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WAS ACTUALLY just at home in Canada,” New York Liberty guard Kia Nurse
remembers. She’s sitting on the basketball court at Nike’s New York headquar-
ters, decked out in head-to-toe Jordan Brand gear all the way down to a pair
of Air Jordan XXXIIIs on-feet. “I got a phone call from my Nike Canada rep
and we were just having a conversation like we usually do, and then he was like,
I have to tell you something but I want you to sit down first. He presented me with
the opportunity [to sign with Jordan Brand] and I was like, ‘Are you sure you’re talking
to the right person?’”
Nurse and her teammate Asia Durr have formally joined the ever-exclusive Jordan
Brand family, following Maya Moore as the only other women’s basketball players to
officially rep the Jumpman. For all of Nurse’s humility in that initial moment, this is a
distinction that she’s earned.
Nurse made it from Hamilton, Ontario, where she dominated for St. Thomas More
Catholic Secondary School, winning three straight OFSAA high school championships.
She destroyed the competition outside of high school too, capturing five consecutive
Provincial Championships with her Hamilton Transway team.
She was such a problem that she got noticed by the best program in college
basketball. When Geno Auriemma came calling, Nurse moved down to the States,
helping the UConn Huskies win a pair of titles. And she’s just the latest member of her
family to have played sports at a high level. Her father played professionally in the
Canadian Football League and both her mother and sister played basketball in college.
Her brother and one of her cousins are pro hockey players and her uncle is Donovan
McNabb, the former NFL quarterback.
Her accomplishments all throughout high school and college are impressive,
but her early addition to the Canadian National Team was the solidifying stamp on
how good she had become. She joined up with the best players in Canada when she
was only 17, averaging 10 points per game in 2013. She came back the next summer
still the youngest player on the team, and has been a steady force ever since. She’s
a knockdown shooter, a willing passer and most importantly, a dog on the court.
She’s got a killer’s mentality that comes out on defense and during clutch moments
on offense.
And now with her Jordan Brand partnership, Nurse has another win to add to her
résumé. She’s been a fan of MJ since she was a kid, when she got a pair of Air Jordan
Is during her years playing with Transway. She counts the I as her favorite pair.
“I love Jordan Is,” she says. “Those were my go-to. They go with any outfit, whether
it’s sweats or jeans or something fancy, I will put on Is.”She grew up idolizing Mike and now she’s officially part
of the Jordan Brand family. New York Liberty guard Kia Nurse has
already made history—and she’s only getting started.SOMETHING
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