Toronto finally gets its WNBA moment as Tempo prepare for season opener

Toronto Tempo guard Kia Nurse (11) cheers from the bench after her teammate made a basket against the Connecticut Sun during first half pre-season WNBA basketball action in Toronto on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Kia Nurse is focused on her process even as she’s about to make history with the Toronto Tempo.

Nurse, from Hamilton, is the only Canadian on Toronto’s roster as the Tempo prepare to host the Washington Mystics on Friday in the expansion team’s first-ever regular-season game. A three-time Olympian, Nurse knows what it’s like to play on basketball’s biggest stage.

She also understands the significance of the Tempo’s debut, but isn’t losing sight of the job at hand.

“Honestly, to me, this is just another basketball game,” said Nurse after the Tempo finished Thursday’s practice at the University of Toronto’s Goldring Centre. “I know there’s a lot of history and stuff that goes around it, but if I prepare any differently than it being another basketball game, then it’ll just throw off my day, which will annoy me.

“A lot of it has just been being excited to start another season and have the opportunity to get that going with this team and see what we have and what we’re working with as we head into it.”

Teonni Key, one of Toronto’s two selections in the WNBA Draft on April 13, said she has been focused on learning from coaches and veteran players in her first-ever professional training camp. The Tempo selected Kiki Rice sixth overall before taking Key 22nd.

“I think the biggest thing for me has just been soaking up every moment with the girls,” said Key. “Even in the locker room, there’s a lot that we’re learning on the court, a lot that’s being thrown at us.

“It’s about the connections, growing with the people around you, absorbing everything from the vets. They’ve been through it.”

Aside from Rice and Key, Toronto focused on acquiring veterans in the quick ramp-up from the WNBA Expansion Draft on April 3 to Friday’s season opener. The Mystics, meanwhile, are in the midst of a rebuild.

“They’re young, and they want to play in transition, so that’s the gist of what I can give you on our full schemes and scouts,” said Nurse. “They’ve got a lot of young talent, and I think it’s really good for the league to continue to grow in that sense.

“That’s something they’ve been doing over the last two years with the young draft picks that they’ve had, is growing from the draft.”

Head coach Sandy Brondello said she was eager to see what her players can do when the ball actually meets the court at Coca-Cola Coliseum on Friday night.

“I think we’re ready, but then we’ll see,” she said with a chuckle. “You prepare as well as you can. (...) Our system’s in place, but it’s more about building that chemistry and the cohesiveness and just going through some battles, getting battle-tested.

“But it’s fun. I love that part, you know? Just trying to find solutions within the game.”

Brondello said she had a clear calendar on Thursday night for the first time in weeks. But first, she had to make the final cuts to Toronto’s roster, waiving Aaliyah Nye, Kitija Laska, and Nina Milic.

“I don’t sleep so well knowing that,” said Brondello before the cuts were announced. “We do have to make decisions, and they’re really difficult decisions, but we will pick the team that we think is the best for us from Day 1, and that doesn’t mean it’s by Game 44, but from Day 1 and then we’ll just try and build the chemistry.”

Key said that the team’s veterans and coaching staff emphasized focusing on the task at hand rather than worrying about being cut.

“We’ve talked about the game, the game plan. Honestly, that’s the most important thing,” said Key after practice wrapped up. “Everything else will be decided. It’s kind of out of our hands.

“We’re just trying to control what we can control, and that’s coming to practice, giving it our all and preparing for the game.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 7, 2026.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press