Canadian star nurse Sutton-Brown hopes Toronto WNBA team inspires next generation

Vince Carter’s landmark dunks for the Toronto Raptors in the early 2000s inspired an entire generation of Canadian basketball players.

Hamilton’s Kia Nurse hopes a new WNBA franchise awarded to Toronto, which will debut in the league’s 2026 season, will have the same impact on Canadian girls and women as Carter did more than years ago 20 years.

Nurse spoke about the new team’s possible impact after his Los Angeles Sparks completed practice Thursday, hours after Toronto’s expansion was made official.

“Carter put basketball on the map in a very hockey-oriented country, now we see how that has benefited our generation,” Nurse said in a video conference with reporters. “Now we have all these players who are not only playing at the highest level, but also playing important roles in teams performing at the highest level.

“To be able to offer that to young women, I think it will be something really special.”

Kilmer Sports Ventures paid $115 million for the WNBA team. The as-yet-unnamed team will play at the 8,700-seat Coca-Cola Coliseum, a downtown Toronto arena at Exhibition Place, and will have the option to travel to the 19,800-seat Scotiabank Arena on occasion. .

KSV CEO and owner Larry Tanenbaum and new team president Teresa Resch both said in a news conference Thursday that the club would also play regular season games in Montreal and Vancouver.

Nurse said the Raptors created the template for representing Canada with preseason games in Montreal, Vancouver and Edmonton.

“I think this organization with the Toronto WNBA team will do the same thing and be able to expand and allow Canadians across the country to cheer them on, but also be able to see them in person,” he said. -she declared. “It’s so important to have those models, and having those models in the building that you can see is going to be really important.”

Nurse was traded to Los Angeles in the offseason and has averaged 16.3 points, two assists and 1.7 rebounds in three games for the Sparks so far this year. She had nine points, three rebounds and two assists in Los Angeles’ 84-79 victory over the Seattle Storm on May 4 in a preseason game at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

The sold-out exhibition was the second WNBA preseason showcase in Canada after Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena hosted a game in 2023.

“If you can see it, then you can be it,” Nurse said of the importance of having professional women’s basketball in Canada. “I think that’s an important part is having those role models.

“I think we’ll see the reaction right away in terms of the support and the fan base and the enthusiasm and the community work that I know the (Toronto WNBA) organization will do.”

Canadian Basketball Hall of Famer Tammy Sutton-Brown spoke at the WNBA announcement press conference in Toronto. The 12-year WNBA veteran from Markham, Ont., said she’s excited that Canadian kids have more female basketball players as idols.

“There was no WNBA when I was playing growing up, and so my role models were Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Those are my role models because that’s what I saw on TV,” Sutton-Brown said. “So I smile every time this new generation of kids comes in, the rookie class comes in, and they grew up with the W and their role models are Dawn Staley, Sue Bird, Sheryl Swoopes, because they grew up looking at the W. and so I’m really excited for the future.

Besides Nurse, there are three other Canadians in the WNBA this season: Aaliyah Edwards of Kingston, Ontario. (Washington Mystics), Bridget Carleton of Chatham, Ont. (Minnesota Lynx) and Laeticia Amihere of Milton, Ont. (Dream of Atlanta). Sutton-Brown hopes the WNBA’s foray into Canada will increase that number even further.

“This team in Toronto will make a difference,” Sutton-Brown said. “I think adding a few more cities over the next few years will open up additional spots on the list.

“Right now we have four Canadians playing in the W. Hopefully in the next few years we will double that number.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 23, 2024.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press