Two-time WNBA champion Kara Braxton dead at 43

Kara Braxton, a two-time WNBA champion with the Detroit Shock, has died at age 43, the league said in a statement Sunday.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.“Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and former teammates at this time.”The No.

7 overall pick by the Shock in the 2005 WNBA Draft, Braxton went on to make the league’s all-rookie team that season.The 6-foot-6 center-forward played with the Detroit Shock, Tulsa Shock, Phoenix Mercury, and New York Liberty — averaging 7.6 points and 4.7 rebounds — during her 10-year WNBA career.She won championships with Detroit in 2006 and 2008, and was named an All-Star in 2007.

Braxton finished her career with the Liberty in 2014.She played at Georgia from 2001 to 2004 and was named SEC Freshman of the Year in 2002.Braxton’s son, Jelani Thurman — who played tight end the past three seasons at Ohio State before transferring to North Carolina in January — mourned his mother’s passing in a series of posts on Instagram.“Imma miss my queen,” Thurman wrote, including a past photo of him wearing his mother’s Detroit jersey on his Instagram Story.Thurman reposted an interview with Yahoo Sports, in which he previously spoke about his mother and the lessons she taught him in the sport.He included another clip that showed the pair hugging at an Ohio State game, along with a snapshot of her holding him when he was a baby....