Kayla Thornton

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Kayla Thornton
Thornton with the Dallas Wings in 2021
No. 5 – Golden State Valkyries
PositionSmall forward / power forward
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (1992-10-20) October 20, 1992 (age 33)
Germany
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High schoolIrvin (El Paso, Texas)
CollegeUTEP (2010–2014)
WNBA draft2014: undrafted
Playing career2014–present
Career history
2014Montaneras de Morovis
2014–2015Maccabi Ramat Hen
2015Washington Mystics
2016Cangrejeras de Santurce
2016–2017Bucheon Hana 1Q
2017–2022Dallas Wings
2018–2020Cheongju KB Stars
2020–2021Al Ahly
2021–2022Reyer Venezia
2022–2023Southside Flyers
2023–2024New York Liberty
2023–2024Dynamo Kursk
2024Çukurova Basketbol
2025–presentGolden State Valkyries
Career highlights
Stats at NBA.comLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
Stats at Basketball ReferenceLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
Stats at Basketball ReferenceLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame

Kayla Bianca Thornton (born October 20, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Valkyries of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She has previously played in the WNBA for the Dallas Wings and New York Liberty, with whom she won the 2024 WNBA Championship. In college, Thornton played for the University of Texas at El Paso.[1][2]

Career

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From 2010 to 2014, Thornton played for the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). She was El Paso's all-time leading scorer and led the team to a record 29 wins in their 2011-12 season.[3]

Thornton was not selected in the 2014 WNBA draft. She signed with the Washington Mystics for the 2015 season and played in 10 games. She returned to the WNBA for the 2017 season, signing with the Dallas Wings. She spent six seasons in Dallas before being traded on January 16, 2023 to the New York Liberty in a three-team deal.[3][4][5] Thornton played a significant role as a sixth man, and helped propel the team to the 2023 and 2024 WNBA Finals, the latter of which they would win.

On December 6, 2024, Thornton was selected as the Golden State Valkyries' pick from the New York Liberty's 2024 roster in the WNBA's expansion draft.[6] She started all 22 of her appearances for Golden State in 2025, averaging 14.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.5 assists en route to her first career All-Star selection. On July 25, 2025, Thornton was ruled out for the remainder of the season after undergoing right knee surgery.[7]

Thornton is known for her defensive play, and her ability to guard players in any position.[3][8] In the WNBA offseason, Thornton has played in Australia, Egypt, Israel, Italy, Puerto Rico, Russia and South Korea.[8]

Career statistics

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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 Thornton won a WNBA championship

WNBA

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Regular season

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Stats current through end of 2025 season

WNBA regular season statistics[9]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2015 Washington 10 0 8.8 .333 .000 .667 2.1 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.5 2.2
2016 Did not play (waived)
2017 Dallas 34 1 17.2 .412 .279 .800 3.3 0.9 0.6 0.2 0.7 6.8
2018 Dallas 34 32 28.6 .447 .355 .860 4.0 1.8 1.0 0.4 1.1 9.2
2019 Dallas 27 25 30.4 .343 .272 .931 5.3 1.8 0.9 0.3 1.6 10.4
2020 Dallas 22 14 25.3 .429 .347 .875 5.1 0.8 0.9 0.2 1.1 7.3
2021 Dallas 31 25 27.6 .421 .349 .849 5.6 1.5 0.8 0.2 1.0 7.5
2022 Dallas 36 35 29.2 .471 .329 .829 5.9 1.8 1.1 0.6 1.2 8.0
2023 New York 40° 0 17.3 .433 .313 .767 3.5 0.7 0.7 0.3 0.5 4.5
2024† New York 40° 11 20.3 .379 .357 .846 2.6 0.7 0.7 0.2 0.6 5.5
2025 Golden State 22 22 30.1 .362 .282 .829 7.0 1.5 1.3 0.2 1.6 14.0
Career 10 years, 4 teams 296 165 24.0 .404 .319 .839 4.4 1.2 0.9 0.3 1.0 7.6
All-Star 1 0 25.2 .357 .273 1.000 11.0 5.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 15.0

Playoffs

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WNBA playoff statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2017 Dallas 1 0 6.0 .000 .000 — 1.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2018 Dallas 1 1 30.0 .571 .000 — 3.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.0
2021 Dallas 1 1 16.0 .000 .000 — 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2022 Dallas 3 3 26.3 .526 .500 1.000 4.7 1.3 0.3 0.7 1.0 8.3
2023 New York 10 0 10.1 .444 .400 1.000 1.5 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.3 3.2
2024† New York 11 0 12.5 .333 .176 1.000 1.5 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.1 2.0
Career 6 years, 2 teams 27 5 13.7 .405 .289 1.000 1.9 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.3 3.2

College

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NCAA statistics[10]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2010–11 UTEP 30 12 19.9 .428 .143 .678 5.8 0.6 1.1 0.2 1.1 7.0
2011–12 UTEP 32 32 24.9 .480 .381 .730 7.3 0.9 1.1 0.4 1.2 9.8
2012–13 UTEP 32 31 31.2 .410 .285 .705 8.7 1.2 1.9 0.4 1.9 15.3
2013–14 UTEP 34 33 31.3 .430 .277 .777 10.1 2.0 2.6 1.0 2.4 19.5
Career 128 108 27.0 .433 .285 .736 8.1 1.2 1.7 0.5 1.7 13.1

References

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[edit | edit source]
  • Career statistics from NBA.comLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). · Basketball ReferenceLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
  • Career statistics from WNBA.comLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). · Basketball ReferenceLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
  • UTEP Miners bio
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