What to know
- Laeticia Amihere, a Mississauga-born basketball player, won a WNBA championship over the weekend with the Golden State Valkyries.
- She is only the second Canadian basketballer to win a WNBA championship, after Tammy Sutton-Brown in 2012.
- The Valkyries became the youngest franchise to win the WNBA championship, clinching the trophy in its second season.
Laeticia Amihere, a professional women’s basketball player from Mississauga, has just won a WNBA championship.
Over the weekend, the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream faced off in Game 7 of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Finals. Although the two teams played a fierce match, the Valkyries ended up winning 68-63, clinching the trophy.
Amihere was among the twelve players that led the Valkyries to its first WNBA title.
Born in Mississauga, she attended King’s Christian Collegiate before relocating to the United States to play for South Carolina in the NCAA. She represented Canada on the international stage at the 2021 Americup, the Fédération Internationale de Basketball (FIBA) World Cup, and the Tokyo and Paris Olympic games. At 15 years old, she became the first Canadian woman to make a dunk.
In 2023, Amihere was drafted eighth to the Atlanta Dream and played for one season, averaging 2.7 points per game. Then, in 2024, she moved to Australia and played one season with the Perth Lynx. Last spring, she was drafted by the Valkyries on a waver claim.
Throughout the 2026 season, she averaged 11.7 minutes per game, scoring 3.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 0.5 steals per game.
Amihere is only the second Canadian to win a WNBA championship after Tammy Sutton-Brown, who helped defeat the Minnesota Lynx with the Indiana Fever in 2012.
Canada’s own WNBA team, the Toronto Tempo, did not earn a chance to compete in the playoffs after a rocky season plagued by injuries. They finished 13th in the league with 11 wins and 37 losses.
