She DUNKS! This was enough to excite the whole WNBA fandom about 19-year-old Dominique Malonga from France. As widely projected, the Seattle Storm picked her as their No. 2 pick in the 2025 Draft. Just like that, the French takeover officially spilled from the NBA into the W in the form of the youngest player ever drafted in league history. One scroll through social media and you’d see what the hype is all about. A 6-foot-6 athletic machine who’s been dunking since 16 is now coming for the league.

The forward-center is the kind of player that makes you blink twice when you see what she’s doing on the court. Speed, length, explosiveness- she got it all. During the 2024–25 season with France’s Lyon ASVEL Féminin, she averaged 15.4 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game, shooting a clean 53.8% from the field. 

On top of her skills, she is young. Malonga turns 20 in November, just in time to make her eligible for the WNBA Draft. According to league rules, international players need to be 20 by the end of the calendar year, while U.S. players must be at least 22 or finish college within three months of the draft. 

But age ain’t nothing but a number, because Malonga has already been setting timelines on fire with videos of her throwing it down in practice. But that’s not all she does. She’s also a versatility queen. “The fact that I can play in and outside and sometimes I can be really disruptive on defense,” she said ahead of the draft. 

And now, WNBA analyst Rachel Annamarie DeMita saw Noelle Quinn’s newest baller putting in work during a workout in New York and was floored by another hidden gem in her arsenal as she said, “She is putting up some three-pointers from the corner and she’s a good three-point shooter…That is something where I feel like the women’s game has been a little bit behind…when it comes to bigs shooting from the outside”. She further added, “You have to guard the three-point line and that makes her a huge threat and a huge mismatch on the court.” 

Now, historically, WNBA bigs haven’t been known for their outside shooting. Take Brittney Griner, for example. One of the league’s most dominant forces, her game is rooted in the paint, and she barely touched the three-point line for most of her career—literally had zero attempts in her first five seasons. Then there’s Jonquel Jones, who’s made progress as a stretch big. She shot a solid 38.8% from three in 2024, but even then, she attempted 152 threes all season and made just 59 of them.

But what Malonga is promising could rewrite the whole script.

Also, the young star’s toolkit has already been tested at the highest level. She has professional experience in France and even Olympic experience under her belt. At just 19, she was the youngest player on the French women’s national team at the 2024 Paris Olympics. In limited minutes, she averaged 2.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, and snagged a silver medal along the way. Hence, there are multiple reasons why the opponent should fear her. But what should they be most scared of? Her dunks. 

Dominique Malonga’s dunks have WNBA players on alert

Before the draft, a clip resurfaced online of Malonga doing a silky-smooth drop-step spin that ended with a casual one-handed slam. That one video had fans in a frenzy. And it even caught the attention of current WNBA stars. 

LA Sparks forward Rickea Jackson, who’s gonna have to guard her soon, saw the writing on the wall. She tweeted, “Lord please don’t let me be the first WNBA player to get dunked on🙏🏾. Amen.”  This attention comes from the fact that only eight players in the history of the WNBA have dunked in a game. The legend Lisa Leslie was the first, back in 2002. In total, there have only been 38 in-game dunks. The current dunking crew just has Brittney Griner and Jonquel Jones. And now, we’ve got Dominique Malonga on deck. 

While Jackson doesn’t want to be on the wrong side of history, Indiana Fever’s Sydney Colson had other plans. Instead of joining Rickea’s prayer, she flipped it. “Lord please let Rickea be the first WNBA player to get dunked on🙏🏾. Amen!” she replied. But behind all the jokes, there’s a real buzz. Malonga dunking on someone isn’t a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. It’s gonna happen. Someone’s going to make the mistake of jumping with her at the rim, and boom, you know what’s next. Even the Seattle Storm is ready for it. 

After the draft, they posted a clip of Malonga throwing down a two-handed dunk during a workout in New York. It’s like they’re teasing what’s to come. A message to the league is pretty much this: She’s coming, and she’s ready. So, let’s see what happens once the season begins. For the time being, Malonga will head back to France to wrap up her season before joining the WNBA in 2025.