Mississauga’s Laeticia Amihere was waived by both WNBA Finals teams. Now she’s a champion - Toronto Star

She'll be in Senegal next week to continue the work of her sports non-profit, Back to the Motherland.

Mississauga’s Laeticia Amihere of the Golden State Valkyries, shown at Wednesday’s victory parade, is the second Canadian player to win a WNBA championship.

Laeticia Amihere was introduced at the Golden State Valkyries’ championship parade on Wednesday as their enforcer. The 25-year-old forward from Mississauga thought it was fitting.  

“I’m always known for my tenacity,” Amihere told the Star one day after the celebration with an estimated 400,000 fans in the San Francisco Bay Area. “Any time I get on the court, I just try to be out there and change the energy.”

It has helped her win at the highest levels of women’s basketball. Amihere was a member of Canada’s under-16 team that won the FIBA Americas title in 2015, and followed that with a third-place finish at the under-19 World Cup in 2017. She also won an NCAA championship with the South Carolina Gamecocks in 2022.

And now she’s a WNBA champion in Golden State’s second season, just the second Canadian player ever to achieve that feat after Markham’s Tammy Sutton-Brown won with Indiana Fever in 2012.

CANADIAN GETS HUGE REBOUND IN GAME 6 👀🇨🇦 Mississauga's Laeticia Amihere comes down with the huge board over Angel Reese to force free throws 💪 #WNBAFinals https://t.co/ca4iXtWBti

Amihere had a limited role this year (averaging 3.9 points and 3.0 rebounds in 11.7 minutes per game off the bench) and didn’t see the court in Golden State’s 68-63 win over the Atlanta Dream in Game 7 of the Finals, but was solid in Game 6 (10 rebounds in 20 minutes) and contributed to a cohesive group that went all the way.

“There was a lot of narratives pushed on us this year, and hearing all those things you kind of want to prove people wrong,” she said about criticism of their defence-first approach and lack of stars after Gabby Williams, a regular-season all-star and WNBA Finals MVP.

For Amihere, it’s been a journey since she was drafted eighth in 2023 by the Dream. She averaged less than seven minutes per game in two seasons with Atlanta, then was waived. The expansion Valkyries claimed her in 2025, waived her and brought her back.

Since then, her playing time and production have increased. As Amihere heads for free agency — starting in February — after making $277,500 (U.S.) on a one-year deal, she’s looking forward to the next phase of her career in a league that continues to expand and has increased player salaries substantially.

“I think we’re obviously trailblazers, but it gives us a lot of motivation to continue to propel the sport forward,” she said about growth in the women’s game.

WNBA Champion Laeticia Amihere celebrating the championship with a Ghanaian classic🇬🇭 https://t.co/7vjOyOM9fA

Off the court, Amihere has other goals.

In 2022, she launched Back to the Motherland, a non-profit, to increase sports access for youth in underserved communities. Every year she travels to West Africa (her family is from Ghana) and runs free training camps to mentor the next generation. She’ll be in Senegal next week to continue that work.

“Infrastructure is one of the biggest things that limit our youth in accessing sports,” she said while praising Giants of Africa, the initiative led by former Raptors president Masai Ujiri that aims to build 100 basketball courts on the continent.

“I’m just trying to find ways to partner with people, going out there and sharing my knowledge, trying to be active and letting the youth know they have a mentor in me.”

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Gilbert Ngabo is a Toronto-based sports reporter for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @dugilbo.