Toronto Tempo Signs Veteran Kia Nurse

Toronto, April 14, 2026 - The Toronto Tempo, Canada's first WNBA franchise, signed veteran guard Kia Nurse on Tuesday, bringing a longtime Canadian national team star home to bolster the expansion team's backcourt ahead of its inaugural season.

The 30-year-old from Hamilton, Ontario, enters her eighth WNBA season with 245 career games across stints with the New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury, Seattle Storm and Chicago Sky. Last year with the Sky, Nurse appeared in 44 games, starting 18, and averaged 7.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting 33.5 percent from three-point range. A former All-Star and 10th overall pick in 2018, she has career averages of 8.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists.

Nurse's international resume includes three Olympic appearances for Canada in 2016, 2020 and 2024, along with multiple Women's World Cup teams and a gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, where she scored 33 points in the final as a 19-year-old. She also won two NCAA titles at the University of Connecticut and two Australian WNBL championships.

"Kia represents everything this franchise stands for," Tempo general manager Monica Wright Rogers said in a team...