Jordin Elizabeth Canada (born August 11, 1995) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player with the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA). She was selected by the Seattle Storm with the 5th overall pick in the 2018 WNBA draft. Born and raised in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, Canada played collegiately with the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

. She is known for her playmaking, speed and crossover skills. In her rookie season with the Storm, she won her first WNBA championship as they swept the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference ...

. In 2020, after winning her second WNBA championship, she signed an endorsement deal with

Air Jordan Air Jordan is an American brand of basketball shoes produced by American corporation Nike. The first Air Jordan shoe was produced for Hall of Fame former basketball player Michael Jordan during his time with the Chicago Bulls in late 1984 an ...

Early life and high school

Canada was born in Los Angeles, California, and attended Windward School, where she played for Vanessa Nygaard, a former WNBA player and coach in the USA Basketball program. She earned first-team All League, League MVP, and first-team All-CIF honors in all four years of high school, brought home the ''Los Angeles Times All-Area MVP in 2013, and played in the McDonald's All-American Game as a senior in 2014.

College

Canada started as soon as she got to Westwood, notching a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double in her first career game. She went on to start 30 games in the 2014–15 season, reaching double figures 25 times leading the Bruins in assists per game. The Bruins missed the NCAA Tournament but earned a bid to the 2015 WNIT; UCLA won the tournament, which Canada scoring a career-high 31 points (half of the Bruins' scoring) in a 62–60 win in the finals against West Virginia. She earned tournament MVP honors, along with being named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. She started 34 games as a sophomore, finishing second in the Pac-12 in assists per game (5.7) and steals per game (2.3), and also led UCLA in minutes and scoring. Canada led UCLA in minutes and scoring, and the Bruins went 22–7 in the regular season, made the 2016 NCAA tournament as a No. 3 seed, and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1999. She was named All-Pac-12 and earned a spot on the Pac-12 All-Defensive team, and was an AP All-American honorable mention. As a junior, Canada continued to grow in to one of the best point guards in the country. She notched her first career triple-double with 11 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds against Southern on Nov. 18, 2016, and nearly did it again two days later, finishing with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists against Cal Poly. Canada scored in double-digits in all but one game in the season, and finished with two points/rebounds double-doubles and six points/assists double-doubles, including three straight in UCLA's run to the Sweet Sixteen in the 2017 NCAA tournament. She earned All-Pac-12, All-Pac-12 defensive, and AP All-American honorable mention honors, and was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. Canada opened her senior season with another triple-double, logging 26 points, 10 assists, and 11 steals against San Jose State. Once again, she led the Bruins in scoring, assists, and minutes, and UCLA made its third straight NCAA Tournament, this time advancing to the Elite Eight, where it lost to eventual champions Mississippi State. Canada finished her career first in UCLA history in assists (831) second in points (2,153), third in field goals made (768), second in free throws made (518), third in steals (347), and fifth in 20-point games (42). She holds three of the top five seasons for assists in UCLA history.

Professional career

WNBA

The Seattle Storm took Canada with the fifth overall pick in the 2018 WNBA draft, making her Sue Bird's back-up at point guard. She played in 33 games in her rookie season, making two starts and averaging 5.7 points and 3.3 assists in 16.5 minutes per game. The Storm were championship contenders as they finished the season 26–8 with the number 1 seed, receiving a double bye to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, the Storm defeated the Phoenix Mercury in a hard-fought five-game series to advance to the WNBA Finals. In the Finals, the Storm would win the championship after defeating the

in a three-game sweep, Canada had increased her offensive game off the bench during the postseason to contribute to the Storm's success of winning the 2018 WNBA championship. With Bird needing to undergo season-ending knee surgery just before the 2019 season began, Canada found herself as Seattle's starting point guard in her second year. Starting in 29 games, her scoring jumped up to 9.8 points per game. She logged her first professional double-double on July 12, 2019 against the Dallas Wings, scoring 14 points and adding 12 assists. She finished the season second in the WNBA in assists and first in steals, earning a spot on the

WNBA All-Defensive Team The WNBA All-Defensive Team is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) honor given since the 2005 WNBA season to the best defensive players during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the WNBA head coaches who are not allow ...

. The Storm finished as the number 6 seed with a 18–16 record being shorthanded with Sue Bird and

Breanna Stewart Breanna Mackenzie Stewart (born Baldwin; born August 27, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In high school, Stewart was the National Gatorade Player o ...

sitting out the season due to injury. They would win the first round elimination game 84–74 against the Minnesota Lynx, but would lose the second round elimination to the

by a score of 92–69. In the 2020 season, Canada would revert to playing back-up point guard with Bird returning after knee surgery. The season was delayed and shortened to 22 games in a bubble at

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. IMG Academy is set across over 600 acres and features programs consisting of sport camps for youth athletes, adult camps, a board ...

due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Canada started in 11 of 20 games played due to Bird's absence during the season dealing with her knee injury. With a fully loaded roster, the Storm finished 18–4 with the number 2 seed, receiving a double bye to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, they would eliminate the Minnesota Lynx in a three-game sweep, advancing back to the Finals for the second time in three years. In the Finals, the Storm would sweep the

Las Vegas Aces The Las Vegas Aces are an American professional basketball team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Aces compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team play ...

to win the championship, ending off their postseason undefeated and also earning Canada her second championship in her first three seasons. In February 2022, Canada signed a contract with the Los Angeles Sparks.

Overseas

In 2018, Canada signed with Wisła Can-Pack Kraków of the Polish League for the 2018-19 off-season. In December 2020, Canada signed with Hatay BB of the Turkish league for the 2020-21 off-season.

International

Canada has been a part of USA Basketball since 2011, when she was part of the U16 National Team that won gold at the FIBA Americas U16 Championship. She won another gold medal at the 2015 World University Games, and helped the U23 National Team win the first-ever U24 Four Nations Tournament in 2017. Canada was a part of the USA team that won the 2019 AmeriCup, leading the team with 5.3 assists per game and adding 7.2 points per game. After the AmeriCup, she was named to the USA National Team Pool.

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

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, 30 , , 29 , , 28.8 , , .388 , , .186 , , .768 , , 2.4 , , 5.2 , , 2.3 , , 0.2 , , 2.6 , , 9.8 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

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, 20 , , 11 , , 24.2 , , .424 , , .091 , , .772 , , 2.3 , , 5.5 , , 1.5 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , , 7.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 29 , , 3 , , 18.7 , , .389 , , .214 , , .841 , , 2.3 , , 3.0 , , 0.7 , , 0.1 , , 1.1 , , 5.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 32 , , 25 , , 27.0 , , .384 , , .140 , , .806 , , 2.3 , , 5.5 , , 1.4 , , 0.2 , , 2.3 , , 9.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 5 years, 2 teams , 144 , , 70 , , 22.9 , , .386 , , .168 , , .786 , , 2.1 , , 4.4 , , 1.3 , , 0.1 , , 2.0 , , 7.7

Postseason

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, 8 , , 0 , , 13.6 , , .477 , , .364 , , .600 , , 1.1 , , 2.3 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 1.5 , , 6.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 6 , , 0 , , 15.5 , , .545 , , .000 , , .667 , , 1.8 , , 1.3 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 7.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 1 , , 0 , , 10.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 3.0 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 4 years, 1 team , 17 , , 2 , , 16.4 , , .462 , , .263 , , .741 , , 1.6 , , 2.3 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 1.2 , , 7.8

References

External links

UCLA Bruins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canada, Jordin 1995 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Poland American women's basketball players Basketball players from Los Angeles LGBT basketball players LGBT people from California Lesbian sportswomen Los Angeles Sparks players McDonald's High School All-Americans Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) Point guards Seattle Storm draft picks Seattle Storm players UCLA Bruins women's basketball players Windward School alumni United States women's national basketball team players