Kalani Brown

Kalani Brown (born March 21, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She has received multiple honors during her playing career, and was named an All-American by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) following the 2017 and 2018 seasons.^[1]

Kalani Brown

Brown in 2019
No. 21 – Phoenix Mercury
Position	Center
League	WNBA
Personal information
Born	(1997-03-21) March 21, 1997 (age 28) Slidell, Louisiana, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight	245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High school	Salmen (Slidell, Louisiana)
College	Baylor (2015–2019)
WNBA draft	2019: 1st round, 7th overall pick
Drafted by	Los Angeles Sparks
Playing career	2019–present
Career history
2019	Los Angeles Sparks
2019–2020	Xinjiang Magic Deer
2020–2021	Atlanta Dream
2020–2021	Kayseri Basketbol
2021–2022	Hatayspor
2022–2023	Maccabi Bnot Ashdod
2023	Xinjiang Magic Deer
2023–2024	Dallas Wings
2024–2025	Inner Mongolia
2025–present	Phoenix Mercury
Career highlights and awards
NCAA champion (2019) 3× WBCA Coaches' All-American (2017–2019) Second-team All-American – USBWA (2019) All-American – USBWA (2018) Big 12 Player of the Year (2018) 2x Second-team All-American – AP (2018, 2019) 2x Big 12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player (2018, 2019) Big 12 All-Defensive Team (2017, 2019) 3× First-team All-Big 12 (2017–2019) Big 12 All-Freshman Team (2016) McDonald's All-American (2015)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Medals Women's basketball Representing the  United States FIBA Americas Uder-16 Championship 2013 Mexico Team

WNBA career

Dallas Wings (2023–2024)

On February 2, 2023, Brown signed a training camp contract with the Dallas Wings.^[2] Brown went through training camp with the Wings, but was one of the last cuts they made and she did not make the 2023 Opening Night roster.^[3] She returned a few weeks later to the Wings, as she signed a Hardship Contract due to the Wings having injuries on the team.^[4] On June 23, 2023, Brown was released from her Hardship Contract with the Wings.^[5] She returned a day later on another hardship contract with the Wings.^[6]

Phoenix Mercury (2025–present)

On February 2, 2025, Brown was traded to the Phoenix Mercury in a four-team trade.^[7]

Personal

Brown is the daughter of DeJuna (Dee) and former NBA veteran and champion with the Boston Celtics, P. J. Brown.^[1][8] She has two sisters, Briana and Whitney, and a brother, Javani. Both of her parents played for Louisiana Tech University, and her mother was an assistant coach at Salmen High School. In December 2018, Salmen retired Kalani Brown's number.^[1] In 2015, she was named a McDonald's All-American during her senior year at the school.^[9] At Baylor, she majored in communications studies.

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
Bold	Career best	°	League leader

*	Denotes season(s) in which Brown won an NCAA Championship

WNBA

Regular season

Stats current through end of 2024 season

WNBA regular season statistics^[10]

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2019	Los Angeles	28	0	13.5	.478	.000	.783	3.5	0.6	0.3	0.8	1.0	5.1
2020	Atlanta	10	0	6.1	.522	—	.600	1.2	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.5	3.0
2021	Atlanta	1	0	5.0	.333	—	—	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.0
2022	Did not play (waived)
2023	Dallas	32	5	16.4	.629	.000	.802	4.5	1.0	0.2	0.7	1.3	7.8
2024	Dallas	38	2	13.5	.582	.000	.661	3.1	1.1	0.2	0.6	1.2	5.9
Career	5 years, 3 teams	109	7	13.6	.566	.000	.746	3.4	0.8	0.2	0.6	1.1	5.9

Playoffs

WNBA playoff statistics

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2019	Los Angeles	3	0	5.7	1.000	—	.500	2.0	0.3	0.0	0.3	0.7	4.3
2023	Dallas	5	0	8.6	.583	—	.400	2.2	0.4	0.6	0.2	0.8	6.0
Career	2 years, 2 teams	8	0	7.5	.667	—	.400	2.2	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.8	5.4

College

NCAA statistics^[11][12]

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2015–16	Baylor	38	1	14.4	.603	—	.626	4.3	0.6	0.5	1.3	1.3	9.3
2016–17	Baylor	37	26	21.4	.679	—	.760	8.2	1.3	0.4	2.0	1.8	15.4
2017–18	Baylor	35	35	29.6	.650	—	.760	10.2	1.7	0.4	1.4	2.2	20.1
2018–19*	Baylor	37	37	26.8	.614	.000	.752	8.2	1.6	0.3	1.7	1.8	15.8
Career		147	99	22.9	.639	.000	.733	7.7	1.3	0.4	1.6	1.8	15.0