Seattle Storm’s young core heading into finale with mixed feelings | Storm

In their first year together, Dominique Malonga and Flau’jae Johnson are developing a harmonious rapport and normally the young Storm stars are in synchronous alignment.

Except on this topic.

Malonga appeared genuinely conflicted when asked: Are you ready for the season to end on Wednesday?

“Personally, I love to play basketball, so of course, I don’t want the season to end,” the second-year All-Star forward said. “Especially this team, I loved playing with this team all year. I had so much fun, so of course, we’re not looking forward to the end of the season.

“But of course, I feel like the bodies are tired. You want to take the time to grow and to learn and to be ready for next season. There’s a mixed feeling here. We really enjoy playing together. So of course, we’ll never say that we’re ready for that to end.”

Sitting next to Malonga during a postgame interview on Sunday, Johnson shot her teammate a quizzical look, smiled and blurted: “She can speak for herself. I need a break! My knees are through.”

And who can blame her?

The 22-year-old rookie guard hasn’t had a proper vacation since last September during a whirlwind year that included her final season with the LSU Tigers and first year with the Storm.

“Rookies are ready for that break once the season’s over,” coach Sonia Raman said. “You’re typically drafting a lot of the best players on the best teams, right? So, they’re going deep into the NCAA tournament and then they’re right into draft, and then they’re right into reporting to their new teams.

“Then it’s just full steam ahead from there. So yeah, they need that break. They need to have a little bit of a time away from basketball and then getting back to it.”

There’s not much at stake for the slumping Storm during Wednesday’s 7 p.m. regular-season finale when they host the Dallas Wings (26-17), who are fighting for playoff seeding and looking to sweep the three-game season series.

Dallas edged Seattle 112-110 on June 22 and clobbered the Storm 92-70 on Aug. 23.

On Sunday, Seattle (8-35), which lost its fourth straight, set the WNBA record for most defeats in a season, and needs a win to avoid finishing with the lowest winning percentage in franchise history.

The Storm’s winning percentage is .186 and during their first season in the WNBA in 2000, they finished 6-26 (.188).

Despite a forgettable year mired with two 11-game losing streaks, Seattle increased its average home attendance from 11,835 last year to 12,044 and will celebrate Fan Appreciation Night at Climate Pledge Arena.

“Wednesday is going to be sad just because it’s our last game,” rookie forward Awa Fam said. “We really have a really good chemistry on the team, and that’s so nice. So, I just feel that we need to be really proud.

“Of course, there were tough games and hard moments. But we need to be really proud knowing that this is our future team.”

Following the Storm’s final practice Tuesday, Fam gave no indication that she’s anxious to return home. The 20-year-old Spaniard was one of the last players to leave the court and spent an extra 20-30 minutes working with player-development coach Marcus Tibbs during an assortment of shooting drills.

“I need to improve,” Fam said. “It’s just 2-3 things that I know I need to improve. The coaches really know their stuff and they know me. They are always supporting us.

“I’m really going to miss the support. Yes, I know I need time to rest and relax, and I’m looking forward to that believe me. … But I can’t lie, there’s a part of me that wants to stay a little longer. Everyone here just wants to get better, and we want to get better together. So, yeah, I’m sad it’s coming to an end.”