Flau’jae Johnson Reaches Rare 2-Game WNBA Milestone Previously Achieved by Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart

In the Seattle Storm’s first season after a roster overhaul, it’s been their rookie, Flau’jae Johnson, who’s doing most of the talking so far. Arriving at the Seattle shores, Johnson was put immediately under pressure in the roster as the team was looking to move on from their veterans- Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith. And two matches into the season, the LSU alum has repaid this faith in kind, setting a record in points that only Storm’s legends like Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart have touched.

For context, both of Johnson’s regular-season games for the Storm have yielded points in double figures for the team- 12 against the Golden State Valkyries and 16 against the Connecticut Sun. This marked the fifth time a rookie has scored double figures in points in her first two regular-season games for the team. Legends like Semeka Randall, Lauren Jackson, Bird, and Stewart achieved the feat before her.

The Seattle Storm’s X handle confirmed the record on their page with an appreciative caption. “@Flaujae joins an elite list ” the caption read.

Bird achieved the feat back in 2002 when she scored 18 points against the New York Liberty in her first game for Seattle. She followed it up with 14 against the Portland Fire (the one that dissolved after 2002), making it two double-figure point games. On the other hand, Stewart did it in 2016 when she scored 23 and 14 points in her first two regular-season games against the LA Sparks and Phoenix Mercury.

And now that Johnson is curating a similar line of performance in her initial games, it’s pretty clear that she has been able to make quite a first impression in the franchise. Even before the preseason tipoff, the LSU alum had hinted that she wants to carry forward the franchise’s legacy in a similar vein to Bird and Stewart.

“Definitely Sue, Breanna, and Nneka,” she said when asked which players’ footsteps she wants to follow on the team. “When I came into the gym this morning, I looked at those banners. And I’m like, wow, look at the history. And I’m a historian. I love all types of history. So, I think it’s important to study the history and know what this means.”

Of course, that legacy is yet far from her reach for now. But her initial footing in the season has made it pretty clear that the Storm might have a generational talent at their disposal in the long run. It isn’t just a blunt assessment. We’ve seen her pull off consistent double-digit scoring during her collegiate days at LSU (recording 2000+ points across her four years).

Thus, with this type of ceiling, Johnson can establish herself as a vital player in Storm’s young core alongside Dominique Malonga and Awa Fam. Her hunger to improve on the court is already elite, and that just adds weight to the bright future she has in the team this season and the years to come.

“Leaving a different player than when I came in,” Johnson said of her only aspiration from her rookie year, just ahead of the regular season tip-off. ” I don’t want to be the same rookie. I want there to be a drastic difference between the player I am in May and the player I am whenever the season ends.”

Although Flau’jae Johnson’s 12 points in the regular-season game against the Valkyries came in a 91-80 loss, her performance against the Sun helped the team register its first win of the season. On top of her 16 points, Johnson also showcased impressive defensive work, recording 6 rebounds and 3 steals as the Storm beat the Sun 89-82.

The Seattle guard checked in the scoring quite well in the fifth minute of the first quarter. Johnson scored a three off a 24-foot running jump shot of a Natisha Hiedeman assist and scored two one-foot two-pointers within the next three minutes to hand her side an early lead in the game. And subsequently, this performance also forced the Seattle Storm coaching staff to take notice.

Flau’jae Johnson Earns a Shoulder Tap From Seattle Storm Head Coach

In either of Johnson’s two regular-season games, she didn’t lead the team in any metrics. For instance, Malonga did the heavy lifting against the Valkyries with 21 points and 8 rebounds. On the other hand, it was Lexie Brown who led the team with 17 points against the Connecticut Sun.

But in both of these games, Flau’jae Johnson has firmly stood unhinged in her own right during these initial games of her first regular season, being an engine behind these headline-grabbing performances on either end of the court. Head coach Sonia Raman heaped praise on Johnson in the post-game press conference following the win against the Sun, clearly remarking that the ceiling is still far for her rookie guard.

“She’s got great mentors, leadership, and teammates that her willing to let her to her thing, ” Raman said. “She’s going to continue to learn and figure out how to attack defenses, how to space the floor, and what the person she’s guarding likes to do…She’s just an unbelievable talent, and she’s going to show that every night, and I think her teammates are really supportive of that.”

From a team-wide perspective, the Seattle Storm is gelling quite well in this initial stretch of the season. Veterans like Natisha Hiedeman and Lexie Brown are performing quite substantially well. On the other hand, young players like Dominique Malonga and Johnson are chiming in for the team as well.

These are quite positive early signs for the franchise in this rebuilding season as the team looks to shift to a young core from a veteran-laden squad last season. For Johnson, it will definitely be a challenge to produce such numbers consistently and keep the team’s offensive end dynamic.

But with her teammates constantly rooting behind her, it isn’t a daunting task. Flau’jae Johnson and the Seattle Storm’s next challenge will be against the Toronto Tempo on Wednesday, May 13.