No matter the sport, a top draft pick’s rookie season is usually a rough go.
Your team most likely had that pick for a reason (they were bad) and you are expected to help right away. You’re getting used to a new league, and you may or may not have veteran players to ease the learning curve.
For Dominique Malonga, the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft by the Seattle Storm, it’s been the opposite experience.
She got to play behind, and learn from, veterans Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins, Gabby Williams and Ezi Magbegor. She didn’t have to absorb a full load of the WNBA’s physicality every game. She was allowed the time and space to see how her game fit in the W rather than figuring it out on the fly.
All of which will make Malonga, and the Storm, who lost Game 1 of their best-of-3 series against the Las Vegas Aces 102-77 on Sunday, even better down the road.
“I knew I wouldn’t be starting because of the players we already had here,” Malonga, who had a double-double in her playoff debut with 12 points and 11 rebounds, told USA TODAY Sports. “I would have amazing vets in front of me, and it would be a good place to learn and grow up.
“My coaching staff, Seattle, had no expectations for me,” she added. “That helped. In terms of basketball, it was just about coming and playing hard.”
Malonga did more than that, however. The 19-year-old from France made a case to be Sixth Player of the Year.
Malonga set a WNBA record with 262 points in the paint off the bench, and led all reserves in six statistical categories. That included field goal percentage (.551), rebounds (195), blocks (28) and double-doubles (four).
Malonga played just over 14 minutes a game and averaged 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds for the Storm, who are the seventh seed in the WNBA playoffs.
“This season is going to benefit me so much,” said Malonga, who was named to the Associated Press’ All-Rookie team on Friday. “This year was about discovering and growing. A first year with no pressure, now I can go to year two and three and I’m comfortable and I can just play.”
This is not to say Malonga wouldn’t have thrived if she’d gone to a different team.
The hype around her has been intense since she was 15, when Tony Parker called her the female Victor Wembanyama. It grew last summer, when Malonga was the youngest member of the France team that took the U.S. women down to the last second of the gold-medal game at the Paris Olympics.
And it grew again last fall, when the 6-foot-6 Malonga dunked in EuroCup play.
“I’ve been watching film of her and I can’t wait to get my eyes on her in person,” ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo gushed before the draft. “A 6-6 player with the versatility that she has and the ability to come off flare screens and hit 3s at her size and length, … the way she can move in space, she’s an incredible talent.”
But the Storm put Malonga in a position to thrive, and that’s exactly what she’s done.
Malonga had been the focal point of her teams in Europe, so coming off the bench was an adjustment. It’s a different mindset, Malonga said, and it forced her to be patient. The physicality of the WNBA also took some getting used to.
“I won’t lie, the first game was really shocking to me for the physicality and how fast the game was,” she said.
Malonga quickly settled in, however. Her playing time increased as the season went on and so did her production. She gave a glimpse of just how formidable she will be in the years to come last month, when she had 22 points and 12 rebounds in a close loss to the Las Vegas Aces.
“It was about being comfortable on the court and the game has slowed down for me. I wasn’t discovering anymore,” Malonga said.
Malonga’s adjustment to the WNBA has also been helped by Williams, one of her teammates on France’s national team.
Though Malonga is fluent in English, being able to speak French with Williams is a comfort. She also knows she can ask Williams about anything, be it basketball or whether there’s a good French bakery in Seattle. (There is.)
“She made everything way easier for me,” Malonga said.
The priority for Malonga now is the playoffs, where the Storm are facing the Aces. But she acknowledges it’s nice to hear her name in conversation for Sixth Player, because it means people outside Seattle have recognized her game and how it’s grown throughout the season.
“It would be amazing (to win), especially when it’s something I didn’t expect or put pressure on myself,” she said. “It would just be a reward for all the work I put in this season and the path we went through.
“But if not, it’s going to be fine.”
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.