Karlie Samuelson Found Out About Trade to Lynx After a 10-Hour Flight With No Wi-Fi

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Ahead of Monday's 2025 WNBA draft, veteran guard Karlie Samuelson was traded from the Washington Mystics to the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for a '26 first-round pick. Heading into her seventh professional season, the 29-year-old apparently found out about the move in unceremonious fashion.
Just over two hours after the Lynx announced the transaction, Samuelson posted on X (formerly Twitter) that she received the news after stepping off a ten-hour flight with no Wi-Fi.
"Traded mid 10 hour flight with no wifi is crazyyyyyyyy," she wrote.
Traded mid 10 hour flight with no wifi is crazyyyyyyyy
— Karlie Samuelson (@ksam44) April 14, 2025
That's quite the notification to receive after turning off airplane mode. Cold world.
Samuelson eventually seemed to warm up to the idea of heading to Minnesota, quote-posting the Lnyx's announcement saying, "Wow! Haven’t processed this all yet but I am extremely excited about this!!! Let’s go Lynx!!!!"
Wow! Haven’t processed this all yet but I am extremely excited about this!!! Let’s go Lynx!!!!💚 https://t.co/NHfyjEU4r0
— Karlie Samuelson (@ksam44) April 14, 2025
Samuelson heads to the Lynx coming off a season where she averaged a career-high 8.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 29 games for the Mystics. She started 19 games in her lone season with Washington.
Minnesota also added three more players to their roster on Monday night, selecting forwards Anastasiia Kosu, Dalayah Daniels and Aubrey Griffin in the WNBA draft.
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Mike Kadlick is an NFL writer for Sports Illustrated. He’s also a New England Patriots reporter for CLNS Media, where he hosts the Patriots Daily podcast and covers the beat from Gillette Stadium. Before joining SI, Kadlick worked at WEEI sports radio in Boston. He holds a master’s degree in public relations from Boston University. When Kadlick’s not covering football, he can be found running, spending time with his wife and dog, and enjoying all things pizza.