Storm build for future with Awa Fam, Flau\u2019jae Johnson headlining 2026 WNBA Draft<\/a><\/p>\nA move that also sends a message. To the rest of the WNBA and to Flau’jae.<\/p>\n
I pointed out to Johnson that, when you’re traded, it means a team really wanted you.<\/p>\n
“Facts, that’s what my agent told me as soon as I got traded,” she said. “‘They want you,'” Flau’jae said.<\/p>\n
“This is what really got me, when I saw how excited they were on the press conference, I was like ‘Wow, like this is amazing,’ I know this is where I’m supposed to be, I can feel it. So I’m thankful for them giving me the opportunity. For me, just hearing my name called was a dream, but being in an organization that wants me, that’s excited to have me, that has a plan for me, that’s something totally different,” she added.<\/p>\n
Indeed, the Storm Front Office, led by General Manager Talisa Rhea and Head Coach Sonia Raman, coveted Flau’jae for her talent on the court. The National Champion from LSU showed such a fantastic skillset that we’ve known for years she’d be a first-rounder. <\/p>\n
But really, it’s so much more than the shooting and handling; it’s the leadership and personality that comes with it. You never know if this is going to happen, but you can absolutely see, even after just a couple of minutes, how Johnson could lead this proud franchise in the future. It’s a vision that led to the Draft Night trade.<\/p>\n
And could lead to Storm fans being treated to another golden era.<\/p>\n
“For me, it’s like, how can we get there?” Johnson said.<\/p>\n
“What steps can I take one day to get where we want to be? And I take that very seriously, I think the history is very important,” she continued. “Even coming from LSU, there was history there and we made it big. I plan on doing the same thing here. I feel like everybody’s aligned, why can’t we do the same thing here?”<\/p>\n
When Flau’jae sets her mind to something, it generally comes to fruition. <\/p>\n
She’s motivated in part by pride for her family. Her father, Jason Johnson, was a rap artist called “Camoflauge,” who was murdered in 2003, just months before Flau’jae was born. So while she was a prolific basketball player, she was also inspired by music and has become an incredibly successful artist. <\/p>\n
“It’s been a beautiful journey,” Flau’jae said.<\/p>\n
“My whole goal was to allow his name to always be heard through mine. Then, on top of that, I created my own legacy, right? Playing basketball and doing music, people were like, ‘This is not possible.’ I was like, ‘But it is, because I’m gonna do it.’ And I’ve always had that mentality, I’ve always been self-motivated, I’ve always wanted to become something. For me, I have other factors that motivate me, like my family and everything,” she continued. “But for me, I wanted to do that for him and make him proud and be somebody.”<\/p>\n
Do you see why the Storm and, really, the basketball world fell in love with Johnson’s game and attitude? <\/p>\n
In a highly competitive league, it takes somebody who has that extra something to take the next step. Something to separate them from the rest.<\/p>\n
Flau’jae Johnson has it. She’s bringing it to Seattle.<\/p>\n
Now, she’s ready to ball out for Storm fans.<\/p>\n
“The goal is to inspire before you expire, and you only get a little bit of time. You don’t know how much time you have on this Earth. So every day, the one thing you can do for a kid is impact their way of thinking. None of the money you give – that helps – but the impact, belief, the hope you give kids? That is what lasts, that is what keeps your name legendary,” Johnson said. “That’s just my only goal because if I do all these amazing things and if I can change a life that’s gonna change another life that’s something totally different… I know I’ve touched so many people where I come from in Georgia, Louisiana and now Seattle, let’s do it.”<\/p>\n
And she will make the most of it, as she tells me this ‘beautiful opportunity’, starting in her rookie season with the Storm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEATTLE \u2014 It’s not often that a player yet to play on the professional level is known around…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-588698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}