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Michael Voepel
Kara Braxton, a two-time WNBA champion with the Detroit Shock, has died at age 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 at Georgia from 2001 to 2004 and was named SEC Freshman of the Year in 2002.
She was selected No. 7 by the Shock in the 2005 WNBA draft and made the league’s all-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 relocated, and then was traded to the Phoenix Mercury.
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 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.
