Dominique Malonga: What Storm fans should know about No. 2 draft pick

SEATTLE — Armed with its first top-two draft pick in nearly a decade, the Seattle Storm selected French prospect Dominique Malonga Monday evening in the 2025 Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Draft. 

Malonga, 19, is an intriguing 6-foot-6 prospect who plays professionally in her home country of France. According to her club, Lyon, she was the first French woman to dunk in a professional basketball game. Originally from Cameroon, Malonga’s family moved to France when she was young.

“I will work,” Malonga said in an ESPN interview Monday evening after she was selected. “I will work very hard to fit in this league because I know it’s going to be tough. I know it’s going to be hard, but I’m ready to work.”

Storm owner Lisa Brummel said she couldn’t be more excited about the pick. 

“She is fantastic. She’s young, she’s agile, she’s going to add to our team. We’re going to be fun to watch,” Brummel said.

Team France included the teen on its basketball team during the Paris Olympics last summer, winning a silver medal. One of her teammates on that French national team was current Storm player Gabby Williams, who was the leading scorer for the host nation.

Malonga rose draft boards in recent months and became the near-consensus projected pick for the Storm after the University of Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles decided to remain in college and transfer instead of entering the draft. 

Foreign players are allowed to enter the draft as long as they turn 20 during the calendar year the WNBA Draft is held in. Malonga will turn 20 in November. Meanwhile, American college players must turn 22 in the year of the draft to be eligible.

“She’s a unicorn. She is one of one, in my opinion,” Storm Head Coach Noelle Quinn said. “Her ability to do multiple things on the basketball court, guard multiple positions, whether it is the five, whether it is the four.”

Their unicorn is following a unique schedule, as she’s heading back to France to finish her international season. It’s still unknown exactly when she’ll be joining the team, but it could be as late as the second week of May, after the preseason has begun.

The Storm does have a talented frontcourt with Ezi Magbegor and Nneka Ogwumike, but a player with Malonga’s physical traits does not come along too often. Many basketball fans have compared Malonga to former NBA No. 1 overall draft pick Victor Wembanyama, a fellow French prospect whose 7-foot-3 frame made him an instant star in the American professional ranks. She is not nearly as strong a 3-point shooter as Wembanyama was when he came to America, but Malonga is young and can continue to develop that skill set.

The team told KING 5’s Arielle Orsuto that they had Notre Dame star point guard Olivia Miles circled on their big board at No. 2, but their plans changed when she opted to use her fifth year of eligibility to remain in college basketball and transfer to TCU. It became clear that Malonga was a slam dunk decision for now and the future.