Despite the abrupt end of her stint with the Golden State Valkyries, Kate Martin continues to share an excellent bond with her former teammates. Kaitlyn Chen, in particular, appears to be one of her close friends. On Sunday, Chen posted a picture with Martin in her latest Instagram post.
Martin reacted enthusiastically with a five-word comment.
“Pumped I made the dump,” she wrote.
Here’s the post:
Chen played 24 games in her first season with Golden State in 2025 when Martin was on the roster. Chen joined as a third-round pick, while Martin was drafted in the expansion draft.
Chen signed a rookie deal with the Valkyries before they waived her three weeks into her career. Golden State re-signed the former UConn prospect in June 2025 on a rest of the season contract. Meanwhile, Martin had a more stable first year with the franchise. She completed the season and had become one of their key players.
However, she was shockingly waived in May before the 2026 season. Interestingly, they seemingly preferred keeping Chen over Martin, who they signed to a $277,500 contract. Martin moved on to the Sparks, who initially signed her to a player development contract before signing her to a $144,390 standard deal.
Sparks coach compares Kate Martin to Kaitlyn Chen’s former UConn teammate
Los Angeles Sparks coach Lynne Roberts compared Kate Martin to Kaitlyn Chen’s former UConn teammate, Paige Bueckers. On Sunday, before Martin and the Sparks’ 90-82 loss, Roberts spoke about the third-year guard’s personality, saying:
“She’s fantastic. … It could kind of be like a Paige Bueckers thing where everybody likes her, you know. She has a charisma to her. But then she’s just tremendously competitive, prepared, totally professional. She’s been awesome. And she’s just someone that you love having around.”
The Sparks invested in Martin by upgrading her contract despite her being a fringe player. Martin has averaged a career-low 2.6 points while shooting 29.2% from three. Nevertheless, as Roberts mentioned, Martin remains an integral part of the locker room and can provide crucial minutes in her limited role off the bench.
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