{"id":191969,"date":"2025-09-30T09:46:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T09:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/191969\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T09:46:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T09:46:10","slug":"wnba-janelle-salaun-and-dominique-malonga-in-the-1st-all-wnba-rookie-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/191969\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA : Janelle Sala\u00fcn and Dominique Malonga in the 1st All-WNBA Rookie Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two French women in the All-Rookie Team: WNBA has just taken a tricolor color<\/p>\n

The WNBA has released its All-Rookie Team 2025 and, where some see an annual routine, others read a signal: two players born in France (Dominique Malonga and Janelle Sala\u00fcn) appear in the five rising stars. It’s not just a passing trophy. This is proof that the path leading from the French championship to the most demanding parquet floors in the world is no longer a curiosity, it has become a credible trajectory.<\/p>\n

Dominique Malonga: the patience that explodes<\/p>\n

Dominique Malonga arrived at the Storm with a heavy label: second choice of the Draft, a promise written in bulk. Its first part of the season did not take the form of an instant fireworks. Bench, scattered minutes, waiting. Then flip it. When she was given the key, she didn’t try to polish it, she used it. His regular numbers (around 7.6 to 7.7 points and 4.7 rebounds over the regular season) tell only one piece of history. In playoffs, she climbed a step up, finding positions, biting on rebounds and letting feel that she had much more to offer than her averages.<\/p>\n

What strikes at Malonga is not just instinct. It’s the way she transforms the wait into a soft rage: playing without panic, crossing the opposing lines without demolishing the rhythm of her team, sticking to the real work of said rookie, taking what we give her and making it a lasting threat. For a frankness that wanted freshness and reliability, it became the answer.<\/p>\n

Janelle Sala\u00fcn: the nonchalance that weighs<\/p>\n

Janelle Sala\u00fcn entered the league without a band. Undrafted, she joined the Valkyries via a training camp and quickly imposed her presence. Result: 11.3 points and 5.1 rebounds of average, 36% at three points and a ability to chain double-digit evenings, figures that reflect a simple reality: she didn’t come to learn, she came to play.<\/p>\n

Sala\u00fcn illustrates a modern profile: large, fluid, able to stretch the game while simplifying the rebound. She helped an expansion team reach the playoffs, and her coach Natalie Nakase didn’t hide her enthusiastic surprise, not because the surprise came from the gross yield, but because the young French woman showed a rare maturity, a cold head and a competitive spirit.<\/p>\n

Why it’s historical<\/p>\n

The simultaneous presence of Malonga and Sala\u00fcn on the All-Rookie Team is not a calendar anecdote. This is the first time that two players born in France are distinguished as well, and it changes a story. For years, the road to WNBA passed through the United States (universities, visibility, networks). Today, different routes lead to the same observation: French basketball forms talented women capable of imposing directly.<\/p>\n

It is not a question of reducing other Franco-American routes. Bria Hartley, often mentioned in francophone conversations, has French ties by filiation but has grown and been trained in the United States. What Malonga and Sala\u00fcn accomplished is to bring France back to the centre of the plateau as a place of birth and formation of a talent ready to shine in WNBA.

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A lever for the next generation<\/p>\n

\u00c0 l\u2019\u00e9chelle d\u2019un pays, ces nominations font office de passerelle. Elles transforment des r\u00eaves lointains en trajectoires visibles : clubs de jeunes, centres de formation, agents et entra\u00eeneurs pourront d\u00e9sormais pointer des exemples concrets. Et pour chaque gamine qui dribble sur un playground \u00e0 Paris, Lyon ou Bourges, la route vers la WNBA perd un peu de son myst\u00e8re.<\/p>\n

C\u00f4t\u00e9 franchises, c\u2019est aussi un message : il faut regarder plus loin et diversifier les sources de recrutement. Les Valkyries et le Storm ont go\u00fbt\u00e9 \u00e0 la jeunesse fran\u00e7aise et, manifestement, ils ont aim\u00e9 ce qu\u2019ils ont vu.<\/p>\n

Now what?<\/p>\n

Ce troph\u00e9e n\u2019est pas une destination. Pour Malonga et Sala\u00fcn, c\u2019est un nouveau d\u00e9part. On attend maintenant la suite : confirmation, mont\u00e9e en charge, blessures \u00e9vit\u00e9es, adaptation \u00e0 la longue saison WNBA. La ligue, elle, se contente d\u2019ajouter deux noms fran\u00e7ais \u00e0 sa liste de promesses tenues. Pour le basketball tricolore, c\u2019est une belle soir\u00e9e \u00e0 c\u00e9l\u00e9brer, puis un lundi matin pour recommencer \u00e0 travailler.<\/p>\n


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\n Founder of Media Basket Time_Out_en<\/a> on social networks, I also write for the site LeRoster<\/a> since 2024 while participating in the adventure MathOdds<\/a> since 2025 in order to cover as much as possible the current events of this sport. <\/p>\n


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