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Former Westview great and WNBA champion Kara Braxton , dead at age 43
Published 8:59 am Monday, February 23, 2026
Former Westview High School standout basketball player Kara Braxton was killed in a car accident this past weekend in Atlanta, according to reports. Her death was confirmed by the WNBA through social media.
“It is with profound sadness that we mourn the passing of 2x WNBA Champion Kara Braxton,” the WNBA shared on X/Twitter. “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.”
Braxton was a two-time Oregon 4A Player of the Year for the Wildcats, helping to lead — with the help of her twin sister Kim — Westview to a state championship in 2000, defeating Crater 47-44 in the state final.
The 43-year-old played collegiately at the University of Georgia and played three seasons with the Bulldogs, earning SEC Freshman of the Year and averaging 15.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game during her tenure in Athens.
Braxton was selected No. 7 overall in the 2005 WNBA draft and played eight seasons with Detroit, Phoenix and New York, helping to lead the Shock to league championships in 2006 and 2008.
In 2007, she earned a WNBA All-Star bid.
Braxton played her final season with the New York Liberty in 2024. During her ten seasons in the league, she averaged 7.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
Entering her senior season at Westview, Braxton was considered by several recruiting services to be the country’s No. 2 overall recruit.
Details of Braxton’s death have not been released.
Braxton is survived by her husband, Jarvis Jackson, and two sons, Jelani Thurman and Jream Jackson.
Thurman spent the last three seasons at Ohio State University playing football for the Buckeyes before transferring to North Carolina this past January.
