Kia Nurse

Kia Augustine Nurse (born February 22, 1996) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Toronto Tempo of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball. She is also a basketball analyst featured on TSN.

Nurse has played for the Canada Women's National Basketball team. She was selected to play in the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Kia Nurse began playing basketball at the age of four, and by the time she was seven years old, she was playing in a competitive league. Nurse attended St. Vincent de Paul Elementary School.

Nurse played basketball while attending St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School in Hamilton, Ontario. During her playing career, she helped the team win three consecutive OFSAA high school championships in 2011, 2012 and 2013. She played for the Hamilton Transway Club team, winning seven consecutive provincial championships.

College career

Nurse played college basketball at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut for the Huskies. In her time at UConn, Nurse played under head coach Geno Auriemma, alongside players such as Breanna Stewart, Gabby Williams and Napheesa Collier.

Approximately 50 colleges and universities contacted Nurse to ask her to consider playing for their team. She initially narrowed down the list to four teams, Connecticut, Penn State, Indiana, and Kentucky, but eventually chose Connecticut. After signing her letter of intent, she revealed that she had recorded a goal of playing for Connecticut when she was in Grade 7.

Professional career WNBA At the 2018 WNBA draft, Nurse was drafted by the New York Liberty in the first round as the tenth overall pick. Nurse joined the Liberty alongside players such as Tina Charles and Epiphanny Prince. Nurse made her WNBA debut on May 20, 2018, scoring 17 points in an eventual 80–76 loss to the Chicago Sky. In June 2018, Nurse scored 34 points, a season-high amongst WNBA rookies, in the Liberty's 87–81 overtime victory over the Indiana Fever.

In July 2019, Nurse was named as a starter for the WNBA All-Star Game for the first time in her career. Her selection made her just the third Canadian to play in the All-Star Game. Nurse was selected by and joined Team Delle Donne for the game. Nurse also participated in the Three-Point Contest but was one of four competitors eliminated in the first round.

Nurse was traded to the Phoenix Mercury with Megan Walker by the Liberty for the 2021 season for the Mercury's 2021 and 2022 first-round picks. Nurse tore her ACL in Game 4 of the WNBA semifinals against the Aces, which led to her to missing the remaining postseason games. The Mercury lost in the finals against the Chicago Sky. On February 5, 2022, the Mercury announced that they had re-signed Nurse for the 2022 season. Nurse's injury caused her to miss the entire 2022 season.

On January 31, 2024, Nurse was traded by the Seattle Storm to the Los Angeles Sparks alongside the 2024 WNBA draft first-round pick (fourth overall) for the Sparks' 2026 first-round pick.

On February 4, 2025, Nurse signed with the Chicago Sky. In 2025, Nurse averaged 7.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. In a game against the Golden State Valkyries on August 1, she notched a career-high seven assists.

On April 14, 2026, Nurse signed with the expansion Toronto Tempo, she became the first Canadian player to sign for the first Canadian team in the WNBA. Athletes Unlimited Nurse made her Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball debut during the 2025 season, finishing ninth on the final leaderboard with 4,254 points. She averaged 15.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, earned three Game MVP awards, and served as a team captain during Week Two. In 2026, Nurse returned to Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball for her second season with the league.

National team career Youth level Nurse was invited to play on the under-17 national team in the FIBA Under-17 World Championship for Women, held in Amsterdam in 2012. She averaged almost 14 points per game and helped the team finish third place.

Nurse played on the Canadian national team in the 2014 FIBA World Championship. The team lost to Australia in the quarterfinals, then beat France and China to finish in fifth place.

Nurse played for Canada at the 2015 FIBA Americas Women's Championship, a qualifying event held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, in August 2015. Canada won the first three games, easily winning first place in the group for a spot in the semifinal against the second-place team in group B, Brazil. The semifinal game against Brazil was much closer. Canada led by only six points at halftime but gradually expanded the lead to end up with an 83–66 win and a spot in the gold-medal game. Canada finished in seventh place. Nurse was announced as a member of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic squad on June 29, 2021. Canada finished in 9th place overall.

Career statistics Denotes season(s) in which Nurse won an NCAA Championship WNBA Regular season Stats current through end of 2025 season

Playoffs

College

Personal life Kia Nurse was born to Richard and Cathy Nurse and was raised in Hamilton, Ontario. Richard Nurse played in the CFL, and Cathy Nurse was a basketball player at McMaster University. Her older siblings are Tamika Nurse, who played basketball for Oregon and Bowling Green, and NHL defenceman Darnell Nurse of the San Jose Sharks, and her cousin is a PWHL forward Sarah Nurse, who plays for the Vancouver Goldeneyes and was part of the gold medal-winning Team Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. She is also the niece of former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, who is married to her aunt Raquel Nurse McNabb.