Connecticut Sun rookie guard Charlisse Leger-Walker made history as the first Māori and New Zealand woman to be drafted to the WNBA — by a franchise that is rooted in tribal lands with a rich indigenous history –– just in time for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
“I think being Indigenous myself, I grew up with the values of community and representing your culture with pride,” Leger-Walker told The IX Sports. “And so I think being drafted to an organization that shares those same values is really cool, and [is] definitely a really fun way to start my WNBA career.”
The Connecticut Sun were purchased in 2003, becoming the first tribally-owned professional sports franchise. The team was relocated from Orlando, F.L., to Uncasville, Conn., where evidence shows that native presence has been in the area for 10,000 years.
The Mohegan Tribe aims to preserve and protect their history, culture and people while keeping a strong connection to “Mother Earth” and following “The Mohegan Way,” a tradition where they value cooperation rather than conflict.
“I haven’t [had the chance to learn about the Tribe] yet, but I would love to,” Leger-Walker said. “We’ve been obviously super busy just with training camp and stuff, but I know they have some events and things coming up with that, so I would love to learn more about that and get involved a little bit more.”
Finding comfort in the sun
Being drafted to a team with its own uniqueness and that is rooted in tribal lands has provided a sense of comfort for Leger-Walker who spent her college career on the West Coast nearly 3,000 miles from Mohegan Sun Arena, the Sun’s home since 2003.
“Yeah, I think that’s awesome. I mean, anytime you can honor different cultures and the history of a place, I think that’s a really special thing to step into that,” Leger-Walker said. “And you’re not just representing the team, but you’re representing a whole community.
“And so I think for me, it’s kind of like a full circle thing — to have a lot of respect and a lot of values in that, and then also to step into a program where it’s the same thing. And so I think that’s really cool that I get to do that my first year. And again, just grateful for the opportunity to be here and be a part of that.”
Every season the Sun usually hold an Indigenous People’s Night, a nod to the franchise’s roots and community.
“Mohegan is proud to see the continued growth of the WNBA and the opportunities it creates for talented athletes from around the world to compete at the highest professional level,” Joe Soper, who represents the Mohegan Tribe on WNBA Board of Governors and who is Vice President of Sports & Entertainment for Mohegan, told The IX Sports.
“It’s especially meaningful to see Indigenous athletes like Charlisse Leger-Walker represented on that stage and inspiring future generations through their accomplishments. Across all of our businesses, we take pride in celebrating and honoring Indigenous culture because those values and traditions are deeply rooted in who we are as an organization. We always look forward to honoring Native American history and the accomplishments of Indigenous people at events like the Indigenous People’s Night as we create meaningful connections with fans, players, and the broader community.”
The Connecticut Sun also honor their Indigenous background with their rebel edition jerseys and the word “keesusk”–– meaning “Sun” in the Mohegan-Pequot language –– is printed across players’ chests. With this season being the franchise’s “sunset season” the jerseys are even more meaningful.
Cultural connections
Almost 10,000 miles away from Connecticut, Leger-Walker grew up in the Waikato region of New Zealand and played high school basketball at St. Peter’s School Cambridge, where she led the team to four championships — but there is so much more to her life than basketball.
Growing up, Leger-Walker was immersed in two vibrant Polynesian cultures, with her mother’s side of the family being Māori and her father’s side being Samoan. Both share similar cultural values.
She grew up living on a large family farm orchard that everyone in the family would work on. Leger-Walker has over 100 cousins on her mother’s side and said they have a “very community village-based culture.”
Her grandmother was the heart of the family and community, with everyone gathering at her house throughout Leger-Walker’s childhood.
“My Nana … that was the house that everyone came over and ate together, slept together, cooked together, like all of the things,” Leger-Walker said.
Respecting your elders is an important cultural value that she’s grown up honoring and following.
“It’s just a lot of, respect your elders, everything you do, it kind of goes back to them, respect your ancestors, we respect the land. One of the things we live by is, you don’t own the land, you belong to it, so everything is very sacred,” she said.
Her parents’ cultures have made her who she is, impacting her everyday life.
In Māori communities the world for sacred is “Tapu” which is part of their cultural core.
“Tapu basically means that everything is kind of treasured, and everything that you do goes back to the land, so we want to really respect that, which I think people don’t always know much about,” Leger-Walker said.
A haka, a traditional ceremonial dance, is another prominent aspect of the Māori culture, used for various cultural purposes and different celebrations.
“A lot of traditions you’ve probably seen, like before sports games, they do the haka, which is the Māori war dance in the early days, but it can also be a celebration for many things,” Leger-Walker said.
After winning a national championship, UCLA hosted a celebration for fans at Pauley Pavilion to honor the women’s basketball team’s first NCAA title in program history. During this event the Tāmaki Basketball Academy flew in from New Zealand to surprise and perform the ceremonial dance for Leger-Walker, where she became very emotional resting her arm around head coach Cori Close’s neck.
“[It is] very important to me,” Leger-Walker on what the haka dance means to her.
In her first season in the league, Leger-Walker isn’t just carrying herself, but her whole community back home is behind her.
“I think being the first from New Zealand, I am representing an entire population, especially on the women’s side, young girls who now realize that this is a possibility for them,” Leger-Walker said. “Being the person in that role, it’s a great responsibility, and I’m very privileged that I get to be that for people.”
Every time she steps onto the court, she is also honoring her late grandmother, with whom she used to share her dreams of playing professional basketball.
“My Nana passed away a couple years ago, so she is always with me, and [I] definitely know she would be super proud of me. [It’s] something I talked to her about for a very long time, so I know she’s watching over me, and she represents my entire family, especially on my mom’s side, which is my Māori side,” Leger-Walker said.
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Inspiring future generations
Basketball is the fastest growing sport for girls and women in New Zealand. Younger athletes have followed Leger-Walker’s career and look up to her, some with their own dreams of playing professional basketball.
“I started having people reach out, even just after we won the national championship game, and that was big news back home,” Leger-Walker said. “It’s never been done by a New Zealander before, winning a championship in the collegiate level.
“So immediately after that I had so many girls reach out, boys too, like they’re watching as well, and I’ve had a lot of parents message me and just say, ‘My daughter has been watching your journey’ or ‘She’s just found out about you’ … ‘She asked me to go train today at the park,’ so I’ve had a ton of messages like that.”
There has only been one other New Zealand native to play in the WNBA — Megan Compain, who played for the Utah Starzz in 1997 but was not drafted.
Leger-Walker spent four years at Washington State (2020-2024) and used her final year of eligibility as a graduate student at UCLA (2025-26) where won her national championship.
She also comes from a basketball family –– her mother played for the New Zealand national women’s basketball team, competing in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, while her sisters, Tannika and Krystal, also played the game at a high level.
“It’s so heartwarming, and just really cool to see how big my impact goes beyond me and my immediate family. I really do think people from back home are watching a lot,” Leger-Walker said.
When she steps between those four lines on the hardwood, Leger-Walker’s cultural upbringing influences the way she approaches the sport, particularly in how she values connection, trust and playing for the success of the overall team rather than individual achievements.
“I think it kind of comes back to the ability to really want to play collectively as a team,” Leger-Walker said. “I really love playing unselfish basketball, and a lot of that comes back to wanting to build relationships with people and understand that they can trust me and I can trust them. And I think that translates into on-court connection, and it kind of goes hand in hand with being a point guard.
“You have to be that person who connects everyone, but I really do try and make everyone else around me better and try to be sacrificial in that way, and that’s definitely probably because of the way that I was brought up. You’re constantly looking out for other people and worrying about yourself last … and that’s embedded in the way that I play basketball.”
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