One of the more surprising transactions of the 2026 WNBA season occurred on July 7, when the Las Vegas Aces waived Chennedy Carter. Carter had been one of the favorites to land the WNBA Sixth Player of the Year award due to her production off the bench for the Aces. Aces head coach Becky Hammon refused to go into detail about the surprising decision to cut Carter, bluntly stating that “We aren’t going to comment on players that aren’t here anymore.”
Carter was the fourth overall pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft, selected by the Atlanta Dream. The Texas A&M product lasted just two seasons with the Dream, then played just one season with the LA Sparks in 2022, then just one season with the Chicago Sky in 2024, prior to this season’s brief 13-game stint with the Aces.
All of her stops in the WNBA ended ugly, but there has never been much concrete evidence of Carter being a disruptive influence. It’s all been hearsay and whispers.
Will Chennedy Carter play in the WNBA again?
If Carter is to play in the WNBA again, it likely won’t occur in 2026 or 2027.
Carter has signed with the defending champions of the WCBA (Women’s Chinese Basketball Association), Sichuan Yuanda, for their upcoming season. This is not Carter’s first rodeo playing basketball in China as she dominated the league in 2025.
That season, playing for Wuhan Shengfan, Carter earned WCBA Player of the Year honors while averaging over 30 points per game.
If Carter again puts up big numbers in the WCBA, one would think that the WNBA could come calling once again.
Reporter Ros Gold-Onwude and five-time WNBA All-Star Angel McCoughtry recently discussed on their Court Vision podcast the possibility of a WNBA return for Carter.
Gold-Onwude: The fact that it did not work with the Aces, do you think that she’s going to get another chance in the WNBA?
McCoughtry: It’s so hard to tell. What I do think could happen … we have some new [WNBA] teams coming. Philly, Cleveland … depending on who that coach is, who may need talent to come in and just say, ‘ya know what, I don’t care. I just need some talent. I need some run and gunners. [Carter] can come off the bench and give some good bump.
Gold-Onwude: Or maybe ‘The W’ doesn’t have to be the be-all and end-all for her. She’s clearly had success at an MVP level all around the world. In other leagues, internationally, where she’s played. So maybe that’s a situation where she could shine best, where she can go be the big dog - play in a league where there’s a little bit more understanding for her, or less rules, or less structure, or whatever it is, and dominate, and be herself. And it seems like she’s having fun, and she has fulfillment. Maybe ‘The W’ doesn’t have to be the be-all and end-all for her. I personally would be a little surprised if she got another chance. I want to caveat some of the conversation people are having about the Aces. Just to simply say, ‘because it did not work with the Las Vegas Aces, Chennedy Carter will never come back to the WNBA. I think that it’s a fair point to say that’s not necessarily true.
Complicated history
Midway through her second season with the Dream, Carter was suspended by Atlanta for “conduct detrimental to the team.” She did not play for the Dream for the rest of the 2021 season, and was then traded to the Sparks in February 2022.
In her lone season with the Sparks, Carter was benched for “poor conduct,” according to The LA Times. She was waived by the team in March of 2023.
Carter signed with the Chicago Sky for the 2024 season and was highly productive, averaging a team-high 17.5 points per game. Despite leading the team in scoring, the Sky opted to not re-sign Carter in the off-season.
Carter was involved in a highly-publicized incident in June 2024 while with the Sky as she shoulder-checked the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark from behind and knocked her down before the ball was inbounded. The foul was initially ruled a common foul but was later upgraded to a flagrant foul 1.
“Physical play, intensity, and a competitive spirit are hallmarks of Chicago Sky basketball,” then-Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon said at the time. “Chennedy got caught up in the heat of the moment in an effort to win the game.
“She and I have discussed what happened and that it was not appropriate, nor is it what we do or who we are. Chennedy understands that there are better ways to handle situations on the court, and she will learn from this, as we all will.”
Carter later implied that the play on Clark was overblown.
“I’m seeing a lot of things - players, fans not understanding who I am as a player,” Carter said. “You have to understand me as a person, too. And don’t just look at one tape and form an opinion about me. I’m truly a passionate person about the game, and I’m genuine. You can ask all my teammates, they’ve gotten to know me. They know the real Chennedy Carter. So I’m just saying, don’t form an opinion off of one little clip. And you didn’t even see the whole game and/or the play that led to that.”
Weatherspoon, who was fired after just one season with the Sky, has become one of Carter’s biggest advocates. Weatherspoon reached out to Hammon earlier this year and helped convince Hammon to bring Carter onto the Aces roster.
“[Carter] is an incredible young lady, she’s an awesome young lady,” Weatherspoon said on Prime Sports in May. “We all have our different ways of being. We’ve all gone through certain things, certain paths. We’ve all done things that we’d like to change and make different.”
First sign of trouble in Sin City
The first time we saw some tension between the Aces and Carter this season came on May 28 when the Aces fell to the Dallas Wings, 95-87.
Wings No. 1 pick Azzi Fudd mostly outplayed Carter, as Fudd finished with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting in 37 minutes, while Carter finished with 14 points on 6-of-11 shots in 19 minutes.
A Wings fans complained on Threads that Carter was “talking trash” to Azzi, and another fan wrote, “DAMNNNN Azzi really showed her up. I know she was laughing at that trash talk.”
Another chimed in: “And didddd!! Becky benched her because Azzi ate her up so bad!”
Carter then chimed in herself, writing: “Not to mention I made her ankle touch the ground but yall can hollar at me when my leash is off too. It’s completely unfair even though statistically wise its not even close.”
Hammon voiced her frustrations that night due to her team not getting enough whistles from the referees.
“A’ja Wilson shoots one free throw,” Hammon said. “Chennedy Carter, zero, Jackie Young, zero. I’m not saying they didn’t earn their 22, but when Awak Kuier shoots more free throws than A’ja, Jackie and Chennedy all combined, that’s a problem. We are not getting the same whistle. Give me my fine.”
The Aces have only had back-to-back losses once this season, and the back end of those L’s came in the Dallas game.
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