The Los Angeles Sparks officially cut Kate Martin for the second time this 2026 WNBA season, revealing the news on Saturday, August 29. This move comes after a tumultuous stint where Martin saw her WNBA role diminish sharply, especially following a notable outing against our Emerald City team back on July 6.
The Seattle Game That Started the Downward Spiral
Remember when Kate Martin was showing real potential? The Sparks picked her up on May 10 with a player-development contract after the Golden State Valkyries waived her before their season even started. She then dropped a season-high 11 points in a loss against the Toronto Tempo on May 17. Things were looking up! The Sparks even made her franchise history on July 6, upgrading her from the development pool to a standard WNBA contract. That same day, she stepped onto the court against our Seattle squad and played a solid 17 minutes.
But here’s where it gets wild: after that game against Seattle, Martin’s usage basically fell off a cliff. She played five minutes or fewer in her next four appearances. Then, for most of August, it was coach’s decisions keeping her sidelined. Her final WNBA game? A mere four minutes in a crushing 124-88 loss to the Atlanta Dream on August 20. It feels like that Seattle game, where she saw significant minutes, became an unexpected turning point for her time with Los Angeles, leading right into this sudden end.
The Final Cut and Her Next Chapter in 3-on-3
The Sparks, who sit at a 15-25 record, didn’t stop there. They also waived forward Alissa Pili to make room, acquiring Aaliyah Nye off waivers and signing Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda and Shyanne Sellers to developmental deals. Martin finished her Sparks tenure with 17 games played, averaging 2.3 points per contest. It’s a tough exit for a player who was drafted 18th overall by Las Vegas in 2024 and played for the Valkyries in 2025.
But Kate Martin isn’t out of the game entirely. On the very same day the Sparks announced her release, Unrivaled Basketball dropped the news that she’s re-signed with the 3-on-3 league for the 2027 season. Unrivaled, co-founded by WNBA All-Stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier in 2024, is where Martin already put in work. She averaged 6.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists across 13 regular-season games with Breeze BC in the 2026 Unrivaled season. She even put up 8.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.2 steals in six games for the Laces in 2025. It’s clear she can ball out in that format.
So, while her WNBA chapter closes for now, Kate Martin is heading back to Unrivaled, ready for their third season kicking off in January 2027. We don’t know which Unrivaled team she’ll be playing for yet, but you know she’ll be bringing that competitive fire. For now, it’s a new chapter, and we’ll be watching to see how she dominates the 3-on-3 circuit after a WNBA run that saw a strange downturn right after playing our Emerald City team.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
Leave a Reply