UCLA star Kiki Rice’s NBA boyfriend Cason Wallace shows support at WNBA draft
Former UCLA Bruins guard Kiki Rice reached two basketball mountaintops in an eight-day span.
On April 5, Rice and the Bruins defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks to win the program’s first women’s basketball national championship in the NCAA era.
Then, just eight days later, the expansion Toronto Tempo made Rice the franchise’s first draft pick. They took her sixth overall in the 2026 WNBA Draft.
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Through it all, Rice received support and encouragement from an NBA boyfriend who knows how it feels to win a championship and get the call on draft night. Only Cason Wallace did it in the reverse order.
Wallace, the No. 10 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, won the 2025 title with the Oklahoma City Thunder . He attended the WNBA draft and recorded Rice on his phone as she answered questions on the red carpet.
“It’s great. Just seeing her have her moment, it’s unbelievable,” Wallace said , per Thunder reporter Brandon Rahbar on X.
According to a profile of the couple in Town & Country magazine, Rice and Wallace began dating last year and went public after OKC won the championship. Rice participated in a “How well do you know your NBA boyfriend?” Q&A for Wagtalk .
Later, Rice and Wallace were spotted together at The ESPYs and a WNBA game.
Monday’s draft was a big moment for Rice and the Toronto Tempo. Rice, a 5-foot-11 guard, averaged 14.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists for the Bruins in 2025-26. She recorded 10 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals in the national title game.
“I take a ton of pride in just being the best teammate and figuring out how can I make everyone else better around me,” Rice said after the draft, per Sportsnet . “Just really excited to get out there and get to work.”
The Tempo begin play alongside fellow expansion team the Portland Fire in the 2026 season. They also drafted Kentucky forward/center Teonni Key, Australian Saffron Shiels and Davidson forward Charlise Dunn. Toronto also acquired veterans Marina Mabrey and Julie Allemand , among others, in the expansion draft.
Meanwhile, Wallace enjoyed a rare night off before the Thunder begin defense of the NBA title in the playoffs. Top-seeded OKC will meet the No. 8 seed from the play-in tournament starting on Sunday, April 19.
While Wallace spent all three of his seasons with Oklahoma City , the Dallas Mavericks drafted him. The Mavs immediately traded his rights to the Thunder.
Wallace, a shooting guard, played 77 games for the Thunder during the regular season, averaging 8.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists.
