Las Vegas Aces Playfully Prank Rookie Kate Martin by Pretending to Leave Without Her on Team Bus
On the eve of her birthday, the Las Vegas Aces lightheartedly pranked rookie Kate Martin by pretending to leave her behind after a team dinner.
The WNBA champions played this trick on the 24-year-old Martin while in Plano, Texas, on Tuesday, June 4, just ahead of their game against the Dallas Wings scheduled for Wednesday.
WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson captured and shared the moment on her Instagram Stories, showing Martin sprinting towards the bus. The former Iowa Hawkeyes player could be seen laughing and hurrying to catch up with the team’s charter bus. “Don’t be late to the bus,” Wilson, 27, captioned the video, tagging Martin and adding a couple of laughing emojis for good measure.
Wilson posted the video again, highlighting that Aces forward Kierstan Bell’s laughter could be heard in the background. Bell also shared a clip of Martin running after the bus, adding comments like “poor rook lmaooo,” and “I hate my laugh but this was funny not gone lie.”
In another post from Bell’s Instagram story on Tuesday, she mentioned that the team had dinner at Brasão Brazilian Steakhouse in Plano.
By Wednesday, Bell was sharing the Aces’ birthday tribute to Martin on her story, writing “Happy Birthday Lil Bookie,” accompanied by a heart emoji.
Martin, who has quickly become an essential part of the Aces’ roster in her first weeks in the WNBA, didn’t even anticipate being drafted in April. At Iowa, Martin, alongside Caitlin Clark, significantly contributed to the team’s success, bringing the Iowa women’s basketball team to the Final Four and national championship games in 2023 and 2024.
While Clark, 22, was making headlines with record-breaking performances, Martin supported the team with an average of 13.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
Martin traveled to Brooklyn for the draft mainly to support Clark, who was expected to go first overall to the Indiana Fever. However, 17 picks later, Martin was unexpectedly called by the Aces, fulfilling her childhood dream.
After being drafted, Martin expressed her joy to the Associated Press, saying, “There are a lot of emotions right now. I’m really happy to be here. I was here to support Caitlin, but I was hoping to hear my name called. All I wanted was an opportunity and I got it. I’m really excited.”
Clark celebrated Martin’s achievement on social media, exclaiming, “KATE. MARTIN. LFGGGGG,” on X (formerly known as Twitter), accompanied by a sunglasses emoji and a pair of white hearts. Clark also posted a selfie of herself with Martin on her Instagram Stories, writing, “Couldn’t be happier for you,” along with another heart emoji.
