It is definitely not a lie when Angel Reese said, “Everybody loves me and Paige together” during a joint media interview in December last year. Because true to that statement, fans seem to light up every time these two are photographed, filmed, or simply caught interacting, whether on or off the court. They even have a name now: PaiGel.

Their latest off-court moment, which happened at the ongoing FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Berlin, has once again got fans talking. Both players took part in a media feature for the tournament, playing a game of “Most Likely To.” And the video, shared on the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup’s official X page, attracted an immediate wave of reactions from fans who were, by and large, thoroughly entertained. 

“They’re hilarious,” one fan wrote. Another, leaning directly into the post caption, which had already described them as “the PaiGel duo is chaotic,” simply replied, “wnba’s chaotic duo.”

And of course, chaotic and hilarious genuinely do seem like the most fitting words for what the video delivered. Both players appeared to agree without hesitation that Angel Reese was the one most likely to get a technical foul and most likely to talk trash. But it was their individual impressions of each other, mimicking how the other trash-talks during games and how they celebrate after a big shot, that had fans in stitches. 

“Obsessed with them impersonating each other here,” one fan wrote. Another fan who could not get over the accuracy said,  “The way they both got their celebration right???? 🤣🤣🤣”

Interestingly, the two were actually involved in a genuine on-court exchange this season. During a July matchup, both were on camera aggressively trash-talking each other on the block during live play, a moment Bueckers later described as just part of the fun, calling Reese a fellow “crap talker.”

But whatever happens on the court, their off-court dynamic always seems to circle back to warmth and genuine affection. And fans simply cannot get enough of it. “PaiGel the best content. Love them so much ❤️❤️,” one fan wrote. Another added, “YES! I love this duo so much 😂” “Best duo ❤️ them,” said another.

And of course, the “PaiGel” duo does seem to qualify as quite a great duo, especially off the court. Both share a close friendship off the court even though they’re rivals on different WNBA teams. They, in fact, sometimes team up for major corporate endorsements.

One notable example of this was when they starred together as official brand partners for a viral Reese’s x Oreo promotional campaign, where Reese famously noted that fans “love me and Paige together.” They also routinely hype each other up online. For instance, Reese playfully called Bueckers her “cutie patootie” on Instagram ahead of the season.

Many will say that this friendship stretches as far back as the 10th or 11th grade, when they played together on elite youth travel teams in the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) area. But beyond then, they’ve also shared the court as teammates during USA Basketball training camps and scrimmages at the Olympics. Ahead of the ongoing World Cup, they were also on the same team in the WNBA All-Star Game in July, and they also made their senior national team debuts together during the FIBA World Cup qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico in March.

Fans will definitely get another opportunity to see Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers share a court at this year’s FIBA Women’s World Cup as Team USA chase a fifth consecutive global title. For one fan, that’s actually the only thing of importance now, as he doesn’t seem to be that much of a fan of the endless TikTok-style videos. 

“Too much TikToking for me. Go practice how to handle that tall chick on the China squad,” he wrote.

He does seem like he has a point though. Just like he pointed out, Team USA open their campaign against China on Friday, and they will be going up against the tallest player in international basketball, Han Xu. Regardless, however, they walk into that game as overwhelming favourites.