The women’s basketball community mourns the loss of Kara Braxton, a two-time WNBA champion with the Detroit Shock, who died at the age of 43 following a car accident in Georgia.
The Cobb County Police Department reported that the accident occurred Saturday night on Interstate 285 in Atlanta, when Braxton’s vehicle hit a concrete median. The accident investigation is still ongoing.
“With deep sadness, we mourn the passing of Kara Braxton, two-time WNBA champion,” the WNBA said in a statement on Sunday. “Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and former teammates at this time.”
WNBA
Kara Braxton fue seleccionada por las Shock con la séptima selección en el draft de la WNBA de 2005 y ganó dos campeonatos con Detroit, en 2006 y 2008.Braxton, a 6-foot-6-inch forward-center, played at Georgia from 2001 to 2004 and was named SEC Freshman of the Year in 2002.
She was selected in the number 7 position by the Shock in the 2005 WNBA draft and was part of the league’s rookie team that season. Braxton won WNBA titles with Detroit in 2006 and 2008.
Braxton spent part of the 2010 season in Tulsa, where the Shock franchise moved, and was then traded to the Phoenix Mercury.
During the 2011 season, she was traded to the New York Liberty and finished her WNBA career with New York in 2014.
Braxton, who was named an All-Star in 2007, averaged 7.6 points and 4.7 rebounds during a 10-year career in the WNBA.
Braxton’s son, college football player Jelani Thurman, played as a tight end for the last three years at Ohio State. He transferred to North Carolina in January.
