Azzi and T became the duo we didn’t know we needed. At the post- All-Star party, both girls enjoyed dancing heartily with a variety of their pals, and Paige sang along to that song real hard.

Jones became the first player in WNBA history to be named MVP across four different categories — 2026 All-Star MVP, 2024 WNBA Finals MVP, 2023 Commissioner’s Cup MVP and 2021 Regular Season MVP. Unfortunately for Jones, she was taking heat all weekend from annoying people looking for drama, regardinga conversation she had with Courtney Williams on the Stud Budz livestream about the outcome of the 2024 WNBA finals that many decided to take with the most bad faith interpretation possible and totally freak out and then be cunty to Jones all weekend. After the All-Star game she had a chance to clarify her remarks, restate her (obvious!) gratitude for the Liberty and the city of New York, but got emotional about how the misread impacted her all weekend. JJ, who was mourning the recent death of her aunt, deserves only the best things, including every trophy.

The people’s princess, rookie Azzi Fudd, pulled off the second-best round in 3-point skills challenge history, after Sabrina Ionescu. AS Paige predicted, Azzi won the contest, making her the first rookie to do so. Lets hope next year they ACTUALLY invite Sab to compete (and Kayla McBride for that matter!) and we get the face-off of the century.

Typically an additional skills challenge followed the 3-point contest, but this year it was apparently scrapped,

Marina Mabrey netted 23 points in the WNBA all-star game, giving her the second highest point tally on her team. Mabrey didn’t win the three-point contest, but the thirteen three-pointers she did make translated into a $6,500 donation to Toronto-based Black Women’s Institute for Health, a nonprofit advocating for health equity for Black women and girls.

Her sister, Michaela, had a fabulous weekend with her All-Star girlfriend, Kahleah Copper, rooting for both her sister and girlfriend on Team Coop. Unfortunately Team Coop lost, but that’s fine, we are moving through it with grace.

Furthermore, agent of chaos Courtney Williams stopped by the Chicago locker room taken over for All-Star Weekend, much to the chagrin of its residents, who feared livestream trouble. “What’d you got to be worried about?” Courtney asked Marina. “You ain’t got a girlfriend no more.” This has confirmed what fans have long feared — that Marina and Saniya Rivers have broken up. Marina is understandably unimpressed.

All the alums were in the house for the 30-year anniversary of the WNBA. Team Spoon, under the management of (gay) WNBA legend and former coach Teresa Weatherspoon, won the All-Star Game. Gay WNBA legend Elena Delle Donne won the inaugural Kia WNBA Shooting Stars contest alongside Shakira Austin and high school star Jezelle “GG” Banks.

Olivia Miles recently posted a personal pic of herself with a hottie who unfortunately has a private instagram account and she brought that same date to the orange carpet. Furthermore, she dominated the Celebrity 3-point contest against KeKe Palmer and Issa Rae. KeKe Palmer told T she had beautiful eyes and that’s true.

Minnesota Lynx All-Star Natasha Howard literally famously married Basketball Wives star and hair care entrepreneur Jac’Eil Duckworth on Season 11 of the program, becoming the first LGBTQ WNBA couple prominently featured in the franchise. Previously, Howard and her ex, Jacqueline, had a very messy divorce in 2019. Howard showed up at All-Star weekend with a new girl and a new book cover reveal. Her memoir The Vision Through My Eyes will debut September 2026.

Jac’Eil has responded to the divorce debut on TikTok, noting, “I’m not gonna get on the internet and say much because I’m very emotionally intelligent and I play chess not checkers, but what I want y’all to do is believe what you wanna believe and a few months, I don’t want no apologies. Got it? None. Don’t come sayin, oh she was right oh my god —I don’t wanna hear nothin. Okay?”

On Thursday night, Run-a-Muck — Pamela Drucker Mann, Ilene Chaiken and Jennifer Beals’ production company — hosted its first live event under REIGN, the their newly launched women’s sports vertical. The event celebrated the upcoming sports romantic comedy Courtside, coming at you from two members of our Autostraddle family — writer Brittani Nichols and director Carly Usdin. It was hosted by Syd Colson and Theresa Plaisance (aka Syd +TP), who are gonna be in the movie along with Gabby Williams. Furthermore Colson is executive producing. Coach Jackie, Reign’s first brand ambassador and the host of their upcoming podcast, was also in the building — if you have any additional curiosity about Coach Jackie’s life, you can check out a day in it in the new issue of our print magazine!

It is truly just so absolutely incredible to see two people you’ve known and admired and worked with doing basically the dream project they were meant to do in this world, one that will surely mean so much to all of us when it debuts. Sometimes being gay is lovely.

Also, my dear friend (in my imagination) Barack Obama swung by practice to say hello to the players who were practicing at his new presidential center in Chicago. I love

In conclusion, I remain in awe of all the women of the WNBA for how hard they work, and thank the lord they’re finally getting paid to do so. The top stars of the leagues must have spent 8 hours a day on various mics while also meeting fans, doing sponsor activations, and also actually playing basketball, while still finding time to get drunk and sing loudly until 3 A.M. It’s the best sports league in the history of the world. Bulieve it!