French players Dominique Malonga and Adja Kane were on Tuesday drafted into US' WNBA franchises during the annual selection of best young prospects for the following season.
The announcement of their moves to the world's most prestigious basketball league came during a gala ceremony at The Shed in New York City.
Malonga, who plays for the French basketball team Lyon ASVEL, was second on the panel of 38 players behind Paige Bueckers and will play at the Seattle Storm.
"I'm so proud to be here," said the 19-year-old. "My family is here with me. They know all the hard work it took to get here."
Kane, 20, features for Landerneau Bretagne Basket. She was chosen in 38th place and will feature for New York Liberty.
Malonga, however, has attracted the bulk of the attention.
Born in Yaoundé in Cameroon to basketball-playing parents, she started her ascent at her mother's academy in the city.
When the family moved to France, she trained and played at the Paris Basket 18 club and with the Rueil-Malmaison club before joining the school for grooming elite athletes.
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In 2021, she signed for Lyon ASVEL where she was part of a team that won the 2023 EuroCup and the 2023 French title.
During the 2024 Olympics in Paris, Malonga was one of the stars of the French team that reached the final where they narrowly lost to the United States.
Malonga, who stands at 1.98m, joins France teammate Gabby Williams at the Seattle Storm to increase the number of Frenchwomen in the WNBA to 14. Fourteen of her male compatriots including Victor Wembanyama and Zaccharie Risacher feature in the NBA.
“I am so proud to achieve the goal of coming to the WNBA because it just shows that French basketball has evolved, as we’ve seen the past few years on the NBA side," said Malonga.
"We see Victor or Zaccharie showing that French basketball is great, and now there are the women. It’s just French basketball in general."
Malonga joins the Storm, who won 25 of their 40 games last season. She will be integrated into a side boasting experience in the shape of with nine-time All-Star Nneka Ogwumike, three-time WNBA champion Alysha Clark, who was first drafted in 2010, and 34-year-old Skylar Diggins-Smith who has played in the WNBA for 11 seasons.
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“I’m really excited to step on the court in the WNBA and to show that European basketball is something too and I can come here and showcase my talent,” Malonga said.
Last October, Malonga became the first Frenchwoman to perform a "slam dunk" in a top flight game.
Playing for ASVEL in the EuroCup match against AEL Solemare, she received the ball, strode up the court, jumped and dunked the ball in the basket to give her side a 49-16 lead.
Malonga joins a league projecting icons such as Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Bueckers and A'ja Wilson who count millions of followers on their social network channels.
During the draft pick gala, she acknowledged her fans in Congo where her father was born and in Cameroon.
"I'm a multi-cultural person," Malonga beamed. "I'm here to represent France, Cameroon and Congo – my home countries. I am so happy that my family came to show that."
