Seattle Storm center Dominique Malonga, a WNBA All-Rookie first-team selection, is playing in the Unrivaled league in 2026.
The professional 3×3 basketball league for women also announced on Thursday that the other remaining overall roster spots are going to the Indiana Fever’s Aari McDonald and the Chicago Sky’s Rebecca Allen.
The Minnesota Lynx’s DiJonai Carrington pulled out of her commitment for the 2026 season because of a left foot sprain sustained in the WNBA playoffs.
The final list of player commitments did not include Sky star forward Angel Reese, who was Unrivaled’s Defensive Player of the Year in its inaugural season as her Rose BC squad won the title.
The league’s second season, featuring two more teams for a total of eight, begins in January.
Four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces and popular Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever also aren’t playing in the league.
Seattle selected the 6-foot-6 Malonga second overall in the 2025 WNBA Draft.
Malonga played as a reserve in 42 regular-season games and averaged 7.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 14.3 minutes while making 55.1% of her field-goal attempts. She also came off the bench in three playoff games and averaged 8.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 22.7 minutes.
The native of Cameroon, the WNBA’s youngest player at 19, might be facing a legal issue with a professional league in Turkey. Fenerbahce, a team in Istanbul, announced earlier this month that Malonga had “unilaterally terminated her professional player contract with our club without any just cause.”
“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,” Fenerbahce posted to X, according to a translation in multiple media reports.
ESPN reported on Thursday that for players to play in multiple leagues, FIBA requires the WNBA to agree to a “letter of clearance” system, as is standard in international leagues. The letter, signed off by a player’s team and federation, confirms that the player has fulfilled the contract and is eligible to play in another league.
Fenerbahce and the Turkish federation would have to clear Malonga for her to play in the WNBA in 2026, ESPN reported, but that would not apply to Unrivaled.
–Field Level Media
Comments