NBA Legend, Former LSU Teammate React After Flau’jae Johnson Surpasses Sue Bird & Lauren Jackson to Break Rookie Franchise Record

The Seattle Storm lost again on Sunday, bringing their season record to a disastrous 8-35. Yet Flau’jae Johnson once again delivered an impressive performance that fell short of securing the win. This time, however, the performance compelled the Storm to argue for Johnson winning an end-of-season award, and an NBA legend and a Toronto Tempo player seemed to agree.

Johnson, in the Storm’s 98-77 loss to the Las Vegas Aces, finished with 29 points, six rebounds, six assists, four steals, and a block. That block came from an A’ja Wilson shot, and she broke four separate Seattle Storm franchise records.

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As shared by the Seattle Storm’s Instagram page, she broke the record for most steals, field goals, three-pointers, and 25+ point games, surpassing WNBA legends Sue Bird, Lauren Jackson, and Breanna Stewart across all four records.

Of the several reactions on Seattle Storm’s post, the most notable ones came from NBA legend Isaiah Thomas and Flau’jae Johnson’s former LSU teammate and now a forward for the Tempo, Aneesah Morrow. They both liked the post, agreeing with Johnson’s case from making the 2026 All-Rookie Team.

Flau’jae Johnson is doing things in Seattle that remind us why rookie seasons matter. Subscribe for more interesting stories.

Specifically, Flau’jae Johnson’s four steals in the game saw her move her total for the season to 57 steals, taking her above Lauren Jackson’s previous record of 54. Also, by sinking five three-pointers in the game, she has now made 60 three-pointers this season, surpassing Sue Bird’s 2002 record of 57 three-pointers.

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The other two records, her 213 field goals and 25+ point games, take her above Breanna Stewart. The New York Liberty forward, during her rookie year with the Seattle Storm in 2016, made 202 field goals and registered five 25+ point games.

This is not the first time that Flau’Jae Johnson will get herself into the same conversations with these league legends and veterans this season.

In fact, just after her first two regular-season games with the franchise, her double-digit points (12) in the first game against the Valkyries and 16 against the Sun made it the fifth time a rookie has scored double figures in points in her first two regular-season games with the franchise. Prior to that, only Lauren Jackson, Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart and Semeka Randall had achieved the feat.

But since then, it’s safe to say that it has not been a great season for the Seattle Storm so far, as they currently sit last in the league standings with an 8-35 record. However, it has been quite a decent campaign for Flau’jae Johnson, who is currently averaging 14.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.3 steals per game this season.

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Also, the Storm still have one game remaining against the Dallas Wings. And even if that result follows a familiar pattern, it is another opportunity for Johnson to extend these records further.

More importantly, it is another chance for her and her young frontcourt partner Dominique Malonga, who is only 20 years old and also produced a 25-point, eight-rebound game on Sunday, to develop the partnership that many believe could define the Storm’s future.

Johnson addressed the partnership in her postgame press conference, comparing herself and Malonga to the Aces’ A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young.

“I think we’re gonna evolve into something great,” Johnson said.

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“I mean, you’re talking about two of the best players in the world. So that’s an amazing compliment. Just seeing A’ja go to work out there is just like, wow, like she’s not real. But I do feel like Dom is that calibre player, and I feel like me just being here, I’mma push her, she going to push me.”

With her performance throughout this season, Malonga has definitely shown why that belief is warranted. Like Flau’jae Johnson, the young Dominique Malonga has also established herself as a core frontcourt force for the Seattle Storm, averaging 16.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.0 steals per game, through 34 games played in the 2026 WNBA regular season.

The Seattle Storm’s current situation is undeniably bleak on the surface. But with Flau’jae Johnson breaking franchise records set by Sue Bird, Lauren Jackson, and Breanna Stewart in her debut season, and Dominique Malonga establishing herself as one of the most promising young frontcourt players in the league, the future in Seattle is definitely considerably brighter than the 2026 standings suggest.

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