The Seattle Storm’s season came down to the wire on Thursday, as they fell by one point to the Las Vegas Aces in a first-round Game 3. But it wasn’t difficult to find a bright spot in the series loss: rookie center Dominique Malonga.
Malonga ended the season without any accolades and did not receive any Rookie of the Year votes. But despite flying under the radar compared to fellow rookies Paige Bueckers, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen, what the 6-foot-6 teenager has accomplished in her first season is impressive.
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The Storm chose Malonga second overall in April’s 2025 WNBA Draft, becoming the youngest player ever in the WNBA at 19 years old. (The league’s draft rules state that international players must turn 20 in the year that they are drafted; Malonga turns 20 in November.) That alone poses a tough challenge.
“We’ve been asking a lot from her all year. We always made fun that she’s the youngest player to do whatever in a game, but it’s really historic what she’s been doing at her age in this league, her poise,” Storm guard Skylar Diggins said in Seattle on Tuesday.
Diggins’ praise of Malonga was prompted by one of the biggest plays in Game 2’s comeback win. With less than a minute left in the game, Diggins threw a long pass to the rookie, who hit the game-tying basket while drawing a foul. But Diggins said that she was particularly in awe of the go-ahead free throw that Malonga hit right after.
“I’m really impressed by the free throw. That’s a big moment by a 19-year-old,” Diggins said.
Coming out of the draft, it was clear that Malonga has a much higher ceiling than most — she can move, dunk and defend. Malonga’s lanky frame, athleticism and French origins have drawn plenty of comparisons to NBA star Victor Wembanyama. (The two young French stars are friendly as well.) Malonga is also so seemingly well-adjusted that her young age is easy to forget.
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In a league where most rookies are coming off four or more years on a high-performing college team, a different coach might have pushed Malonga to start right away. But Storm head coach Noelle Quinn played the long game, having her come off the bench and splitting her minutes with starting center Ezi Magbegor.
Quinn knows better than anyone what Malonga brings to the team, noting the rookie’s eagerness to keep learning and expanding in this early part of her career.
“Dom is hoopin’,” Quinn said on Tuesday. “She’s ready. She’s studying film and locked in and constantly communicating with our assistants and understanding coverages.”
Diggins and fellow veteran Nneka Ogwumike said Tuesday that Malonga has unusual wisdom for her age, while also holding some of the unearned confidence of the young.
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“I remember myself at 19, and that’s not something that I was thinking about doing, let alone succeeding at,” Ogwumike said of Malonga’s early successes. “Not only is Dom wise, but I also feel like there is a bit of naivety that contributes to—”
“She don’t know no better,” Diggins interrupted. Ogwumike agreed, calling that kind of innocence “beautiful.”
“I like that energy,” she said.
In the regular season, Malonga averaged 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in 14:17 minutes. But her usage varied this season; she played a handful of minutes off the bench in some games while playing as many as 30 in others.
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When she did play more minutes, Malonga displayed incredible efficiency — in multiple games this season, she averaged about a point per minute played. Malonga hit her season-high of 22 points twice this year, within a two-week span in August.
The rookie finished the regular season with four double-doubles and recorded double-doubles in two of her three playoff appearances.
Malonga wasn’t as impactful in Thursday’s Game 3 — she scored only three points in 22 minutes — but it’s a reminder she’s just getting started:
“I don’t feel like I’m in a rush to do something,” Malonga told Yahoo Sports in August. “And I think that I kind of show that when I’m on the court, I don’t really think and no matter if I score five or 20, it’s just about what energy I can bring on the court. That’s what my team expects from me for now. It’s just about energy, about defending, about bringing, bringing the sauce, as we say here.”
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That “sauce” is something that her teammates have noticed and something the league will see more of in seasons to come.
“There is an evolution in every single game that we’ve played,” Ogwumike said. “We have not seen the same Dom in two games. She’s just learning and improving that much. We just try our best to continue to empower her to know how truly capable she is.”
