Flau’jae Johnson has made herself indispensable as the Seattle Storm plans a new ascension.
BROOKLYN—Even compared to her hardwood contemporaries, Flau’jae Johnson‘s career has long been listed.
In addition to the countless statistics brought about by modern athlete analysis and observation, the lyrically-inclined Johnson also keeps an eye on the musical charts, such as a top 12 iTunes posting upon the February 2025 release of her first full R&B project “Flau and B.”
But the Seattle Storm shooting guard made it clear that there’s one place she never wants to see her surname again: the trade block, or even as far as the transaction ledger unless its for an extension.
“I want to end my career with the Storm,” Johnson said about her indispensability before a matchup with the New York Liberty to Ballislife this week. “They took a chance to trade up on me, so I think coming in every day, put my best foot forward. I know every game ain’t gonna be perfect. Might not make every shot, might score zero, done it before. But coming back the next day, being the best version of myself and a good teammate [is the key].”
Trade Wars
Johnson’s first professional season has been quite the career: less than an hour after name was penned on a Golden State Valkyries draft card, her original choosers sent her further north to Seattle.
In contrast to the Valkyries’ build upon last year’s expansion success, the Storm could be charitably described as cautiously stepping through the minefield that is the world without Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart. Seattle (6-27) rounds out the 15-team leaderboard, a stark contrast to Johnson’s college days where her LSU Tigers finished no worse than 10th in the final polls.
Well-known for her vocal nature with and without a beat behind her, Johnson refused to let anyone put her in a defining box during the draft process. She was quick to take up the privilege now that she’s been working through one of the more eventful WNBA rookie tours in quite some time.
“Resilient,” Johnson said in a one-word definition of her debut. “I think a lot of things have been thrown at me so quick and I’ve just been so resilient, and that’s just a that’s a nod to my work ethic, my eagerness to learn … It’s so hard sometimes. You want to do so good, you don’t want to let people down, but things happen. You’re going to fall, but can you get back up, you know what I’m saying? I think that’s the the main thing I try to tell myself.”
It’d be easy for Johnson to take an instant trade, especially a shift from a lingering contender to a group in the throes of an undeniable rebuild, personally. She instead sees it a compliment, fulfillment in her self-comparability to Kobe Bryant. The late Bryant previously fulfilled Johnson’s dream of being a one-stop wonder, spending 20 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers after hearing his name called by another team.
“I always thought I was Kobe, but it made me feel more like Kobe,” Johnson said, recalling Bryant’s move from the Charlotte Hornets to the exclusivity of the purple-and-gold during the 1996 draft process. “Kobe got traded when he got drafted … that’s my story and I like that.”
The only rookie to record multiple double-doubles so far this @WNBA season: Flau’jae Johnson. pic.twitter.com/knk6kGCnKd
— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) June 11, 2026
Jae’s D
Johnson has been one of the primary sources of hardwood sanity in Seattle, immediately living up the sky-high standards that the Bird/Stewart era brought about. At 13.9 points a game, third-best among this year’s WNBA freshmen, Johnson is one of four first-year Seattle slingers to reach such a plateau. The previous trio—Bird, Stewart, and Lauren Jackson—made solid names for themselves.
Olivia Miles may have the most fabulous freshman long-locked up but Johnson has at least surely established a residency on the team: in addition to her scoring output, she’s second among debuting women in rebounds, the runner-up in steals, and sixth in assists.
Since going fruitless in three attempts in an Independence Day defeat, Johnson is averaging 17.3 points, along with over three assists and rebounds each. Having also averaged two takeaways in the same span, she’s one of only two rookies to post such a numerically impressive two-way spanned box score since 2010, the other being the Dallas debut antics of Paige Bueckers.
With those robberies in mind, Johnson takes pride in her ability to keep box scores blank: as Seattle works through its rebuild, Johnson has been all too pleased to draw top defensive assignments, such as that of Sabrina Ionescu during a doubleheader in New York earlier this week. But the Seattle Torrent, one of the Storm’s icy roommates at Climate Pledge Arena, would perhaps be intrigued by the digits Johnson finds most intriguing.
“Plus/minus means a lot to me. That’s a great stat,” Johnson said. “I try to do things that impact the game. How is the game when I’m on the floor? Is it better or is it worse? I want to be a player to add. I’m just glad they trust me as a rookie.”
“I try to make it good. Try to make it hard for teams to start their offense. I know how important it is, that shot clock, that timing, for us. I know to be able to be a disruptor, be a gnat, be annoying. I want to be like that on the court.”
With that in mind, Seattle is 5-1 when Johnson is at least plus-10 in her favorite metric. She was he literal difference in a win over Connecticut on May 22, setting a new Seattle rookie record at plus-18 in a 77-59 final.
Flau, Fam, and Dom
With the era of Bird and Stewart gone, the future undeniably belongs to Johnson and her fellow recent draftees Awa Fam and Dominique Malonga. Fam, whose WNBA career started five picks before Johnson’s, is the only one ahead of the Bayou Bengal in rookie rebounds while Malonga brought Seattle’s new core to the mainstream with a literal slam dunk performance at the recent WNBA All-Star Game.
Despite the lack of apparent, immediate results in the win column Johnson believes it could create one of the most unique and eventful ensembles of Seattle since Frasier Crane took his father in.
“Dom Malanga, Awa Fam, Flau’jae Johnson. You know what I’m saying?” Johnson said of her vision for the Storm’s future. “Us being so young, we’ve got to grow. We’ve got to learn. I’m just trying to pour into them, they’re pouring into me, and we’re learning. We’re growing. We’re gelling together. It’s going to take some time, but when we click, we’re going to be good.”
Johnson and the Storm return to action on Saturday night when they stay in the Pacific Northwest to face the Portland Fire (5:30 p.m. PT, KOMO/NBA TV).
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
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