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Very sad news this week out of the professional sports world:
Former WNBA player Kara Braxton, won two leage championships while playing for the Detroit Shock, has passed, the league announced late on Sunday.
She was 43 years old.
“It is with profound sadness that we mourn the passing of 2x WNBA Champion Kara Braxton,” the WNBA said in a statement shared to X on February 22. “A 10-season veteran, Kara played with the Detroit Shock, Tulsa Shock, Phoenix Mercury, and New York Liberty.
“Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and former teammates at this time.”
No cause of death has been announced as of this writing.
Braxton played basketball at the University of Georgia from 2001 until 2004. She was drafted by the Shock as the seventh overall pick in the 2005 WNBA draft in April of that year… four months after giving birth to her son Jelani Thurman, who she shared with Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman.
The athlete made a strong, immediate impression, too.
She was named to the WNBA All-Rookie team during her first season in the league and would go on to win the championship in 2006 and 2008 with Detroit.
Braxton played for a total of 10 seasons for Detroit, Tulsa, Phoenix Mercury and New York.
The forward was named SEC Freshman of the Year in 2002 while playing for the University of Georgia and was later named All-Star in 2007.
She is the mother of two sons — Jelani Thurman, who actually played on the Ohio State football team that won the national championship in 2024; and Jream Jackson.
According to local station KGW8, she is survived by her husband, Jarvis Jackson, and twin sister, Kim.
“Karebear……….This still feels unreal,” former teammate Plenette Pierson wrote on social media today. “I keep replaying memories and conversations because part of me expects to hear your voice again. Losing you hurts in a way words cannot hold.”
This tragedy took place the same weekend NFL wide receive Rondale Moore took his own life.
May both rest in peace.