‍TORONTO, Ont. (February 10, 2021) - Hamilton, ON native Kia Nurse was traded to the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday, along with teammate Megan Walker, in exchange for the sixth-overall pick at the 2021 WNBA Draft and a first-round pick in 2022.

Drafted 10th overall at the 2018 WNBA Draft, Nurse has proven to be an all-star during her past three years with New York. Last season, she averaged 12.2 points per game, 2.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists. She is one of just eight WNBA players who have scored 30 or more three pointers in each of the last three seasons.  

In 2019, Nurse became the third Canadian to play in the WNBA All-Star Game when she was named an All-Star starter for the first time in her career.

“With a hard salary cap and great parity in our league, you rarely get the opportunity to add a 24-year-old All-Star, much less a player whose skill set and temperament fits seamlessly with our roster," Jim Pitman, Phoenix Mercury GM, said in a statement.

"Kia Nurse was our top acquisition target this offseason because of her outside shooting, aggressiveness off the dribble, size and versatility on defence, and competitiveness. We welcome her to the Mercury family.”

At age 24, Nurse has seen incredible success on the basketball court at both the collegiate and international level. During her time at UCONN, she won two NCAA Championships and was previously named the AAC Freshmen of the Year (2015) and AAC Defensive Player of the Year (2018). During the WNBA off-season, Nurse won two WNBL championships with the UC Capitals in Australia in 2019 and 2020. She was also named the WNBL’s Most Valuable Player in 2020 after leading the league in scoring.

Nurse has represented Canada internationally for the past decade after making her debut with the national team at the 2011 FIBA Americas U16 Championship for Women Since then, Nurse has won three golds and one silver with Team Canada, including a gold on home court at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto. In 2016, she made her Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro where she led Canada in scoring with 66 points. Most recently, she competed at the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament in Belgium last year, where she helped earn an Olympic berth to Tokyo 2020.