Michael Voepel
Multiple Authors
Kara Braxton, a two-time WNBA champion with the Detroit Shock, has died at the age of 43.
No cause of death was given.
“It is with profound sadness that we mourn the passing of 2x WNBA Champion Kara Braxton,” the WNBA said in a statement Sunday. “Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and former teammates at this time.”
Braxton, a 6-foot-6 center-forward, played collegiately at Georgia from 2001-04 and was SEC freshman of the year in 2002.
She was the No. 7 pick in the 2005 WNBA draft by the Shock and made the league’s all-rookie team that season. Braxton won titles with Detroit in 2006 and 2008.
When the Shock franchise relocated to Tulsa for the 2010 season, Braxton spent part of that season there, then was traded to Phoenix.
During the 2011 season, she was traded to the Liberty and finished her WNBA career with New York in 2014.
An All-Star in 2007, Braxton averaged 7.6 points and 4.7 rebounds over a 10-season WNBA career.
Braxton’s son, college football player Jelani Thurman, played tight end the past three years at Ohio State. He transferred to North Carolina in January.
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