Dominique Malonga, the No. 2 overall pick of the Seattle Storm in the 2025 WNBA draft, is joining Unrivaled for the 2026 season, the 3-on-3 league announced Thursday.
The 6-foot-6 French center averaged 7.7 points on 55% shooting from the field and 4.6 rebounds in 14.3 minutes per game for the Storm in her rookie year. Malonga, the league's youngest player last season at age 19, was selected for the WNBA All-Rookie Team.
Her signing to Unrivaled comes just 10 days after Fenerbahçe, a professional women's basketball club based in Istanbul, Turkey, announced that she "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," Fenerbahçe posted to X.
For Malonga to participate in overseas basketball, the WNBA had to sign on to FIBA's "letter of clearance" system, which allows players to sign contracts in multiple leagues. The letter requires a sign-off from the players' team and federation, and it establishes that the player has fulfilled their duties to the full extent of their contract and is eligible to play elsewhere. Most international leagues require the "letter of clearance" before a player can enter their league.
In order for Malonga to return to the WNBA in 2026, a letter of clearance from the Turkish federation by way of Fenerbahçe will be required. Sources told ESPN that Malonga did not need this level of clearance to participate in Unrivaled.
Unrivaled also announced the signings of Aari McDonald and Rebecca Allen as the final two players joining the league for its second season. DiJonai Carrington had to drop out of the league as she continues to recover from a "significant" left midfoot sprain.
Malonga, McDonald and Allen join 16 other new players, including Kelsey Plum, Paige Bueckers, Veronica Burton, Saniya Rivers, Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen and Kelsey Mitchell. Unrivaled is set to tip off Jan. 5.