TORONTO — A little more than three years ago, Bridget Carleton played her first professional WNBA game in her home country.
While just an exhibition, the first WNBA Canada Game between Carleton’s Minnesota Lynx and the Chicago Sky on May 13, 2023, drew more than 19,000 fans to Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena. Born and raised in Chatham, Ont., Carleton – the sole Canadian in the game – was the star of the weekend.
Last Saturday, Carleton returned to Toronto to play her first regular-season WNBA game in Canada, helping her Portland Fire squad to a decisive 99-80 victory over the Tempo in a meeting of the league’s two new expansion franchises.
The veteran shooting guard says the three years in between those two games were all about growth.
“I’ve changed so much [since the 2023 Toronto game],” Carleton said after her team practised at Toronto Metropolitan University on Friday afternoon. “I feel like I’ve just evolved so much in the last three years as a leader.
“I think I’ve come into my own as a basketball player, even as a person. Just being confident in who I am at the WNBA level.”
After seven seasons with the Lynx, Carleton (who turned 29 years old on May 22) was an unrestricted free agent ahead of the 2026 WNBA season. Toronto and Portland could each choose one free agent under the rules of the expansion draft. After being left unprotected by the Lynx, Carleton was up for grabs.
The Tempo opted to receive a higher draft pick in the college entry draft after winning a league-issued coin toss. That left the first pick in the expansion draft to the Fire, who made a statement by choosing Carleton. It drew a big reaction both at the Tempo’s press conference and online from Canadian fans who hoped Carleton would be coming home.
“I was excited to be picked number one. I think Portland wanted me, and they showed that by picking me first overall,” Carleton said when asked about her reaction to the pick. “They were aggressive in wanting me, and they’ve proven that since that day.”
Fire head coach Alex Sarama said after Friday’s practice that the team couldn’t pass on adding an experienced veteran like Carleton.
“I apologized to all my Canadian friends at the time [for taking Carleton before Toronto could],” Sarama said. “…She’s just the ultimate team player. I think it’s really important to build an expansion team around someone who just brings so much to the locker room. That’s the kind of culture we’re trying to build here – joy, grit, resilience, playing the best brand of collective team basketball in the WNBA, and I think that’s where BC fits in perfectly. She just ticks every box.”
After spending the beginning of her career playing an off-the-bench role for the Lynx, Carleton transitioned into a starting role in 2024. She contributed to a successful season as Minnesota made it all the way to the WNBA Finals, ultimately losing that series in a decisive Game 5 to the New York Liberty.
Carleton has also been the top offensive option for the Canadian Women’s National Team over the past few years. Despite an early exit for Canada in the 2024 Paris Olympics, Carleton averaged 13.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists in that tournament with a standout 19-point performance against Australia.
She joined the national team again in 2026 for the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, and despite the team not making it to the tournament in September, Carleton was impressive. She averaged 13.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists through five games. Her standout performance that week was a 24-point showing against Turkey.
“I’m really happy for Bridget to be in the position that she is in Portland,” her Team Canada teammate and current Tempo guard Kia Nurse said after Saturday’s game. “I think it’s great that on this level and this stage in the WNBA that she’s getting the opportunity to really show what she can do.”
Carleton has also opted to play overseas in Europe during the winters, having breakout seasons in Hungary and the Czech Republic over the past few years. With ZVVZ USK Praha in Prague this past season, she averaged 12.6 points per game.
“I think she’s played a heightened role in her European teams,” Nurse said. “Because it’s just not as televised, people haven’t been able to see it.”
After being chosen in the expansion draft as Portland’s sole unrestricted free agent, Carleton was eligible for a max contract. She signed a three-year deal worth a culminative $3.7 million (U.S), solidifying herself as Portland’s core-designated franchise player until the end of the 2028 WNBA season.
She is the first Canadian to receive a million-dollar WNBA contract under the league’s new collective bargaining agreement.
“It gives us a lot of joy as a staff, seeing how she’s stepped into this leadership role,” Sarama said. “I think it’s been, it’s been really cool just to see how she’s stepped up, not just offensively, but she’s one of our best defenders.”
“She’s really setting that tone and helping us build that defensive identity with her point of attack defence. I’m so excited that she’s with us on this team.”
Carleton scored 15 points on 50 per cent shooting from three-point range on Saturday night. It was the only time this season that Carleton and the Fire will play in Toronto, with the next match between Toronto and Portland happening in Vancouver in August.
While it may not be with her hometown team, Carleton is still representing Canada on the biggest women’s basketball stage. Her development over the past eight years in the WNBA, and the four before that as a player at Iowa State University, is proof of the growing women’s basketball talent coming out of Canada.
While she is the first Canadian in WNBA history to sign a million-dollar contract, she won’t be the last.
