WNBA star Charlisse Leger-Walker coming home to join sister at Tokomanawa Queens

Charlisse Leger-Walker has spent six years building her basketball career away from home.

Now, the Pacific star is coming back and she will finally get to play alongside her sister Krystal again.

The 24-year-old Connecticut Sun guard in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) has signed with Wellington’s Tokomanawa Queens for the Tauihi season, giving New Zealand fans the chance to see the historic WNBA draft pick back on home soil.

The New Zealand Herald reported the chance for Leger-Walker to reunite with Krystal was a big part of her decision.

“I haven’t played with her since Washington State,” Leger-Walker says. “I thought I would probably get a chance here in the Tall Ferns, but obviously different things happened. I got injured, she’s had a baby, and the paths just didn’t cross as we planned out.

“So, when I was thinking about what I wanted to do in the off-season, I knew that would always be a possibility for me. Going through the talks with different teams and Krystal, I was seeing where she would end up, and that just happened to be the Queens.”

The move also gives Leger-Walker something she has been missing while building her career overseas, time at home.

“Obviously, they’re an amazing organisation. I’m really excited to be a part of everything they’ve created, and I think that the other side of that is I haven’t been home for longer than two weeks at a time throughout my past six years.

“That opportunity to come back, play in front of my friends, my family, reconnect with everyone back in New Zealand.”

Leger-Walker, who hails from the Whakatōhea iwi, and Nofoali’i in Sāmoa, has made a strong start to her rookie WNBA season with Connecticut.

She has made 39 appearances for the Sun, averaging 7.0 points and 3.6 assists per game.

She also scored a career-high 17 points against the Golden State Valkyries last week.

Her return comes just months after she made New Zealand basketball history.

In April, Leger-Walker was selected 18th overall in the WNBA Draft after helping University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) win the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship.

The former St Peter’s Cambridge student announced her return to Aotearoa on Instagram, writing: “It’s been a minute, NZ. I’ll see you on the court in September.”

The Tauihi season starts on September 25 and runs for 12 weeks, with the grand final scheduled for December 13.

Leger-Walker will finish the WNBA regular season with the Sun before joining the Queens.

Connecticut’s final game is scheduled for 25 September while the Queens host Northern Kāhu in their home opener, two days later.