Dominique Malonga was set to play for Fenerbahce, the Turkish EuroLeague powerhouse, after her rookie season in the WNBA. It would have been an opportunity to play with some of the best veterans in the game and go up against strong competition in a five-on-five setting. Instead of going to Turkey, Malonga backed out of her contract and signed with Unrivaled. The decision raised some eyebrows and created some concerns about Fenerbahce’s ability to impact Malonga’s WNBA future.
Now that Malonga has actually gotten some action in Unrivaled, it looks like a pretty good decision from an on-court standpoint. She took to the fast-paced three-on-three setting quickly and delivered two strong performances while going up against veteran WNBA bigs and playing under her first WNBA head coach Noelle Quinn.
Malonga is off to a great start in Unrivaled
Malonga is part of Breeze BC, one of Unrivaled’s newest teams, which is stacked with young talent. Besides Malonga, the roster also features Paige Bueckers, Rickea Jackson, Cameron Brink, Kate Martin, and Aari McDonald. No other roster features that much young star power. The team’s youth and inexperience with Unrivaled’s format could have been a problem early on in the season, but the Breeze took the league by storm, winning their first two games and blessing fans with tons of fun plays.
Malonga has been a big part of her team’s success early on. She earned a starting spot next to Bueckers and Jackson, edging out Brink. In her debut, Malonga put up 17 points on efficient shooting and 14 rebounds against a Phantom team that features WNBA All-Stars Aliyah Boston and Kiki Iriafen. Boston, in particular, is a tough matchup. She has more experience than Malonga and put her name into the All-WNBA conversation during the 2025 WNBA season.
Malonga followed up her successful debut with 15 points and 13 rebounds against the Hive. She was not fazed despite going up against WNBA veterans Ezi Magbegor and Monique Billings.
Her height, athleticism, and versatility make Malonga a nightmare matchup in the full-court three-on-three setting. She can run the floor in transition and even bring the ball up herself or establish a strong presence around the rim in the half-court offense. On defense, Malonga’s long arms can cause some serious trouble around the rim, even though she still needs to work on her timing for blocks a bit.
So far, Malonga is playing very well against some of the best competition in the game and getting more opportunities to be on the court than she may have gotten with Fenerbahce. Plus, Malonga is playing for Noelle Quinn again, who knows exactly what she needs to work on after her rookie season in the W. Unrivaled looks like a great setting to prepare Malonga for her second WNBA season.