{"id":210743,"date":"2025-10-13T21:15:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T21:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/210743\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T21:15:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T21:15:08","slug":"dominique-malonga-quietly-becomes-seattle-storms-next-big-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/210743\/","title":{"rendered":"Dominique Malonga Quietly Becomes Seattle Storm\u2019s Next Big Star"},"content":{"rendered":"

There weren’t many bright spots for the Seattle Storm<\/a> in the 2025 season. But when the dust settled on the season one thing was for sure that Dominique Malonga<\/a> had arrived.<\/p>\n

The 19-year-old center from France entered the league with a few question marks, as she was taken second overall by Seattle after Olivia Miles withdrew from the draft and the Dallas Wings took Paige Bueckers at No. 1. Many expected the Storm to pivot elsewhere. Instead, they trusted their gut and seemed to get this selection right.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By the end of the season, Malonga\u2019s name was listed among the WNBA\u2019s rising stars. She earned a spot on the league\u2019s All-Rookie Team, joining Bueckers, Washington\u2019s Sonia Citron, and Kiki Iriafen, and Golden State\u2019s Janelle Salaun. For a player who didn\u2019t even start most nights, that\u2019s joining some elite company as far as rookies go.<\/p>\n

\"Dominique<\/p>\n

Sep 9, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Storm center Dominique Malonga (14) shoots a layup against the Golden State Valkyries during the first half at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images \/ Steven Bisig-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t hope for a better environment to grow for me than here,\u201d Malonga said. \u201cI just feel like I learned so much basketball-wise out on the court. I had amazing veterans. I had amazing teammates. So, I\u2019m just going to take that experience and keep going forward for the next season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her words reflect a player who sees the long game. Malonga finished her rookie campaign averaging 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 55 percent from the field. She also became the youngest player in WNBA history to reach 100 career points and post a double-double.<\/p>\n

The beginning of the season told a different story as Malonga struggled through her first 22 games, averaging just over four points and under nine minutes per game. But after the All-Star break,\u00a0 things began to click and she found her confidence. As she got more minutes, her impact became undeniable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the final 20 games, she averaged 11.4 points and 6.7 rebounds, establishing herself as one of the best young players and bench reserves across the W.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know the potential of Dom,\u201d veteran guard Skylar Diggins said. \u201cWe got to see her in stretches this year and what she can do. She\u2019ll be the face of this organization for a very long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malonga backed up that statement in the postseason. In her first playoff series, she posted back-to-back double-doubles against the Las Vegas Aces, holding her own against the top talent and league MVP A\u2019ja Wilson.<\/p>\n

For a team in rebuilding mode, adding young talent like Malonga\u2019s growth offers hope for their future plans. She joins a core that includes Jordan Horston, Lexie Brown and Nika Muhl, all pieces the Storm plan to build around.<\/p>\n

General manager Talisa Rhea believes that the future starts with Malonga. \u201cShe\u2019s going to be someone that we obviously want to build around and with for a very long time,\u201d Rhea said.<\/p>\n

Seattle may not have planned for this season to unfold the way it did, but in Malonga, they found a gem in a young star ready to lead their next era.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There weren’t many bright spots for the Seattle Storm in the 2025 season. But when the dust settled…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210744,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,82,630],"class_list":{"0":"post-210743","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}