.jpg) Nurse with theChicago Sky in 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 11 – Chicago Sky | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Point guard | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | WNBA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1996-02-22)February 22, 1996 (age 29) Hamilton, Ontario, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 181 lb (82 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| High school | St. Thomas More (Hamilton, Ontario) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College | UConn (2014–2018) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WNBA draft | 2018: 1st round, 10th overall pick | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Drafted by | New York Liberty | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 2018–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2020 | New York Liberty | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2020 | Canberra Capitals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | Phoenix Mercury | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Seattle Storm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | Los Angeles Sparks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025–present | Chicago Sky | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Stats atBasketball Reference  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medals
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Kia Nurse (born February 22, 1996) is a Canadian profesionalbasketball player for theChicago Sky of theWomen's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is also a basketball analyst featured onTSN.
Nurse has played for theCanada Women's National Basketball team. She was selected to play in the2020 Summer Olympics.[1]
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.[citation needed]
Nurse played basketball while attendingSt. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School inHamilton, Ontario. During her playing career, she helped the team win three consecutiveOFSAA high school championships in 2011, 2012 and 2013. She played for the Hamilton Transway Club team, winning seven consecutive provincial championships.[citation needed]
Nurse played college basketball at theUniversity of Connecticut inStorrs, Connecticut for theHuskies.[2] In her time at UConn, Nurse played under head coachGeno Auriemma, alongside players such asBreanna Stewart,Gabby Williams andNapheesa Collier.[citation needed]
Approximately 50 colleges and universities contacted Nurse to ask her to consider playing for their team.[citation needed] She initially narrowed down the list to four teams, Connecticut, Penn State, Indiana, and Kentucky, but eventually chose Connecticut. After signing herletter of intent, she revealed that she had recorded a goal of playing for Connecticut when she was in Grade 7.[3]
At the2018 WNBA draft, Nurse was drafted by theNew York Liberty in the first round as the tenth overall pick.[4] Nurse joined the Liberty alongside players such asTina Charles andEpiphanny Prince. Nurse made her WNBA debut on May 20, 2018, scoring 17 points in an eventual 80–76 loss to theChicago Sky.[5] 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.[6]
In July 2019, Nurse was named as a starter for theWNBA All-Star Game for the first time in her career.[7] Her selection made her just the third Canadian to play in the All-Star Game. Nurse was selected by and joinedTeam Delle Donne for the game. Nurse also participated in the Three-Point Contest but lost in the first round.[citation needed]
Nurse was traded to thePhoenix Mercury along withMegan Walker by the Liberty for the2021 season in exchange for the Mercury's2021 and2022 1st round picks.[8] Nurse tore herACL in Game 4 of the WNBA semifinals against theAces, which led to her to missing the remaining postseason games.[9] The Mercury lost in the finals against theChicago Sky. On February 5, 2022, the Mercury announced that they had re-signed Nurse for the2022 season.[10] Nurse's injury caused her to miss the entire 2022 season.[11]
On January 31, 2024, Nurse was traded by theSeattle Storm to theLos Angeles Sparks alongside the2024 WNBA draft 1st round pick (4th overall) in exchange for the Sparks' 2026 1st round pick.[12]
On February 4, 2025, Nurse signed with the Chicago Sky.[13]
Nurse was invited to play on the under-17 national team in theFIBA Under-17 World Championship for Women, held inAmsterdam in 2012. She averaged almost 14 points per game and helped the team finish third place.[14][15]
Nurse was invited to join the national team, to play in the2013 FIBA Americas Championship for Women, held inXalapa,Mexico from September 21–28. She averaged ten points per game and helped the Canadian National team to a second place, silver medal finish. Canada faced Cuba in a preliminary round and won 53–40, but in the championship game, Cuba prevailed 79–71.[16][17][18][19]
Nurse played on theCanadian national team in the2014 FIBA World Championship. The team lost to Australia in the quarterfinals, then beat France and China to finish in fifth place.[20] Nurse averaged almost 22 minutes per game at the point guard position, averaging almost seven points per game, fourth most on the roster while being the team’s youngest player.[21]
Nurse was a member of theCanada women's national basketball team, which participated inbasketball at the2015 Pan American Games held inToronto, Ontario from July 10-26. Canada opened the preliminary rounds with an easy 101–38 win over Venezuela. The following day they beat Argentina 73–58. The final preliminary game was against Cuba; both teams were 2–0, so the winner would win the group. The game went down to the wire, with Canada eking out a 71–68 win.[22] Canada defeated Brazil in the semifinal, 91–63.[23] In front of a home crowd, the Canadians were able to take down the United States 81–73 and take home the gold medal. It was Canada's first gold medal in basketball in the Pan Am games. Nurse was the star for Canada with 33 points, hitting 11 of her 12 free-throw attempts and 10 of her 17 field-goal attempts, including two of three three-pointers.[24][25][26][27] Her performance led to her selection as the flag-bearer in the event's closing ceremonies.[28]
Nurse played for Canada at the2015 FIBA Americas Women's Championship, a qualifying event held inEdmonton, 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.[29] The gold-medal game was a rematch with Cuba where Canada took home the win, 82–66. As the game wound down to the close, the crowd was chanting "Rio", "Rio", "Rio" in recognition of the fact that the win qualifies Canada for the Olympics in Rio in 2016. Nurse was the leading scorer for Canada with 20 points, and her overall performance earned her the MVP award for the entire event.[30][31]
In 2016, Nurse made her Olympic debut forTeam Canada at theSummer Olympics inRio de Janeiro.[32] Canada finished in seventh place. Nurse was announced as a member of the2020 Tokyo Olympic squad on June 29, 2021.[33] Canada finished in 9th place overall.[34]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
| APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| TO | Turnovers per game | FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| Bold | Career best | ° | League leader |
| * | Denotes season(s) in which Nurse won anNCAA Championship |
Stats current through end of 2025 season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | New York | 34 | 7 | 22.8 | .402 | .294 | .870 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 9.1 |
| 2019 | New York | 34 | 34 | 29.4 | .393 | .353 | .872 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 13.7 |
| 2020 | New York | 21 | 18 | 27.5 | .273 | .238 | .864 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 12.2 |
| 2021 | Phoenix | 32 | 32 | 26.1 | .359 | .353 | .790 | 3.5 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 9.5 |
| 2022 | Did not play (injury) | ||||||||||||
| 2023 | Seattle | 40 | 40 | 19.7 | .343 | .350 | .889 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 5.9 |
| 2024 | Los Angeles | 40 | 27 | 20.3 | .388 | .331 | .793 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 7.6 |
| 2025 | Chicago | 44 | 18 | 21.9 | .354 | .335 | .790 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 7.2 |
| Career | 7 years, 5 teams | 245 | 156 | 23.5 | .361 | .326 | .843 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 8.9 |
| All-Star | 1 | 1 | 17.3 | .500 | .375 | — | 2.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 15.0 | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Phoenix | 6 | 6 | 21.8 | .432 | .455 | 1.000 | 3.3 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 8.3 |
| Career | 1 year, 1 team | 6 | 6 | 21.8 | .432 | .455 | 1.000 | 3.3 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 8.3 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–15* | Connecticut | 39 | 36 | 25.0 | .485 | .407 | .721 | 3.1 | 2.7 | 1.4 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 10.2 |
| 2015–16* | Connecticut | 38 | 38 | 28.3 | .442 | .369 | .753 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 9.3 |
| 2016–17 | Connecticut | 33 | 33 | 30.6 | .480 | .462 | .855 | 2.0 | 3.8 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 12.7 |
| 2017–18 | Connecticut | 33 | 33 | 33.1 | .519 | .442 | .809 | 3.5 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 13.5 |
| Career | 147 | 144 | 30.6 | .483 | .423 | .784 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 11.4 | |
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 atMcMaster University.[36] Her older siblings are Tamika Nurse, who played basketball for Oregon and Bowling Green,[37] and professional hockey playerDarnell Nurse. She is also the niece of formerPhiladelphia EaglesquarterbackDonovan McNabb, who is married to her aunt Raquel Nurse McNabb.[38][39] Her cousin is professional hockey player,Sarah Nurse, who plays for theVancouver Goldeneyes and competed at the2018 Winter Olympics and2022 Winter Olympics forTeam Canada.[40]
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