"Definitely gonna have to pay a buyout" - WNBA fans react as Dominique Malonga's premature contract termination leaves her needing to pay damages

Dominique Malonga was expected to join the Fenerbahçe Opet camp for the EuroLeague season. However, after an impressive rookie year in the 2025 WNBA season, she received a much more lucrative offer from another league. Hence, the French phenom decided to terminate her contract with Fenerbahçe.

Reports suggest that Malonga is being presented with an offer by Unrivaled, the 3x3 league co-founded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier. The new offer from her WNBA peers is said to be far higher than what she would have earned with the Turkish team, which ultimately influenced her decision not to suit up for Fenerbahçe.

Fenerbahçe announced the news on social media and stated that they plan to take legal action against Malonga for breaking her contract without a valid reason.

“Dominique Malonga, a player of our Fenerbahçe Opet Women’s Basketball Team, has unilaterally terminated her professional player contract with our club without any just cause,” the team’s statement read (auto-translated on X). “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.”

Once the news became public, fans flooded social media with reactions. Some celebrated Malonga’s opportunity to join Unrivaled, while others pointed out that she will likely face a financial penalty for terminating her contract.

“She's definitely gonna have to pay a buyout. Not only her contract but Fenerbahce also paid a buyout to sign her , as she was still under contract with her previous team,” a user wrote. “love this for dom, if it is unrivaled,” another fan said. “YES!! Omg, really hoping it’s Unrivaled! I think it would be so good for her growth,” @pivo_14 wrote. “I love Dom and all for players' rights but I'm always a bit meh when I hear that they break contracts with teams out of the blue... Seems messy and a bit unprofessional,” a fan criticized. “She did wrong choice. Fenerbahçe have 5-6 wnba players some of them MVP. They are strongest team in Europe. They are favorite team to be a champion, she could add Europe champion in her resume but she missed,” another user said. “Breaking contracts is nasty. They deserve compensation and she should pay for it,” another fan said.

Dominique Malonga played in all 42 regular-season games for the Seattle Storm, averaging 7.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals + blocks per game, proving herself as a reliable two-way presence for the team.

While she was not in contention for Rookie of the Year, she still earned a spot on the All-Rookie Team.

Dominique Malonga had surgery for wrist injury

Dominique Malonga recently revealed that she had been playing through a serious wrist injury during the tail-end of the season. In a recent TikTok video, she explained that right before the season ended, she dislocated the tendon in her right wrist.

Despite the pain, she managed to compete in all of the team’s games, appearing in nine matchups (six in the regular season and three in the postseason).

Even with the injury, Dominique Malonga performed impressively, averaging 9.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game during that stretch.

Once the season wrapped up, she decided it was time to address the issue and began her recovery process. While she didn’t share a specific timeline for her return to basketball, she mentioned that she’ll be wearing a cast on her hand for a total of six weeks.

Edited by Advait Jajodia