Kaitlyn Chen’s WNBA career had a rocky start, but she did not let it bother her too much. Her path to the league had not been a conventional one anyway.

After missing her first season at Princeton due to COVID-19, she led her team to the Ivy League tournament title and was named the Most Outstanding Player three consecutive years. After graduating, she joined UConn for the last year of her eligibility and was part of the national championship-winning team.

How Did Getting Waived Become a Blessing in Disguise for Kaitlyn Chen?

After getting drafted by the Golden State Valkyries in the third round of the 2025 WNBA Draft, Kaitlyn Chen spent the entire training camp with them and even played two preseason games. On May 14, the Valkyries announced that Chen was getting waived, which sparked some backlash from fans.

Phoenix Mercury’s Satou Sabally took heat for saying Chen “wasn’t good enough yet.”

However, Chen did not wallow in her misery after the snub. She quickly signed with the 3XBA, a groundbreaking 3×3 basketball league. Soon, she got a call back from the Valkyries and re-signed with the team. She made her WNBA regular-season debut on June 22, 2025, against the Connecticut Sun, where she scored five points playing 21 minutes.

In a recent appearance on her former UConn teammate Azzi Fudd’s “Fudd Around and Find Out” podcast, Chen admitted that the waiver, in fact, worked out in her favor.

“Princeton does reunions every year, and it’s the highlight of my year,” Chen shared. “Everyone goes back, and you’re reunited with all your friends. No one tells you that college is so great, and you don’t really get to live with your friends like that anymore. But for reunions, you get to spend four days with your besties.”

“I was a little bummed that I might not be able to go if I were to make a team,” Chen continued, making Fudd stifle a laugh at the admission. “I was like, ‘You know what? I’ll go to training camp, give it my all, and if I make a team, I make a team. It’s awesome, I’ll be in the W! If I don’t, I get to go to reunions.”

“And so, I got waived, and I was able to go to the reunion, had a blast, and loved spending time with my friends there. Then, I went home, worked out a little, and got called back. Everything, honestly, worked out really well.”

Earlier this summer, Chen shared with Princeton Alumni Weekly that it was “nice” to be back home after getting waived. It gave her a much-needed time to recuperate after the “crazy sprint” with UConn’s March Madness run.