'It was easy, really': Inside Awa Fam's speedy transition from Spanish champ to Seattle Storm rookie sensation

Awa Fam achieved a lifelong dream on April 13 when she was selected No. 3 overall in the 2026 WNBA Draft by the Seattle Storm. 

But instead of making her way to the Pacific Northwest to get acclimated in a new city and prepare for her rookie season, the highest drafted Spanish player in WNBA history flew back across the Atlantic Ocean to rejoin Valencia Basket -- the Liga Feminina team she'd been playing for since she was 15. 

For the next month, Fam lived a double life. Valencia player by day, Storm player by night. When she wasn't at practice or suiting up in the LF playoffs, Fam was on Zoom calls with assistant coaches nearly 6,000 miles away in Seattle, studying the film they sent her. 

The Storm wanted to be "intentional" about connecting with Fam while she was in Spain to "help her feel some familiarity" before she arrived, Seattle coach Sonia Raman said. 

That wouldn't be until May 21, just days after Fam had helped Valencia win a fourth consecutive LF title. Three days later, she made her WNBA debut. "When she got to us in Seattle, it was a little bit of a crash course, throwing her into the fire," Raman said. 

Fam, who turned 20 last month, played 20 minutes off the bench in her first game, a 97-85 win over the Washington Mystics, scoring 10 points on 4 of 7 shooting and grabbing two rebounds. She quickly noticed the differences in style of play.

"In Spain, maybe there we play more tactical, we don't play a lot of possessions. Here it's more fast, more continuous, more fluid, more physicality, too," Fam said. "It was different. It was like, I need to be focused on Valencia, I need to finish the league and help my team there. And after I need to take my mind and be here in Seattle and help my team here."

No one would fault Fam for finding the whirlwind process overwhelming. But the youngest player in the league wasn't fazed. 

"It was easy, really," Fam said. 

That confidence has helped the 6-foot-4 Fam establish herself as one of the league's most promising young players. Since she moved into the starting lineup on June 3, Fam is averaging 11.9 points, six rebounds, 2.6 assists, 0.8 steals and 1.2 blocks on 49.7% shooting, including 38.6% from 3-point range on 4.6 attempts per game. 

For the season, Fam leads all rookies in rebounds and blocks, is sixth in scoring, eighth in 3-point percentage and 10th in assists. 

Fam has only been in Seattle for two months and has been forced to learn on the fly, but Raman has already seen significant growth. 

"On both ends of the ball, she picks things up really quickly," Raman said. "She's been a sponge." 

'She plays with such a poise'

Domestic WNBA draft prospects aren't eligible to turn pro until the year they turn 22, but international prospects are eligible the year they turn 20, which gives the latter a brief window to compete as teenagers. Few have ever done so, and fewer still have matched Fam's immediate impact. 

When Fam debuted as a 19-year-old, she was the 14th teenager in WNBA history to appear in a game, and she joined Liz Cambage as the only teenagers to score in double figures in their debut. Despite only playing nine games before turning 20 on June 17, Fam is tied for the fourth-most points ever by a teenager (90). She's also on pace to join Cambage and Storm teammate Dominique Malonga as one of five players to average double figures for a season at 20 years old or younger. 

Highest scoring WNBA seasons, age 20 or younger

Dominique Malonga

2026

20

16.1

Lauren Jackson

2001

20

15.2

Svetlana Abrosimova

2001

20

13.3

Liz Cambage

2011

19

11.5

Awa Fam

2026

20

11.2

"For such a young player, she plays with such a poise and confidence that comes natural," Storm center Stefanie Dolson said. "That's just this generation. They come in with a lot of confidence, in a good way. They know what they're good at and can make an immediate impact on the game and the city. It's been fun to watch."

"She's a very mature person," added fellow Storm rookie Flau'jae Johnson, who has formed a close bond with Fam. "She has that next-play mentality. That's something I'm trying to learn from her." 

'There's a lot of advantages on the floor that she creates'

Fam was in the running to be the No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft in large part because of her offensive versatility at her size. Not only can she score inside and out, she's a gifted and willing passer who can operate as an offensive hub. "The great thing about Awa is there's a lot of advantages on the floor that she creates," Raman said. 

Fam's efficiency marks are above league average in all four key categories: at the rim, mid-range, 3-point range and the free throw line.

Rim

63.9%

76.6%

+12.7%

Mid-range

40.4%

44.1%

+3.7%

3-Point

33.7%

36.4%

+2.7%

Free throw

78.5%

81.8%

+3.3%

"She's an incredible shooter; I don't think I knew she would shoot as well as she can," Dolson said. 

Fam is making 39.2% of her catch-and-shoot 3s, and among players 6-foot-4 or taller, only Jonquel Jones (47) has made more 3s than Fam (32).

"I'm a center, but I can play like a point forward. I need to shoot. I need to shoot, I need to open the floor," Fam said. "If I'm playing with Dom, maybe she's gonna be in the paint, so maybe I need to be out. I need to have my shot to have that confidence." 

The Storm have encouraged Fam to embrace her shooting ability, which is something she's worked hard to develop. In 22 games with Seattle, she's taken more 3s (88) than she did in 47 games with Valencia last season (82). "Thanks to my coaches, they know that I will shoot this shot, so it's just confidence and working hard," Fam said. 

But while Fam has often operated on the perimeter in order to open up the floor for Malonga and Seattle's guards, Raman wants to "get her established in the paint more and more going forward." That's no surprise when Fam scores 1.5 points per possession at the rim, which ranks second in the league among players with at least 50 rim possessions. 

Fam has smooth footwork and an array of moves on the block, but has struggled at times as a pure post-up threat due to a lack of strength against older and bigger opponents. She routinely buries smaller defenders, however, and excels in the pick-and-roll where she can use her athleticism and agility to her advantage. Her 1.185 points per possession as a roller rank sixth among players with at least 50 such possessions. 

awa fam has already estbalished herself as an elite pick-and-roll player scoring 1.5 ppp as a roller -- second among the 21 players with at least 25 pnr roller possessions -- and shooting 68.6% her athleticism, footwork and scoring versatility is so impressive pic.twitter.com/C5CvlBNWcm

— jack maloney (@jackmaloneycbs) June 30, 2026

While Fam is a versatile scoring threat, she enjoys watching Nikola Jokić and would "rather pass and get her teammates involved, which is really special from a player of her caliber," Johnson said. Raman added that Fam's playmaking ability is what has impressed her the most in her first two months in Seattle. 

"The way she sees the floor, can play-make a little bit, almost hub-like in her ability to have the ball in her hands and be on the perimeter and find her teammates coming off of pins or actions out of the corner, finding them on cuts to the rim, I think she's really talented in that area," Raman said. 

Turnovers have been an issue at times as Fam adjusts to the speed and physicality of the WNBA, but her vision and passing ability are obvious and rare for a frontcourt player. 

Fam's love for playmaking started at an early age, when she had what amounts to an epiphany in Valencia. 

"I was thinking, 'OK, I need to have a special IQ for play, I need to control the game. I need to have the ball in my hands, knowing where my teammates are, knowing that I need to pass there,'" Fam said. "I like to be the player that organizes the play. I like to have the mindset of a guard, but I'm a center." 

'I just want to keep improving'

Fam is four months younger than Sarah Strong, the 2026 Naismith Player of the Year, and four months older than Jazzy Davidson, the 2026 USBWA National Freshman of the Year. If Fam were American, she wouldn't be eligible to enter the WNBA until 2028. 

She is far from a finished product. 

"I want to just keep improving," Fam said. "I'm just here two months, so this is crazy, but I'm adapting really well to this league. I just want to keep improving, win games, help my team and that's it."

The Storm have not won many games this season. A little more than midway through the first year of their rebuild, they sit in last place at 6-22, with a .214 winning percentage that's on pace to be the second-worst in franchise history. 

But despite the record, which is a bit deceiving considering their 1-11 mark in clutch games, there's plenty of hope in Seattle. The Storm have the most exciting young core in the league, and Fam is a big part of it. 

"She's really like that," Johnson said. "She can score, she can shoot. She has so much to unravel in the game. I can't wait for the world to see it."