Dominique Malonga Biography: Net Worth, Salary, Family and Career Stats

With the WNBA Draft expected to kick off soon, the women's basketball community is full of buzz around potential top prospects. Paige Bueckers is expected to be the top prospect for the upcoming draft class. However, the next big thing in the WNBA world is expected to be Dominique Malonga, who is a French star. She was the youngest member of the 2024 Paris Olympics Team and even led them to the Silver medal.

The 6 feet 6 inches baller Malonga is expected to join Seattle Storm, but it can't be said for sure. She is often referred to as the female Victor Wembanyama, who might soon start her journey in the pro women's basketball league. Today, we will explore the journey of the European star who made her name in the French league.

Dominique Malonga Early Life

Dominique Malonga was born on November 16, 2005, to French father Dominique Malonga and Cameroonian mother Agathe N'Nindjem-Yolemp. She was first introduced to the game during her early childhood in Cameroon. However, then she made a shift to France and started playing for the local basketball clubs. It was her height that got noticed first and the dunking ability that came naturally with Dominique Malonga's stature.

When she was about 7 years old, she used to yearn for some company to play basketball. However, after she moved to France, the youth clubs became the place where she nurtured her skills on the court competitively. Over time, her growth as a baller was not enough for street basketball, and she moved to higher clubs and leagues.

Dominique Malonga Biography

Dominique Malonga Career

Dominique Malonga can be the next generational to appear in the Women's National Basketball League. She has been around the scene for a long time and competing with talents all around Europe against international competition. So, it might be safe to say that she has tested and stood up to his strengths on the ground. As she grew, she continued to perform and evolve at a pace according to different conditions like youth clubs and among professionals in EuroLeague Women.

Dominique Malonga High School Career

Dominique Malonga did not have normal schooling like every other US-born basketball player. Instead of attending high school, she went to the INSEP (French National Institute of Sport). This institution is similar to elite prep schools for athletes that produced players like Tony Parker, Boris Diaw, and Sandrine Gruda. It was the same institution where Tony spotted Dominique as a potential baller for the leagues.

Dominique Malonga Professional Career

Malonga was picked up by Parker and then selected for the LDLC ASVEL (Lyon) club. Therefore, she kicked off her professional journey early at the age of 16. The players that used to play with at that time were Marine Johannes and Gabby Williams. However, due to her age and injuries, Malonga did not play many minutes in her first few seasons with Lyon.

Later on, she was switched to another French club, Tarbes GB, for the 2023-24 season. She experienced a new ambiance there, which accelerated her development. Upon her return to Lyon this season, she was ready to step into a lead role for the club. In her first season with ASVEL Féminin in 2021-22, she tallied six points and five rebounds in seven games. The next season, injury deducted six playing weeks off her schedule, and she could only play in seven games to dish out 6.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.

At Tarbes, she saw a surge in playing time and stats, averaging 1.9 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks in 25 games. Recently, on October 31 last year, she became the first woman to dunk in an official game in the 2024-25 EuroCup Women.

Dominique Malonga Awards and Achievements

With the help of 19.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 2.8 blocks per game, Dominique first helped her national France team to qualify for the 2022 FIBA Under 17 Women's Basketball World Cup. Later on, when France reached the group stage, she put on a fight for her team to tally 18 points and ten rebounds per game. Eventually, she led her team to a Bronze medal in the tournament.

During the final fixture of that tournament against Canada, Malonga dished 28 points and 17 rebounds. She became the youngest member of the French National Olympic team in June last year at 18 years old. She attended all the group games along with knockouts to score 7.1 minutes, 2.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks per game.

Dominique Malonga Record

There is not much information available about her records of Dominique Malonga in her club basketball in Europe. However, as per Proballers info, Malonga has a career-high in points in a Eurocup Women (W) game. On that day, Dominique scored 32 points in Lyon's home win against Wielkopolski. She also tallied 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals during her career high-scoring game on November 27, 2024.

On August 14, 2021, Dominique Malonga tied her career high in rebounds in a U16 Women's European Challengers (W) game. That day, she grabbed 19 rebounds along with scoring 25 points.

Dominique Malonga Net Worth and Salary

There is not much public info on Dominique Malonga's net worth, but it is assumed to be around $500,000. As expected, most of her net worth comes from the money that she made while playing in the European leagues. Apart from that, she might have signed endorsement deals with brands in Europe due to her popularity there.

But she has not availed any such information to the public in terms of endorsements and might expected to reveal it after her WNBA debut.

Dominique Malonga Parents

Dominique was born to Thalance Malonga and Agathe N'Nindjem-Yolemp. Her mother, Agathe, was a Cameroonian basketball player who used to train Malonga under her direct guidance at her Academy. Just like Dominque, her mother used to play center position and last played for Basket Catalan Perpignan Méditerranée in the French NF3, according to her EuroBasket profile.

There is not much public disclosure on Dominique's father, but he is confirmed to be of French origin and married Agathe later in his life.

Dominique Malonga Shoes

According to Kixstats, Dominique Malonga wore Jordans mostly Jordan Zion 3 and Jordan Tatum 2 shoes in her Euro League career. So, it might be safe to assume a connection between the brand and the French prospect. However, the Jordan brand or Nike has not confirmed a shoe deal with the potential Number 2 draft prospect for the 2025 draft class of WNBA.

Dominique Malonga Jersey

Whether it be any European club of the French national basketball team, Dominique has always donned the number 14 jersey while playing basketball. It might not be famous in the United States region due to a lack of following of European basketball culture. However, Malonga has a big following in Europe due to her star status there and her jersey number 14 is an icon there among sports enthusiasts.