Awa Fam and Dominique Malonga are focused on the present, but their future in Seattle looks bright

NEW YORK — Awa Fam and Dominique Malonga prefer not to talk too extensively about what’s on the horizon for the Seattle Storm.

They would rather focus on what they can see, even as they endure a disappointing 8-31 season, as if to temper their excitement about what comes next.

It feels akin to the superstition in baseball when a pitcher is nearing a shutout, only to return to the dugout each inning to complete silence from those on the team. There is no need to talk about what’s taking place. To do so could potentially disrupt what’s in front of them.

Malonga and Fam already know: Something special is brewing in Seattle. 

“We are not thinking about it, like, every day. We are here playing, we are here practicing, and we are happy having each other on the team,” Fam said while seated next to Malonga at Barclays Center last month. “We already know that this is going to be, in the future, a really good thing. It’s already a really good thing.”

Much of the optimism in Seattle falls on the shoulders of Fam and Malonga, the generational international prospects who form one of the most intriguing duos in the WNBA. Both just 20 years old and radiating with on-court potential, they will be tasked with restoring the Storm to its title-contending form.

The success of Malonga, a native of Cameroon who grew up in France, and Fam, a native of Spain, is also of paramount importance to the WNBA as it continues to lead an ardent push toward globalizing its brand. In a period of immense on-court international growth within the league, Malonga and Fam — who will represent their respective countries in September’s FIBA Women’s World Cup — stand as two of the faces of a new wave in the WNBA.

Their focus is on building chemistry and continuing to acclimate to each other’s styles on the floor. They know once those powers are unlocked, the sky’s the limit. 

Until then, it’s one step at a time. 

“One thing we’re good at is just to be where [our] feet are. Right now, we’re just here, grateful to have this opportunity and make the most of it,” Malonga said.  

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The first time Malonga and Fam played on the same court was in the summer of 2022.

Years before they would suit up as Seattle Storm teammates, the frontcourt duo squared off in the semifinals of the U17 World Cup in Hungary, representing their respective countries.

“I lost, that’s all I know,” Malonga recalled of the 66-59 Spain victory, to Fam’s amusement.

At the time, Fam and Malonga were unknown to the majority of American basketball fans, but on the international circuit they were two of the most promising prospects in the world, guarding each other on each end of the floor. Top European prospects are all aware of one another, Malonga said, and Fam had been on Malonga’s radar for a while.

“It was good to play against another prospect like me,” said Malonga, who finished with a game-high 21 points and 14 rebounds. Fam had 12 points, nine rebounds and five steals. “She was really good. I love competitiveness, and she was great.”

Four years later, the two are WNBA teammates. They have spent the season learning about each other, using their shared but slightly differing European experiences as a starting point for chemistry building.

Malonga has enjoyed Fam’s fondness for French music. Malonga’s mother, a former European basketball pro, became pregnant with Malonga while playing in Valencia, Spain.

“That means you’re Spanish,” Fam said, laughing.

Malonga, as if catching the lob from Fam, said affirmatively, “I’m kind of Spanish.”

On the court, the 6-foot-4 Fam and 6-foot-6 Malonga said building chemistry has come naturally to them. The elements that haven’t come as naturally, such as knowing where the other is on the court or likes to receive the ball, are aspects they know will come with reps and time.

“We both have a good feel for the game, so we can naturally play off of each other,” said Malonga, who is averaging 17.0 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists in an All-Star season. “She has a great 3-point shot, so she stretches the floor well, and it helps me to be inside. We communicate pretty well.”

Perhaps most importantly for Fam, Malonga has served as a critical bridge to playing in the WNBA. Beyond which action or counter to perform on the court, Malonga has filled Fam in on what happens on a game day and what she needs to bring on a road trip.

“She was the rookie last year, so she knows everything. She’s the first person that [I’m] like, ‘OK, help me because I need to know everything,’” said Fam, who is averaging 10.3 points, 5.7 rebounds — which leads all rookies — and 1.8 assists this season. “We totally like each other; we’re helping each other.”

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WNBA teams have benefited from international talent since the league’s inception, but Fam and Malonga represent something unique for the league — two highly touted lottery picks under age 21 on the same team. It’s a common situation in the NBA, where draft eligibility has freshman-age players entering the league each year. For the WNBA, though, it’s rare, as only international players can enter the league at 19 — provided they turn 20 by the end of the calendar year.

“This is a really unique situation, not just in who they are but where they are in their careers,” Seattle head coach Sonia Raman said. “You don’t see that as much in the W. When you have two 20-year-olds in the starting lineup, that’s going to impact a lot, right?

“You have Flau’jae [Johnson], who’s a rookie as well. So you have some young players in the league … and so our ability to kind of develop them internally and, you know, be with them as they grow as a group and keep them together is a really special thing that we have done here.”

As the WNBA continues to expand its domestic imprint, it also has placed an emphasis on growing internationally. Driven by higher salaries and chartered flights from the latest collective bargaining agreement, a surge of foreign talent has entered the WNBA. This influx has rapidly accelerated the league’s international growth.

Malonga and Fam, the two-highest drafted international WNBA players since 2021, will be integral to the growth of the league’s global footprint. Fam, who is of Senegalese descent, and Malonga, who is of Cameroonian descent, both view themselves as international ambassadors of the sport.

“I feel like we are a part of this younger generation that’s growing and shining worldwide,” said Malonga, who in July became the youngest player to record a double-double in an All-Star Game. “I hope we’re just going to keep going, keep improving and keep bringing people from all over the world to watch women’s basketball.”

After a 2025 season in which the Storm lined its roster with multiple All-WNBA talents, attempting to make a deep postseason run that ultimately fell short, Seattle’s front office opted for a complete reset. They hired a new coach in Raman and focused on rebuilding the roster, placing an emphasis on Johnson, Fam and Malonga as the team’s future faces.

The 2026 season has been a struggle. The Storm have already eclipsed their 2023 franchise record for the most losses in a season. Despite the challenges of a losing season, Malonga and Fam understand this comes with the territory of a rebuild.

“When you want to get somewhere, it’s a process and you have to trust it. And sometimes you can’t control how the process is, but you just have to trust your peers, trust your teammates, trust the coaching staff. That’s what we do,” Malonga said.

“We’re learning every day, and I think at some point it’s going to click, and it’s going to be amazing what we’re going to be able to produce.”

Other WNBA teams have recently shown that the time it takes to go from a work in progress to a postseason contender can be shortened with high-level young talent and some front office ingenuity.

Washington, which has the youngest roster in the league, is bound for the playoffs in head coach Sydney Johnson’s second season, the franchise’s timeline accelerated due to adding a healthy Shakira Austin to the All-Star duo of Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen.

The Dallas Wings won a combined total of 19 games over the 2024 and 2025 seasons. After drafting Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd as the No. 1 overall picks in 2025 and 2026, respectively, hiring a new coach and bolstering their roster, the Wings are also headed to the playoffs this season.

Coaching staffs of young teams have to walk something of a tightrope as they attempt to stay competitive without rushing the development of the players their franchises are counting on to become cornerstones.

“I think it’s just one day at a time, right?” Raman said of managing people’s expectations of Fam and Malonga. ”It’s kind of microdosing, like, ‘What do we need from you today?’ so that they don’t have to get caught up with this big picture and all these expectations.

“When they come into the gym, the outside expectations are always going to be there. They understand they’re just going to get support from us, and we’re going to pour into them.”

Fam and Malonga have yet to devise a nickname for their pairing, with Fam deeming it a work in progress. So, too, is their time together in Seattle as they continue to build the early foundations of a promising bond on and off the floor.

Malonga and Fam will take it one day at a time until it clicks. When it does, the hope in Seattle is that one of the most dynamic and dominant frontcourt duos in league history will emerge.

“We know that this is going to be good,” Fam said. “It’s just, be patient. And we know that.”