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Kara Braxton, who played in the WNBA for 10 years and won two championships with the Detroit Shock, has died, the basketball league confirmed. She was 43.
By Gibson Johns Feb 23, 2026 3:11 PM | Updated 3 hours ago
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The WNBA is mourning one of its own.
Former basketball player Kara Braxton, won two WNBA championships while playing for the Detroit Shock, has died, the league announced. She was 43.
"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 Feb. 22. "A 10-season veteran, Kara played with the Detroit Shock, Tulsa Shock, Phoenix Mercury, and New York Liberty."
The statement ended, "Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and former teammates at this time."
Braxton’s cause of death has not yet been confirmed.
Braxton played basketball at the University of Georgia from 2001 until 2004 and 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.
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.
The 6-foot-6 center-forward—who also had a twin sister named Kim Braxton—went on to play in Tulsa, where the Shock relocated, before she was traded to the Phoenix Mercury and then to the New York Liberty, where she ended her WNBA career in 2014.
"We mourn the loss of Kara Braxton," the Liberty wrote on X Feb. 22, "a former Liberty player whose presence and passion left a lasting impact on our organization and the women’s game. Our hearts are with her family, friends, teammates, and all who were touched by her spirit. Her impact will not be forgotten."
Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images
Braxton also played overseas throughout Europe and China between 2017 and 2018. She retired from basketball and loved in Portland to work for Nike before settling down in Atlanta, per USA Today.
The Jackson, Michigan, native is survived by Jelani—a tight end college football player who was on the 2024 Ohio State national championship team—as well as husband Jarvis Jackson and their son Jream Jackson.
Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images
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