Malonga joins Unrivaled league after leaving Turkey's Fenerbahce

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MIAMI (AP) — Seattle Storm rookie Dominique Malonga is joining the Unrivaled 3-on-3 women's basketball league for its second season.

Malonga, a 6-foot-6 French center, averaged 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds last season and was voted to the WNBA All-Rookie team.

The No. 2 pick in the WNBA draft signed an offseason contract with Fenerbahce, a professional team based in Turkey, but she abruptly walked away from the team last week.

“Dominique Malonga, a player of our Fenerbahce Opet Women’s Basketball Team, has unilaterally terminated her professional player contract with our club without any just cause,” Fenerbahce posted on social media. “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.”

The situation complicates Malonga's immediate future with the WNBA, because of the league's “letter of clearance” agreement with FIBA, the international basketball federation, that allows players to move between leagues in the offseason. While the WNBA apparently agreed to let Malonga to play in Turkey, Fenerbahce could withhold its letter of clearance ahead of the 2026 season.

The Unrivaled league has no such agreement.

Unrivaled announced Thursday that Chicago Sky guard Rebecca Allen and Indiana Fever guard Aari McDonald would also join the league for its second season.

The league also named its eight head coaches: Noelle Quinn (Breeze), Rena Wakama (Hive), Andrew Wade (Laces), DJ Sackman (Lunar Owls), Zach O'Brien (Mist), Roneeka Hodges (Phantom), Nola Henry (Rose) and Teresa Witherspoon (Vinyl).

The Breeze and Hive are new to Unrivaled this season. Unrivaled will tip off in January with eight teams and 54 players.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball