The Nurse family, one of Canada’s most athletic and competitive families, continues its never-ending sports trip.
As a member of Canada’s basketball team, Kia Nurse, the sister of Edmonton Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse, hopes to increase her bragging rights over her big brother by returning home with an Olympic gold from Rio de Janeiro.
She told Canada’s 570 News that “obviously we have the ambition to go in there and grab a medal. I think need to play extremely hard together and peak at the perfect time. So, in my opinion, the Olympics were where we played our best basketball in the last four years.
Kia is among the finest collegiate basketball players in the United States as well as the Great White North. She assisted in leading the legendary women’s basketball squad of the University of Connecticut to NCAA titles both in 2014 and 2015.
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Kia Nurse and Tamika Nurse sisters?
athlete Kia Augustine Nurse plays basketball (born 22 February 1996 in Hamilton, ON). A member of the Phoenix Mercury of the Women’s National Basketball Association, Kia Nurse plays basketball.
(WNBA). In 2015 and 2016, Nurse’s University of Connecticut Huskies won back-to-back NCAA championships. Additionally, she led Team Canada to victories at the 2015 Pan American Games and the 2015 FIBA Americas Women’s Championships, securing Canada’s spot in the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Summer Games. while participating in New York Liberty games
With 465 points, Nurse set the WNBA record for the most points scored by a Canadian in a single season.
Family
Kia Nurse comes from a family of accomplished athletes. Richard, her father, was a wide receiver and slotback with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats from 1990 to 1995. He was born in Trinidad and Tobago. At McMaster University, Cathy Nurse played basketball for the varsity team.
Darnell Nurse, the elder brother of Nurse, was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft, and he helped Team Canada win the gold medal at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Since 2015, he has played exclusively for the Edmonton Oilers, and in 2021, he was selected for the NHL All-Star Team. Tamika, Kia’s older sister, played basketball for the University
both at Bowling Green State University and in Oregon. At the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, Kia’s cousin Sarah Nurse earned a gold medal for Canada in women’s hockey.
Additionally, the Philadelphia Eagles’ Donovan McNabb, Nurse’s uncle, was a six-time Pro Bowl quarterback.
Childhood
At the age of four, Kia Nurse began playing basketball. While growing up in Hamilton, she participated in track and field as well as soccer. Her greatest accomplishment in basketball was in that sport. She began participating in a competitive basketball league at the age of seven.
Nurse, then 14 years old, assisted Team Ontario in taking home the 2010 Girls’ Under-15 Basketball National Championship. In the championship match, Team Ontario defeated Team Quebec 7250. The most valuable player in the event was Nurse. Later on, she supported Team Ontario.
It defeated Quebec 7659 to successfully defend its title in Winnipeg. Nurse won the title of competition MVP once more. She was honored with the Hazel Miner Award in 2010 and 2011.
It is given to a basketball player in the Under-15 Team Ontario women’s program who exemplifies the highest ideals of the game while pursuing athletic greatness.
Nurse routinely guided her club teams to triumphs. With St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary, she won three straight women’s high school basketball championships.
Hamilton Transway won seven straight Ontario Basketball Association championships while attending school there from 2011 to 2013. Nurse averaged 25.9 points per game, 8.8 rebounds per game, and 4.9 assists per game in her last high school season. Nurse
University of Connecticut
Nursing participated in NCAA women’s basketball from 2014 to 2018. She scored 1,333 points overall in 113 games, averaging 11.8 points per game. Her Huskies squad amassed an amazing record of winning the 2015 and 2016 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championships.
761. On March 20, 2017, Nurse tied the NCAA Women’s Division I Basketball tournament record for most three-pointers in a game with nine in a 9464 victory over Syracuse University. The Atlantic Coast Conference’s Freshman of the Year for 2015 is Nurse.
the 2018 NCAA Defensive Player of the Year, as well as the 2017 ACC Player of the Year.
Team Canada
For the first time ever, Kia Nurse represented Canada abroad at the 2011 FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship in Mrida, Mexico. Canada finished in third place and qualified for the 2012 Olympics thanks to her third-place finish in the tournament scoring with 14.6 points per game.
Amsterdam will host the FIBA Under-17 World Championship for Women. In the bronze medal match, Canada defeated Japan 8477 to take third place. In five of Canada’s eight games, Nurse was the team’s top scorer as the nation recorded its best-ever outcome in history.
Nurse went back to Mexico in 2013 to compete for Team Canada. The senior team at the FIBA Americas Championship for Women in Xalapa was the target audience this time. As Canada finished second behind Cuba, Nurse averaged 10 points each game. After a year, Nurse performed
in Istanbul, Turkey, for the inaugural FIBA Women’s World Championship for Women. She scored 6.9 points on average per game as Canada came in sixth.
Nurse played for Canada in two important international basketball competitions that took place in Canada in 2015. She earned 33 points in the gold at the Pan American Games in Toronto.
Canada defeated the United States 8173 in the gold game. At the Pan Am Games, Canada won gold in women’s basketball for the first time ever. At the awards ceremony, Nurse was selected to carry the Canadian flag. At the FIBA Americas Women’s Championship later that summer,
Canada won gold at the Edmonton Basketball Championship and qualified for the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Summer Games. Nurse led Canada in scoring with 13 points per game, including 20 points against Cuba in the gold medal match, which Canada won 8266. She received the title of tournament MVP.
Nurse topped Canada in scoring at the 2016 Summer Olympics with 66 points in 5 games. In the quarterfinals, Canada faced France 6863 but fell short. Nurse scored 10.5 points per game on average as Canada defeated Argentina to win the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup in 2017. 2018 FIBA World Cup
Nurse finished third among all players with 109 points during the Women’s World Cup. Canada qualified for the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo because to Nurse, who scored an average of 16 points per game at the 2020 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgium. Nurse led Canada with 13 points per game during the 2021 event, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, Canada was out before the quarterfinals.
What siblings do Kia Nurse have?
Richard and Cathy Nurse gave birth to Kia Nurse, who was raised in Hamilton, Ontario. Cathy Nurse played basketball for McMaster University, and Richard Nurse was a CFL player. [27] Darnell Nurse, a professional hockey player, and Tamika Nurse, a basketball player for Oregon and Bowling Green, are her older siblings. Sarah Nurse, a member of the Wisconsin Badgers women’s ice hockey team who represented Team Canada at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics, is her cousin. [29] She is also the niece of Donovan McNabb, a former quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles who is now married to Raquel Nurse McNabb. [30] [31]
Who is a relative of Nick Nurse?
Leo and Rocky Levi are the names of Nurse’s two boys with wife Roberta. He also has a nephew named David who, before to becoming a personal trainer for professional athletes, was employed by the Brooklyn Nets.
Sarah Nurse and Darnell Nurse are they related?
After Canada’s women’s ice hockey team defeated the USA to reclaim the Olympic crown, an Edmonton Oilers defenseman said that his cousin “deserved everything she’s gotten.”
Is Kia Nurse related to Raptors’ Nick Nurse?
More than ever, Canadian basketball talent is sweeping the globe. Let’s get to know the Canadian athletes who compete in the NBA, WNBA, and other leagues abroad! Let’s start with Kia Nurse of Hamilton, Ontario (who is not related to Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, in case you were wondering).
You may now recognize Kia as a player for the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA, but we in Canada have supported Kia long before she rose to the status of fan favorite and All-Star. She began her career at a young age, winning two National Championships with Team Ontario in high school, two OFSAA Championships, and contributing to Team Canada’s second-place finish in the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship. Given that Kia’s brother Darnell Nurse plays hockey for the Edmonton Oilers, it would appear that her family has a strong sense of winning.
At the University of Connecticut, where basketball stars like Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, and Diana Taurasi got their start, Kia was courted to play for Coach Geno Auriemma. As a UConn Husky, Kia was the only player to start each game of the 201516 season and finished with more than 100 assists. He also won two NCAA Championships during that time.
Kia’s time at UConn was just the beginning; after being selected by the New York Liberty with the 10th overall pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft, she participated in all 34 of her team’s contests. She joins Natalie Achonwa and Bridget Carleton, both Minnesota Lynx players, as one of just three Canadians playing in the WNBA right now. Kia was selected to the 2019 WNBA All-Star game as a starter for Team Delle-Donne and took part in the 3-point competition. She was just in her second season AND she was the third Canadian player to ever play in the All-Star game. In addition, Kia scored a season-high 26 points three separate times during the 2019 campaign while shooting 35.3 percent from outside the arc. Kia spent two seasons playing with the Canberra Capitals in Australia, where she won two straight titles in 2019 and 2020 and was voted the league’s MVP in 2020.
On the #4-ranked Canadian Women’s National Basketball Team, Nurse is a fan favorite. Kia played a significant role in Canada’s historic gold medal victory over the United States at the 2015 Pan American Games. She finished with 33 points on 10 of 17 shooting, 11 made free throws, two 3-pointers, and was picked to carry the Canadian flag at the closing ceremony. Kia competed for Canada again in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after making her Olympic debut in the 2016 Rio Games.
Nurse was part of a three-team transaction that sent Natasha Howard from Seattle to New York and Megan Walker and Nurse to Phoenix in the offseason before the 2021 WNBA season. Kia joined Diana Taurasi, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Brittney Griner, and Brianna Turner as a regular in Phoenix’s starting lineup. Phoenix had an interesting season, winning 10 games in a row following the Olympic break and making it all the way to the WNBA championships before falling to the Chicago Sky in a four-game series. Kia’s game-winning shot on June 1st against the Sky, which she heaved from half-court to win Phoenix the game, stands out as one of the season’s most memorable moments. A shot so flawless that Chicago undoubtedly heard the shouts from my flat when it went in.
Kia is a player whose team benefits greatly from her persistent defensive vigor, according to Phoenix Mercury head coach Sandy Brondello.
Kia Nurse won’t be playing basketball again for a while, which is unfortunate for Canadian basketball fans. Kia’s right ACL in a fall in Game 4 of the WNBA semifinals against the Las Vegas Aces caused her to miss the rest of the season. Fans may rewatch any of her prior WNBA and National Team contests until she returns, or they can do what I did and watch the Euro-step buzzer-beater endlessly (seriously it is magical). We hope Kia a quick recovery and are forward to see her back on the court representing Canada.
Kia Nurse has consistently represented Canada Basketball in a way that causes us all to loudly yell, “YEAH, SHE’S CANADIAN!” at everyone who will pay attention. Her influence is felt both on and off the court, abroad and domestically.
In addition to her playing career, Kia also worked as a broadcaster on TSN over the last winter. On March 24, 2020, she participated in the historic Women-led Raptors broadcast as a color commentator. Kia also founded Kia Nurse Elite, an AAU program supported by Nike that allows young women’s basketball players to compete in the United States and catch the eye of college scouts.
Kia Nurse is the ideal first profile for Homegrown Ballers because she is a mentor on and off the court to women of all ages in sports and sports media and someone who immediately comes to mind when you think of “Canadian Basketball Excellence.” We eagerly anticipate Kia’s upcoming comeback to the court!
Does the sister of Darnell Nurse play basketball?
Her ability to manage a group of people is one of her most outstanding qualities, Darnell added. “She is 20 years old and perhaps the team’s finest player, inspiring them to victories like the one they had (against Serbia). She demonstrated last summer that she can be a fantastic leader at any age when she was just 19 years old.”
People frequently mistake Darnell, 21, and Kia, who are a year and two weeks apart in age, for twins. Growing up in a family of athletes made them competitive, but they were also incredibly close. Their father, Richard, played in the Canadian Football League, their mother, Cathy, played basketball at Hamilton’s McMaster University, and their older sister, Tamika, played basketball at Bowling Green University. A hockey player at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is their cousin Sarah.