Kia Nurse Re-Signs with AU Pro Basketball for 2026 Season
Kia Nurse is back for her second Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball season after a strong debut showing and another productive year in the WNBA.
Nurse finished ninth on the AU leaderboard in 2025 with 4,254 points and ranked among the league’s most dependable scorers, averaging 15.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. She earned three MVP awards, served as a Week Two captain, and closed the year eighth in MVP points (210).
The Canadian guard opened her AU career with six straight double-figure scoring games, highlighted by 23 points in her debut and a season-high 35-point performance against Team Siegrist. She capped her season by knocking down a game-winning three-pointer in the finale to secure 531 leaderboard points.
During the 2025 WNBA season, Nurse appeared in 37 games for the Chicago Sky and averaged 7.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per contest, including a season-high 19 points against the Connecticut Sun in August.
The six-year WNBA veteran was selected 10th overall in the 2018 WNBA Draft by the New York Liberty. She made an immediate impact as a rookie, debuting with 17 points and later setting a Liberty single-game rookie scoring record with 34 against Indiana. In 2019, she averaged a career-best 13.7 points per game and was voted a starter in the WNBA All-Star Game, becoming just the third Canadian ever selected. She followed with another strong season in 2020, averaging 12.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.3 assists.
Nurse was traded to the Phoenix Mercury in 2021, where she started all 32 games and averaged 9.5 points per outing. After missing the 2022 campaign, she signed with the Seattle Storm in 2023, averaging 5.9 points in 40 appearances. She joined the Los Angeles Sparks in 2024 and started 27 games while averaging 7.6 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 1.3 assists.
Internationally, Nurse has been a member of the Canadian Women’s National Team since 2013 and is a three-time Olympian. She helped Canada win gold at the 2015 Pan American Games, scoring 33 points in the championship win over Team USA, and has represented her country at multiple World Championships.
At the University of Connecticut, Nurse was a four-year starter and two-time national champion. She graduated after reaching 22nd in program history with 1,674 points and fourth in career three-point percentage (.428). She was a four-time All-Conference pick and was named 2018 AAC Defensive Player of the Year and 2015 AAC Freshman of the Year.
Now set for 2026, Nurse will return to AU with 245 games of W experience, making her one of the most seasoned guards in the league.
AU Pro Basketball returns to Nashville, Tennessee, with elite talent and electrifying energy, for its fifth championship season on February 4, 2026, at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium. Tickets for the upcoming season are available now.
Siera Jones is the digital media reporter at Athletes Unlimited. You can follow her on Instagram and X @sieraajones.
