With the WNBA season over, players are now on their way to their offseason obligations. For a lot this means going to play in another league, mostly overseas. This has caused some uproar regarding the Seattle Storm's star rookie, Dominque Malonga.
The Seattle Storm drafted Malonga with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft. At only 19 years old, Malonga came to the league and showed everyone she has the potential to become one of the best international players to grace the W. She finished the season averaging 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in only 14.3 minutes per game. She also shot 55.1 percent from the floor. She became the youngest player in the WNBA to record a 20-point and 10-rebound performance.
To say Malonga has potential is an understatement. Seattle and their fans should be excited for her sophomore season in the league — but that could all be put on hold due to an overseas contract debacle.
Dominique Malonga's contract clash
Malonga has a three-year contract in place with a Turkish professional women's basketball team, Fenerbahçe Opet. On Monday, the club took to X to claim Malonga has "unilaterally terminated her professional player contract...without any just cause." The club added, "We inform the public that we will exercise all our legal rights to seek compensation for any material and moral damages incurred by our club during this process."
You might be asking how this would impact her WNBA career. Well, the WNBA and FIBA have a "letter of clearance" agreement that ensures players can play on contract in both the WNBA and overseas. Front Office Sports states, "The letter, which requires sign off from the player's team and federation, establishes that the player fulfilled their duties to the full extent of their contract and is eligible to play elsewhere."
The WNBA signed off for Malonga to go play for Fenerbahçe, but now the question is, will they sign off for her to come back to the WNBA? The sign-off is not likely if there is a legal case between her and the club come 2026.
Fenerbahçe stated that the contract termination had no just cause. However, Malonga took to social media earlier this month, sharing on TikTok that she had gotten injured right before the end of the season. Her wrist injury required surgery, and she will have a cast for six weeks. This would be a clearer reason as to why she's not in Turkey. But either way, it will be interesting to see if this all impacts her 2026 WNBA season.