Two-time Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) champion, Kara Braxton has died at age 43 after being in a car crash in Atlanta, Georgia on Feb. 21, 2026. According to People the WNBA first announced her death on Sunday, Feb. 22, saying “It is with profound sadness that we mourn the passing of 2x WNBA champion Kara Braxton”. 

Braxton played in the WNBA from 2005 to 2014, winning two championships in her career. Throughout her career, she played for the Detroit Shock, Tulsa Shock, Phoenix Mercury and New York Liberty. In 2005 the Detroit Shock drafted Braxton in the first round as the seventh overall pick in the annual WNBA draft. She was named to the WNBA’s All-Rookie team in 2005 after averaging 6.9 points and 3.0 rebounds for the Shock. She contributed to the Shock winning the WNBA title that year. 

She is the mother of 2 sons, Jelani Thurman, who played on the Ohio State football team that won the national championship in 2024, and her other son Jream Jackson.  

The death of Braxton was a devastation for the basketball community and her family. Her talent and hard work will inspire athletes for generations to come. Her legacy and influence will live on in the game she loved to play.