{"id":1164154,"date":"2026-02-23T13:34:35","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T18:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/?p=1164154"},"modified":"2026-02-23T13:34:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T18:34:35","slug":"kara-braxton-cause-of-death-how-did-wnba-champ-die-at-43","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/kara-braxton-cause-of-death-how-did-wnba-champ-die-at-43\/","title":{"rendered":"Kara Braxton cause of death, how did WNBA champ die at 43?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The WNBA community is mourning the loss of Kara Braxton, a two-time league champion who spent a decade in the pros. The league announced her death on social media, and tributes have been pouring in from former teammates and fans who remember her impact on the court.<\/p>\n<p>Braxton entered the WNBA as the No. 7 overall pick in the 2005 draft. Detroit selected her out of Georgia, where she had earned SEC Rookie of the Year honors during her college career.<\/p>\n<p><strong>MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/caitlin-clark-hilarious-response-lebron-james-eating-habits\/\">Caitlin Clark gives hilarious response to LeBron James\u2019 eating habits<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>She made an immediate impression in her first professional season, posting 6.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game while earning All-Rookie recognition. She went on to help the Shock capture championships in 2006 and 2008, cementing her place in franchise history.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is with profound sadness that we mourn the passing of 2x WNBA Champion Kara Braxton. 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,\u201d the <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/WNBA\/status\/2025759313268977686?s=20\" target=\"_blank\">WNBA shared on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Kara Braxton: Cause of death<\/h2>\n<p>The cause of Braxton\u2019s death has not been officially confirmed. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oregonlive.com\/highschoolsports\/2026\/02\/kara-braxton-former-wnba-and-oregon-prep-basketball-star-dead-at-age-43.html#:~:text=Braxton%20was%20killed%20in%20a%20car%20accident%20over%20the%20weekend%20in%20Atlanta%2C%20according%20to%20several%20reports.%20But%20no%20official%20cause%20of%20death%20has%20been%20released.%20The%20WNBA%20confirmed%20her%20death%20through%20social%20media%20on%20Sunday.\" target=\"_blank\">Oregon Live<\/a> reported that she was involved in a fatal car accident in Atlanta over the weekend, but authorities have not released verified information about the circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>Until an official statement is issued, details remain unclear.<\/p>\n<p>New York Liberty forward Kara Braxton dribbles the ball while being defended by Indiana Fever guard Briann January (20) during the first half at the Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>Braxton spent her first five full seasons with Detroit, making her lone All-Star appearance in 2007 when she averaged 6.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. The Shock reached the Finals that year but fell to the Phoenix Mercury.<\/p>\n<p>The franchise relocated to Tulsa in 2010 and traded Braxton to Phoenix. A year later, she was dealt to the New York Liberty, where she finished her career after the 2014 season. Across 297 career games, Braxton averaged 7.6 points and 4.7 rebounds.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><em>\u2014 <\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/\"><strong><em>Enjoy free coverage of the top news &amp; trending stories on The Big Lead <\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>\u2014<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>OLYMPICS: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/final-2026-winter-olympics-medal-count-standings\/\"><strong>Final 2026 Winter Olympics medal count, standings<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>NFL: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/predicting-the-2026-nfl-free-agent-signings\/\"><strong>Predicting the 2026 NFL free agent signings<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>MLB: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/detroit-tigers-drop-unreal-alternate-jerseys-2026-mlb-season\/\"><strong>Detroit Tigers drop unreal alternate jerseys for 2026 MLB season<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>NBA: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/charlotte-hornes-update-lamelo-balls-car-crash\/\"><strong>Charlotte Hornets share update after LaMelo Ball\u2019s car crash<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>NHL: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/2026-winter-olympics-mens-hockey-nhl-payrolls-final-four-teams\/\"><strong>2026 Winter Olympics men\u2019s hockey, NHL payrolls for final four teams<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>SPORTS MEDIA: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/olympics-reporter-apologizes-for-drinking-slurring-words-during-live-segment\/\"><strong>Olympics reporter apologizes for drinking, slurring words during live segment<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/kara-braxton-cause-of-death-how-did-wnba-champ-die-at-43\/\">Kara Braxton cause of death, how did WNBA champ die at 43?<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebiglead.com\/\">The Big Lead<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u200b<a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/kara-braxton-cause-death-did-133435778.html\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/kara-braxton-cause-death-did-133435778.html<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The WNBA community is mourning the loss of Kara Braxton, a two-time league champion who spent a decade in the pros. The league announced her&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1164155,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1164154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1164154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1164155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1164154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1164154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1164154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}