dpJust days before the halfway point of the 2026 WNBA season, Carla Leite may have cemented herself as the Portland Fire’s best point guard ever.
A pick and roll pass out to Megan Gustafson led to a driving layup against Seattle and Leite officially passed Ukari Figgs for the Fire’s single-season assists record.
Figgs recorded 104 assists for the Fire in 2002 (the team’s last season before folding and going on a 24-year hiatus).
And with still half the season remaining, Leite finished Saturday with 107 assists.
For Leite, the record was a nice milestone to hit. But she made it clear that she doesn’t have personal metrics on her mind.
“I don’t think about like the statistics, you know, I just try like to read like the game correctly and like find my teammates on the court,” she said. “I don’t really pay attention about that. If I have like 10 assists, I could be good. If I can have five, like, I don’t care. I try to be good on the court.”
As a rookie with the Golden State Valkyries, Leite played in 37 games and was a mainstay in the guard rotation coming off the bench. In 17.2 minutes per game, she averaged 7.2 points and 2 assists.
In her second year, and now the Fire’s primary starting point guard, Leite is averaging 25.5 minutes per game while leading the team in points (15.2) and assists (5.6).
Leite’s field goal percentage has also jumped from 38.7% as a rookie to 43.7% this year. She’s also made large improvements from being a 17.3% 3-point shooter to making 41% of her shots from deep in 2026.
Leite is also the co-owner of the Fire’s single-game scoring record. She scored 32 points in Portland’s loss to Washington on June 28, tying Jackie Stiles’ record originally set in 2001.
“Her shot selection has improved drastically,” coach Alex Sarama said. “Like a lot of the focus early season was you showing Carla the types of shots we want with the ones we don’t want. I think she’s just embraced that and getting to the rim more.”
Leite credited her jump in her 3-point percentage to becoming more confident on the court.
“Last year was terrible. My rate at threes,” she said, hiding her face. “I was overthinking all the time last year. And this year I’m like, ‘If you’re open, you shoot, but with confidence.’”
Bridget Carleton, who has spent as much time on the court with Leite as anyone, said she has enjoyed watching her point guard become more confident as a leader on the floor.
With the ball in her hand, Leite is naturally aggressive and willing to attack even the tallest post players — as seen when she hit an iso 3-pointer on Breanna Stewart to ice the Fire’s victory in New York in late May.
But when it comes to using her voice, Carleton said Leite can be timid at times. And getting her second-year point guard to be a more vocal leader on the floor has been a game changer.
“You know, when you have the ball in your hands, you kind of have to like be bossy sometimes and tell them where to go. So I think she’s really embracing that now and she’s getting more and more confident in like finding the balance,” Carleton said. “She’s been really great finding the balance between like assisting and scoring. Like, she knows when she needs to be aggressive and she knows when she needs to facilitate a little bit more and finding me and finding other shooters. So yeah, she’s been really great and obviously she’s so young, so she’s gonna continue to get better.
Carleton (whose 2.4 made 3-pointers per game is seventh in the WNBA) is one of the Fire’s top offensive weapons. And to facilitate that, Sarama said he centered his attack around Leite’s movement.
“We really designed a lot of the offense around Carla,” Sarama said.
Portland center Megan Gustafson has been the beneficiary of a lot of Leite’s passes this year as the duo has become one of the WNBA’s more threatening pick and roll attacks.
Gustafson is averaging a career-high 11.9 points per game and her 54.2% field goal percentage is 11th in the WNBA.
Gustafson said Leite is the quintessential European point guard, as someone who can score points but also has the ability to read the whole floor quickly.
“I think they’re some of the best in the world, to be honest,” Gustafson said of European point guards. “… They have a great eye for the floor. They see where people should be, where they are and where they’re going to be. So just have a lot of appreciation for Carla.”
Sarama also praised Leite’s ability to read defenses as she runs his offense.
“She’s taken such huge strides because she knows exactly what our intentions are against each type of defense,” he said.
Gustafson added that Leite’s quickness with the ball opens up opposing defenses and sometimes makes the job of post a lot easier.
“I’ll just stand there and she just goes and gets a layup,” Gustafson said, laughing.
Sarah Ashlee Barker, Leite’s backcourt running mate in the Fire starting lineup, said Leite’s advantage comes from her passion for basketball.
“That girl loves this game so much. She is so passionate. She’s so competitive,” Barker said.
Portland developmental player Jordan Harrison, who is in the guard rotation with Leite, said she has learned a lot working with Leite and Teja Oblak. Harrison said she thinks that Portland fans are only getting to see the beginning of Leite’s abilities.
“I don’t know if she knows how good she is, to be quite honest,” Harrison said.
Barker agreed, adding that Leite is only 22 years old and with her work ethic is only going to get better.
“Just what she does every single day. Like, I’m so proud of her and just her growth and how good she’s going to be,” Barker said. “Like, people just don’t understand how good that girl is.”
Leite also credited a lot of her success to working with Teja Oblak. A 35-year-old Slovenian rookie, Oblak has been playing professional basketball in Europe since the early 2000s and was intentionally brought in to be a mentor for Leite (and potentially for Iyana Martín next year).
Leite said she and Oblak are constantly in communication during games and Oblak always has a moment to give Leite some advice.
“The way that she passes the ball is incredible,” Leite said. “… She’s the reason why that I’m better on the court right now.”
