Former Iowa girls's basketball star n was waived over the weekend for the second time of the .
The s waived Martin and ahead Alissa Pili on Saturday, Aug. 29, in a transfer to accumulate Aaliyah Nye off waivers and signal Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda and s to developmental offers. The group introduced the transactions in social-media posts.
Los Angeles (15-25) signed Martin to a player-development contract on Could 10 after the r forward of their 2026 season opener. Martin spent the 2025 season with the Valkyries after they chose her within the growth draft from Las Vegas, which .
Thanks, Kate Martin! A
— Los Angeles Sparks (@LASparks) 6
The 26-year-old scored a season-high 11 factors for the Sparks in a loss to the Toronto Tempo on Could 17. On July 6, the Sparks made Martin the primary participant in franchise historical past to be upgraded from the event pool to a typical WNBA contract.
Nonetheless, Martin’s utilization decreased considerably after she performed 17 minutes in opposition to Seattle on July 6. She performed 5 minutes or fewer in every of her subsequent 4 appearances earlier than not enjoying in a number of video games in August as a result of coach's selections. Her closing look got here Aug. 20, when she performed 4 minutes in Los Angeles’ 124-88 loss to the Atlanta Dream.
Martin ended up enjoying 17 video games with the Sparks, averaging 2.3 factors per sport.
What's subsequent for Kate Martin?
On the identical day the Sparks introduced they have been waiving Martin, l revealed that she'd re-signed to play within the 3-on-3 league in 2027.
Kate Martin is Unequalled 👑
Kate returns for season three on a multi-year deal.
Offered by yq— Unequalled Basketball (@Unrivaledwbb) 6
Unequalled was based by WNBA All-Stars t and r in 2024.
Martin averaged 6.0 factors, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists per sport throughout 13 regular-season video games with Breeze BC within the 2026 Unequalled season. She performed in six video games for Unequalled in 2025 as a member of the Laces, averaging 8.7 factors, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per contest.
The Unequalled group Martin will play for in 2027 has not been introduced but. The league is anticipated to start its third season in January 2027.
USA TODAY sports activities reporter Callie Fin contributed to this report.
Cooper Price is a service/trending reporter for the Des Moines Register. Attain him at cworth@gannett.com or comply with him on X @CooperAWorth.
This text initially appeared on Hawk Central: d