'I'm having the time of my life': Veteran Kia Nurse is Redefining Her Game at AU

She’s also a breath of fresh air for any arena she’s playing in, bringing a level of competition that reeks of her championship pedigree from UConn — she’s a two-time national champion — but also an intoxicating smile that will remind a basketball player why they started playing the sport in the first place.

Nurse has earned her stripes, and get this, she’s just getting started.

“I’m not an OG, but I’m still a vet,” Nurse said during a Zoom session on an off-day from Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball.

Three years removed from missing the 2022 WNBA season, and coming off stints in Seattle and Los Angeles, Nurse believes her peak time is in sight during the perfect era, with all eyes on women’s basketball.

“When I look at it and I think back about who I was pre-ACL (injury), who I am now, I feel the best that I’ve felt,” Nurse said. “And I’m not necessarily chasing who I was prior. I’m now kind of redefining who I am and what I have in my toolbox, how my body feels, how I am mentally. It’s all different as you continue to grow in this league. And so I feel like I’m in a really good place. I know I have a ton of really good basketball left in me, which is exciting.

“Being here at AU has been like one of those big kind of reminders for me of that and just kind of building that confidence back in everything that I’ve had to deal with over those two years, and the different moves and different roles that I’ve played.”

TIME OF HER LIFE

Coerced to join Athletes Unlimited by Players Executive Committee chairperson Lexie Brown during the WNBA season when the two were teammates in Los Angeles, Nurse couldn’t be happier.

She’s playing 26.0 minutes, averaging 16.0 points, and snatching 5.4 rebounds per game as Week Three has gotten underway.

“I’m loving it; like, I’m having the time of my life right now,” said Nurse, who is currently eighth on the overall leaderboard with 2,906 points. “It’s been really fun for me. It’s been awesome to get to know and play with a bunch of people that I’ve not known before (or) played against for a long time. And kind of the social aspect of it, because the teams change so much. You get to know all these different people, and that’s been a real fun part of it.”

She’s even tried to pass along some of her hockey passion to her newfound AU family in Nashville, attending a Predators game before the NHL took a two-week hiatus for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

“I did not put the jersey on because I felt like it was not loyal to my brother,” said Nurse, whose brother Darnell plays for the Edmonton Oilers. “But it was fun. It’s always fun when you’re around basketball players and we go to hockey games, they’ll be like, ‘Oh, what’s happening?’ I’m like, ‘How in-depth do you want me to go?'”

There’s no doubt the Hamilton, Ontario native passed along her joy after Team Canada defeated Team USA 3-2 in overtime Thursday night in the 4 Nations Championship.

It’s that image of camaraderie and having fun she always projects, knowing there are not just fans in attendance but also young hoopers across North America looking up to her. Like her players on Kia Nurse Elite, an AAU organization based in Hamilton.

It’s the only women’s AAU team out of Canada to play in Nike’s EYBL.

“We take pretty much all the best Canadian kids from the entire country and put them on one team,” Nurse said.

Nurse’s on-court activity at Athletes Unlimited has also been a fantastic gauge of the off-season work she’s put in, seeing it play out in a five-on-five setting against WNBA-caliber competition. Nurse has stayed in contact with her trainer, relaying messages and videos while checking off the to-do list of everything they’ve worked on.

Just a few weeks in, she’s noticed that her on-court habits have become instinctual, and she’s begun feeling like herself with training camp 2 1/2 months away. Even when she hits the court, literally, falling to the hardwood after physical interaction, she’s ecstatic she’s been able to take a charge or hard screen, bounce back, and drain a mid-range jumper or 3-point shot moments later.

“I’m not thinking too much during the game,” Nurse said. “I’m just out there and I’m hooping and I’m smiling a lot. I think a lot of people that I’ve spoken to in the autograph lines and stuff are like, ‘You’re just out there having fun, huh?’

“I’m like, ‘I am,’ and I play my best basketball when I’m having fun.”

NO WEIGHT

The news broke the day players were allowed to sign, Feb. 1, that Nurse was headed to play for her fifth team.

On Feb. 4 it became official. Nurse, an All-Star in 2019 while with the New York Liberty, rid herself of any weight on her shoulders when she signed with the Chicago Sky.

“Anytime you can get your free agency stuff done, it’s calming,” Nurse said. “Being able to actually make the decision and kind of come down to it, I’m a person that does everything they can to rid as much uncertainty as possible. So I’m glad that I know what’s going to happen now. I know where I’m going. I know what dates I gotta be there, and all that kind of fun stuff.”

First-year coach Tyler Marsh couldn’t have been happier, knowing not only the player he was bringing in but also the person he got to know during their initial conversation.

“When it came time to her signing with us … it was more so about how I saw her fitting in with the group that we currently have,” Marsh said during a phone interview. “But also with the vision moving forward, and why I found her so valuable from a basketball standpoint and a locker room standpoint. Just wanted to get a feel and a vibe for what she was looking for, what was valuable to her and at her point in her career, what she felt like the best situation possible for her was, and how we felt like we could provide that in Chicago.

“I think we’re getting a completely healthy and confident Kia, and one that’s already shown that she can be very valuable and impactful in this league. I think that we’re looking for the best version of her, and hopefully, we can help bring that out, and I think she’ll be able to help bring that out of us.”

For Nurse, it’s about looking forward to another new beginning with an organization that has a mix of youth and experience, and a new coach with a championship pedigree after assisting with one of the most talented rosters in Las Vegas.

Adapting to new faces and blending in with new personalities is certainly nothing new for Nurse, who has had the opportunity to play with four organizations during her career. From stacked rosters to rebuilds, there have been a lot of different situations Nurse has learned from along the way.

“Some were at the very beginning of the rebuild, some were in that two- to three-year rebuild,” Nurse said. “And so looking at Chicago, and when I had my conversation with Ty and Jeff (Pagliocca) the GM, just being able to kind of see where they were in terms of some of the changes that they made, but also knowing and playing against some of the young core that they already had, it gave me a really good vibe and a very good experience and opportunity to come in there and use my basketball IQ to be kind of be that extension of the coach on the floor, but still give me an opportunity to remind people that I can still ball.”

Oh, she can, as a household name she is.

W.G. Ramirez is a 38-year veteran sports reporter in Southern Nevada, serving as a correspondent for Athletes Unlimited. Follow him on X at @WillieGRamirez