Dream’s Jordin Canada rediscovering her identity on and off the court

There’s 2.6 seconds left on the clock. Chicago Sky rookie Sydney Taylor had just knocked down a 3-pointer to tie the game 91-91 against the Dream. It’s anyone’s game, but it’s most likely heading into overtime.

“Inbounds to Jones. Four. Jones, hands, Canada has the stop!”

Jordin Canada appears out of nowhere, driving the ball down the paint after getting it handed off by teammate Brionna Jones. She sprints near the basket, quickly stops for a layup, and…

“Canada wins it! Canada before the buzzer, and Atlanta takes it.”

With a 93-91 win, the Dream could breathe a sigh of relief, closing out the first half of the season July 19 before the All-Star break.

Looking toward the sidelines, you see Angel Reese lifting Canada into the air, yelling with the rest of their teammates as they celebrate the play.

This is just the latest example of Canada’s impact on the team. But it doesn’t tell the full narrative of who this point guard is or what she brings to the franchise. The numbers and big moments tell part of the story. Behind the scenes, there’s more to uncover.

Intentionality through purpose

“I think this past week we’ve been very intentional about getting back to Atlanta Dream basketball and doing what works best for us. And we know when we come out aggressive on the defensive end, that initiates our offense,” Canada said in a postgame news conference.

That mindset became part of the way the Dream carried themselves throughout the season: Win or lose, they would walk away with a lesson learned and find ways to get back to the team they were at the beginning of the season.

As the team’s starting point guard, Canada controls the game at her own pace. Though you can find her zipping rapidly to each end of the court — making herself available wherever her teammates need her — it’s not to be confused with a rushed style of play. Similar to her calm and collected demeanor off the court, Canada carries that same energy onto the court. She creates opportunities for her teammates to get to the basket effectively.

“I’m a very reserved person, even off the court. So I don’t try to be anything but myself. And I know when I step on the court, yeah, I’m very competitive. I kind of like, switch gears, but I don’t have to be like this rah-rah person that’s yelling and screaming and being the loudest in the room,” Canada said in a media availability.

“I felt like I can just always be myself and just speak to people in the tone that I know can get through to them. So just trying to be as even-keeled as possible, and especially as a point guard, try to be composed and have that composure with you at all times.”

With 11 games still to go in the regular season, Canada already holds the franchise record for the most assists in a single season with 243. She also ranks second in the league in steals (2.0 per game), behind teammate Rhyne Howard (2.6), and is third in assists (7.5).

Those numbers shouldn’t go unnoticed, especially given how often Canada puts her team in position to win. Her playmaking ability and high basketball IQ aren’t just additions to her resume. They show how consistently she makes the plays that put her team in position to succeed.

So much so that she received many fan votes and teammate and franchise staff support, all rooting for her to finally get her All-Star nod this year, her ninth season in the WNBA.

But once again, this was not the year.

Unofficially an All-Star

If you asked her teammates, coaches and even Dream executive vice president and general manager Dan Padover their thoughts, they’d tell you exactly what they continued to tell the media after the roster decisions were finalized: “JC should’ve been an All-Star.”

Even weeks later, the Dream continued celebrating their All-Stars and supporting them through their journey to Chicago. But they also stood by their belief that Canada deserved to be there, too.

“Just from a points per game perspective, assists per game perspective, steals, amount of plays she produces for herself, for other people, the way she can change the game, I think overall, she just had a great year,” Padover said. “She’s having a great year, and I think unfortunately sometimes certain players, for whatever reason, don’t get the same accolades that others do.

“And I think Jordan just goes about her business in a very nonchalant way,” Padover added. “Just shows up, is there for her teammates, and unfortunately, sometimes those types of people don’t get rewarded. But we all feel she should have been rewarded, and we all made sure to let her know she’s an All-Star in our book.”

Canada could be seen celebrating with her teammates over all their accomplishments, even though she herself felt overlooked. She even traveled with the Dream’s All-Stars Howard, Reese and Allisha Gray to Chicago to root them on from the sidelines and take in the experience alongside them in support.

This support isn’t new to Canada. In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, she explained that it’s something she’s discovered as a crucial piece throughout her career in building chemistry with her teammates.

“It’s not just about what’s happening on the court. You have to know people’s personalities, their temperaments, what they can handle, what they can’t handle, and just know everybody has hard days as well,” Canada said. “... So just being intentional about that and celebrating them and just taking the time to just get to know them.

“I think that’s really important, so that when we get on the court, it’s high-stress situations, you know. But at the end of the day, we have each other’s back. I know that I can depend on my team because they have my back, and vice versa.”

Canada’s legacy prevails

If you’ve followed Canada’s career, you may have first seen her alongside Hall of Famer Sue Bird on the Seattle Storm from 2018-21. This is when she also experienced a WNBA championship win in her rookie year and led the league in steals her second year in 2019. In 2020, she went on to win another championship with the team.

Or maybe you watched her return to her hometown with the Los Angeles Sparks, where she led the league in steals for the second time and was named to the All-Defensive First Team.

If you want to go back further, you’re probably an “OG” fan and experienced the Canada effect during her time at UCLA. She became the all-time assists leader in UCLA women’s basketball history with 831 and was a two-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year before being drafted fifth overall by Seattle to start her professional career.

When she arrived at the Dream in 2024, Canada missed the first 14 games because of a hand injury and appeared in only 20 games that year. When she did join the team, however, she made her presence known, surpassing 900 career assists and averaging 10.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game.

Through those changes, Canada learned to find her voice and become the leader she is today.

“When I was in Seattle, being a rookie and having to learn from Sue (Bird) and Stewie (Breanna Stewart) and Jewell (Loyd) (and) AC (Alysha Clark), the whole team practically, you can go down the line. I was a rookie, so you know I was very quiet. I didn’t really say much. My communication wasn’t as sharp. And then when I got to LA, that was kind of like my breakout, where I could play a lot more and be more of a leader. And that’s kind of when I started to find my voice,” Canada said.

She explained that transferring those skills to Atlanta developed her sense of communicating in her style and matching her competition level within it.

Dream head coach Karl Smesko consistently praises Canada’s competitive drive and dedicated spirit that sparks her teammates’ success.

Where does it stem from?

“I think from a young age, I’ve always been very competitive, always wanting to be the best,” the 5-foot-6 Canada said in a media availability. “I most likely will be the shortest one on the court, so I always have to have that intensity and that mindset to just go out there and just play hard to whatever my teammates need from me, whether that’s defensively or being aggressive on the offensive end, looking for them, giving them the ball.

“I mean, literally whatever my team needs, and that’s just the mentality that I have, but just trying to be as competitive as I can be. … I played against guys when I was younger, so that kind of helped as well. But yeah, I’ve always just had that in me.”

Those are just the numbers that speak to Canada’s success, but the personal impact speaks volumes just as loud, according to the people around her.

Beyond the stat sheet

One of her closest teammates, Naz Hillmon, played with Canada in Australia for the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) on the Melbourne Boomers before signing with Atlanta.

During that year, Canada received the MVP award, becoming the second import in league history to win it.

The two became familiar with each other’s personalities and playing styles during that time, and their experience together caught Hillmon’s attention when it came time to recruit Canada to Atlanta.

“During the whole time over there, she was in her free agency, and I was just kind of like, ‘Oh, it would be great if you came to Atlanta,’ like trying to pitch it and all of those things. But just expecting the same things as I saw when she was on her other team, and then as well as when we were playing overseas together, getting downhill, creating for others, tenacious defense, and that’s exactly what she brought to the team,” Hillmon told the AJC.

Other teammates, such as Gray and Howard, were also in Canada’s ear, reaching out as supporters of her game, but also as potential teammates, already envisioning what could be and what it would mean for the Dream team.

As for first impressions, Hillmon said Canada’s pace in the game, speed and overall skill set on the court stuck out to her, and when she first met her, she was even more impressed.

“Just really cool, super chill, but a great person. Always kind of bringing good vibes, but also just super mellow.”

Canada had similar things to say when describing her bond with Hillmon.

Because the team has a strongly developed sisterhood that is apparent on and off the court, she knows she can turn to all of her teammates. The chemistry she’s built with Hillmon, however, has been ongoing, and she turns to her as much as possible for those deeper conversations.

“I think Naz has been that person that you know I can talk to, whether I’m frustrated with myself or just how things are going with the season, how I’m feeling, like she could be one of the people that I can talk to,” Canada said.

With any journey to success, it doesn’t come without its struggles. When those issues knock on the door to shake your confidence, there are always ways to find your way back.

It’s just a matter of how you deal with it before it deals with you. Canada has had her own fair share of learning this lesson, but found her own ways to get back to finding the fun in her craft.

Rediscovering love for the game

When Canada joined Athletes Unlimited going into the 2023 offseason, she found the spark she was missing during the first four years of her professional career.

“I just felt like I was back in, like, the AAU days as a kid. You just go out there and you just hoop,” Canada said. “There’s no stress. Obviously, it’s a job, and I play it professionally.

“But Athletes Unlimited, it’s just like playing pickup with my friends, and just enjoying that time. And I think that’s when I started to find the love of it again … at the end of the day, you have to remember why you played the game, why I played the game, just because I loved it. It brought me a lot of joy as a kid, and not trying to get fixated on the wins and losses and how to perform.”

Through finding little moments of why she loved the sport, Canada was able to bring it into her 2023 season and beyond. She’s also found that the player development and training in the 3-on-3 league, Unrivaled, has been a key piece of her growth and learning more about her current teammates.

With the different pace and resources the league provided, she learned to better communicate and bring it over to the regular season.

It was that joy and growth that also built up her confidence. Maintaining it, however, became a separate part of her self-discovery.

“To be honest, I have really been connecting and getting back into my spirituality with God, just staying connected to Him and knowing that He’s always with me,” Canada told the AJC. “Everything has already been written, so just for me to come out here and to just play freely and knowing that win, lose, play good, play bad, that at the end of the day, He’s always with me.

“… I get everything from Him — my strength, my confidence, my God-given ability to play this game. Everything starts with him. So that has been like my soundboard this whole season of just getting back connected with Him, praying a lot.”

Canada explained that she’s been doing daily devotionals since October of last year and has felt a transformation in how she lives her life on and off the court.

“I think God has been at the forefront of everything this season, and that’s what you’re seeing out there, just playing for Him, playing through him,” Canada said.

On her left arm, the verse Proverbs 3: 5-6 is tattooed on it. Canada said she got the tattoo a couple of years ago and it was always her favorite verse. This year, however, she believes it’s standing true in her trust in God through all her circumstances.

The story continues

“Honestly, this season has been probably the best I would say overall,” Canada said. “Just me being more confident coming out here and just showing what I can do, and I think my game has grown because of it. Of just being myself and understanding how to get to my spots, how to get my teammates involved, reading the floor really well. This has by far been the season of me exploring that.”

Canada’s doing everything she can to continue to grow her game and is always looking for ways to get better. Just as she’s found her love for the game again, she’s also found ways to enjoy life away from it.

“I think it’s important to find a hobby or something other than what you do, because at the end of the day, well, the ball is gonna stop bouncing at some point,” Canada said. “God willing, that’ll be awhile from now … like music for me, I also have a dog that I really love that I spend time with. It helps my stress go down and it helps me just think about other things.

“So that way, when I do come back on the court, I’m focused, and I’m not thinking about a million other things that’s going on in life. It just helps me reset, just find something other than basketball. You know, basketball is not my life. It’s what I do, but it’s not my life.”

Her piece of advice to anyone watching her is to remember that your value comes from who you are, not from what you do.

“You’re not just a basketball player.” Canada said. “You’re way more than that. I’m way more than that. And so, don’t get so fixated on basketball being everything … people are still gonna love you. People are still gonna care about you, not just because you’re a professional athlete, but because of the person that you are. So, how do you treat people? How do you carry yourself on and off the court? How do you want to impact other people’s lives, and how intentional do you want to be in this world? I think that’s what matters most, and not just me being a basketball player.”