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!
In This Article...
Kia Nurse and Darnell are they related?
Despite her accomplishment, Sarah’s parents never fully understood her position with Hockey Canada. Sarah attended her first centralization tryout camp with the Canadian national team last year, where the Olympic team was selected.
“Roger Nurse told me that there are some kids who just go throughthey’re the best players, they attend every camp, every occasion, every Four Nations (competition), and every worlds tournament.
For Sarah, it resembled a struggle. It was a fight regardless of how good you thought she was or how well she was doing.
“And, you know, she’s still standing, which is a fantastic monument to her resolve to endure it, he continued.
Being a part of a family with lots of competition contributes to some of that resiliency. Darnell Nurse of the Edmonton Oilers and Kia Nurse of the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team, both of whom represented Canada in basketball at the 2016 Rio Olympics, are Sarah’s cousins.
Issac Nurse, Sarah’s younger brother, is a right winger with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League.
For the Dundas Blues of the Provincial Junior Hockey League of Canada, left wing Elijah Nurse plays.
Isaac Nurse, Sarah Nurse’s brother, competes in the OHL for the Hamilton Bulldogs (Photo by Aaron Bell/OHL Images).
A well-known Canadian lacrosse player, her father was. The father of Kia and her uncle Richard NurseDarnell was a wide receiver for the Canadian Football League’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Donovan McNabb, a former quarterback in the National Football League, is related.
Sarah Nurse expressed pride in her family’s athletic heritage to CBC Sports, emphasizing that “I came here to forge my own course.
When giving hockey advise, Roger Nurse occasionally needs to be reminded of it by his kids.
“She would look at me and say, “Dad, you never played a game of NCAA hockey,” when I would mention a game she would play at Wisconsin, according to Roger Nurse. “Furthermore, Isaac used to remark to me, “Dad, you never played a game in the Ontario Hockey League.” taken as true.
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.
Kia Nurse’s brother, who is he?
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]
How is Donovan McNabb linked to Sarah Nurse?
Her second uncle, Richard Nurse, was a wide receiver with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League, and both of her uncles were professional football players in the National Football League (NFL) (CFL). When Nurse was three years old, she started skating.