The night before the 2026 WNBA Draft, Flau'jae Johnson stood in a Manhattan venue surrounded by her entire support system. Her grandmothers, her brothers, her people. She wore black latex from head to toe, full makeup, ready for what was coming. What she didn't expect was the surprise waiting upstairs: a rotary phone where family members had been leaving voicemails throughout the evening, a gift from AT&T as part of their coverage of her pre-draft moment.
The energy was thick with anticipation. Johnson described the feeling as "anxious excitement," comparing it to walking a red carpet at an award show. She'd already begun meeting other incoming draftees, building the relationships that would define her first season in the league. But the real draw, she said, was having her family all in one place at once. "We only really get together at family reunions," she explained. "So having everybody together right now? I love it."
What stood out in conversation was how grounded she remained despite the magnitude of the moment. Asked about recovery and self-care off the court, Johnson didn't hesitate. Compression boots from Therabody were non-negotiable. But equally important were the days off, the deliberate breaks from the intensity of basketball that kept her sane. "When you're playing basketball, you can be so engulfed in it," she said. "You really gotta take your time and do something else or you're gonna lose your mind."
Her skincare routine was refreshingly simple: e.l.f. makeup, occasional face washing, and something far more meaningful. During her final season at LSU, her grandmother Pansy had come to her house and they made body butters together from scratch. Organic. Handmade. Lavender, cinnamon, peppermint, and unscented versions, all with cocoa and shea butter bases. It was the kind of thing her grandmother wanted for her skin, for her glow, and it had become a ritual that mattered.
When asked about the rotary phone messages, Johnson's perspective shifted to something deeper. She was thinking about the draft weekend not just as her own milestone, but as a moment her family would carry forever. "Having my family here, what they're going to say... it's a type of memory that lasts forever," she said. She understood, finally, how big this actually was.
The next day, Johnson was drafted 8th overall by the Golden State Valkyries. Within the hour, she was traded to the Seattle Storm. Her first regular season game came quickly after, at Climate Pledge Arena, facing off against the team that had originally called her name.
Author Jessica Williams: "What lingers from that night isn't the latex or the glamour, but how Johnson kept her head down and her family close on the edge of everything changing."
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