Hamilton's Kia Nurse is one of the most decorated players Canada has ever produced, with two NCAA national championships and a Pan Am gold for Canada in 2015.Illustration by The Globe and Mail. Source photo Kelly Defina/Getty Images
The Women’s National Basketball Association’s Canada experiment may be over – for the time being, anyway – but with the preseason now in the rear-view mirror, attention turns to the WNBA regular season.
In what is arguably the marquee matchup of the opening weekend, Saturday features the defending champion Las Vegas Aces and reigning WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson visiting Seattle to play the Storm, led by Canada’s Kia Nurse, in a rematch of last season’s semi-final.
One of four Canadians in the WNBA – although Minnesota Lynx forward Natalie Achonwa is currently on maternity leave – the 27-year-old Hamilton native is one of the most decorated players this country has ever produced, with two NCAA national championships with the University of Connecticut in addition to winning Pan Am gold for Canada in 2015.
The 2019 WNBA all-star is no stranger to viewers of either the men’s March Madness or the NBA, having made regular appearances on TSN’s basketball panel since 2019. But this weekend, she’ll be the subject of analysis, rather than giving her own opinion, with the game being screened live on TSN.
As a frequent broadcaster, what words or phrases do you most overuse?
I don’t really have any catchphrases yet like my friend [and fellow TSN analyst] Jack Armstrong. I’m trying to get to his level. But yeah, I mean, I mainly focus on a lot of the tactical X’s and O’s stuff of basketball, because that’s kind of the stuff that I know from our game. And from the offences we run because essentially the WNBA runs very similar offences to the NBA.
What is your greatest extravagance?
I’m pretty cheap on everything. One thing I got from my dad was never cheap out on toilet paper. So I will pay for a good toilet paper. Which is funny, but my house is the one thing that gets most of my money because it ends up either needing furniture or just paying bills. So that’s kind of like my baby.
So triple ply all the way?
Two ply, but it’s got to be really soft.
Who or what is the love of your life?
My family is probably my greatest love. It’s hard to give it to one person. Definitely close with both of my parents. So I can’t even say I’m just a daddy’s girl or mama’s girl. But yeah, for sure my family.
On what occasion do you lie?
I don’t know if it’s always lying, but I think because we’re athletes and we have to deal with the media quite often. After a game sometimes I’m obviously not going to tell everybody what’s happening in our locker room whether it’s good or bad. That’s for the players and the coach, so I won’t give people scoops on the locker room situation.
So that’s when you reach into your bag of clichés?
Yup, kind of block and bridge and I’ll direct you somewhere else.
What is your most treasured possession?
My most treasured possession I also think would be my house [in Seattle] because it’s my sanctuary. Just because it’s mine, I’ve got all my stuff in it, I love interior design and I got to do all that by myself, so I appreciate that.
Do you have any favourite writers?
I’m a big reader. Murder mysteries are my go-to. If I have to get into a romance it will probably be a Colleen Hoover. And then once in a while, I’ll throw in a financial book or a non-fiction book. One of my favourite financial books is The Wealthy Barber, which was the first financial book I’ve ever read. It’s based out of Canada so it’s got all about RRSPs and all that kind of stuff. But it’s a simple read when you first start to make money to understand savings and compound interest, that kind of stuff.
What’s your greatest regret?
Not being as confident in my game at an early age. I spent a lot of my earlier years trying to figure out that I was really good at basketball. So I think it would have been better because I was so worried about trying to get to be good that I didn’t build upon the things that I was already good at at a really young age. So I think I would have been a better player in high school or in college had I had more confidence in myself.
What is your motto?
I used to go by ‘Respect all, fear none.’ Recently it’s been more ‘Be where your feet are.’
Where would you most like to live?
When all is said and done, I think it’s a little bit up in the air just in terms of where my life and my boyfriend’s life takes us. Of all the places that I have lived, home is kind of my go-to, but I always say to everybody that if I could, I would move to Australia in a heartbeat. [But] it’s just so far away from everything.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Honestly, I don’t like to say no to people very often. And sometimes I think that is to my detriment just because I end up having no time to do anything because I don’t want to say no.
Being as you read a lot of fiction, can you tell me about your favourite character in fiction?
Well, I read a lot of murder mysteries, so a lot of the characters that I read are very twisted people, so I don’t want to be associated with them. My favourite book is Verity by Colleen Hoover, and it’s a really twisted book, but I don’t want people to look at me backwards. I grew up watching a lot of Disney Channel, always have really loved Disney and musicals. Elsa and everybody in Encanto and Frozen, I’m all about that. The Little Mermaid was always my favourite growing up. But I haven’t seen that in forever. So I’m glad it’s coming out again.