Flau’jae Johnson eager to get going in her WNBA career with Seattle after trade from Valkyries

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Flau’jae Johnson considers one of her talents to be adapting to anything that comes her way, so getting traded from Golden State to Seattle on draft night hardly threw off her rhythm during a whirlwind couple of weeks as she begins her professional career.

Now, she can't wait to get going as a WNBA rookie — and made her preseason debut in the starting lineup for the Storm in a 78-76 loss to the Valkyries on Saturday night at Chase Center.

“It's crazy, I was just walking out there like, ‘Wow, I’m in the WNBA,'” she said. “Warmups is different, it's not the same. I'm not with LSU, locker room's different, routine's different. But I'm good at adjusting so I feel like I'm doing pretty well. It's going fast, but I kind of operate well in chaos.”

Johnson received a warm ovation when introduced before the game, saying afterward how much that warm welcome meant — “That was cool, I've got a lot of love for the Bay, I love the Bay.” She appreciated the electric atmosphere, too.

“Hit some shots, talking to the crowd, that was fun,” she said. “Just being able to play my first, getting a little touch of the pro game, especially with my teammates, we've been playing each other and playing with guys so it felt good to play a different opponent.”

Johnson missed her initial two field-goal tries before a layup at the 8:32 mark of the second quarter. She finished with 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting in 23 minutes.

“I think she settled in really nicely and this is her first game as a pro,” coach Sonia Raman said. “So I thought she did a really good job of staying with it and really trying to focus on the defensive side of the ball every time down, and that's what we're going to keep talking about.”

Johnson was drafted No. 8 overall by the Valkyries on April 13 out of LSU, then had her rights sent to Seattle in exchange for the rights to forward Marta Suarez of TCU along with a 2028 second-round selection. Suarez was the first pick of the second round at No. 16 overall.

“It was amazing. It was a great time, highlight of my life,” Johnson said outside the Storm locker room before the game, noting she was as surprised as everybody else with the deal. “Yeah, for sure, definitely but I'm excited. I'm glad how things went.”

She has been leaning on Seattle's veteran players to become more comfortable at the next level, learning and communicating at every chance to familiarize herself with the team's system. It doesn't hurt there is a new head coach in Raman and many fresh faces, so everybody is figuring things out together.

“Very comforting because I'm used to that,” she said. “At LSU, we were building first year. (Coach Kim) Mulkey was in her first year with her group so it's definitely that same feeling. Everybody's learning each other. That's a great way to enter the group, so I'm blessed to be in that position.”

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

LSU guard Flau'jae Johnson poses before the WNBA basketball draft Monday, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

LSU guard Flau'jae Johnson poses before the WNBA basketball draft Monday, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

LSU guard Flau'jae Johnson walks to the stage after being selected eighth overall by the Golden State Valkyries in the first round of the WNBA basketball draft Monday, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

LSU guard Flau'jae Johnson hugs LSU coach Kim Mulkey after being selected eighth overall by the Golden State Valkyries in the first round of the WNBA basketball draft Monday, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

LSU guard Flau'jae Johnson poses with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected eighth overall by the Golden State Valkyries in the first round of the WNBA basketball draft Monday, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — An amateur pop choir that started with a couple dozen singers in a small Serbian town has found unexpected success across the country. Its motto? Anyone can sing.

While community choirs are common in other countries, they are relatively rare in Serbia. The no-stress and fun approach has attracted hundreds of people, mostly women of all ages.

Modeled after similar projects abroad, the choir is encouraging “everyone from 5 to 105” to join and sing for joy and stress relief.

Since starting out in a small town in central Serbia four years ago, Pop Hor has spread to 10 towns across the Balkan country with an ambition to grow further. There are no auditions or voice tests, and newcomers don’t have to know how to read music.

“People come as total amateurs, most of them say they have no clue about singing,” said Nenad Azanjac, who trained as a music teacher and who founded Pop Hor, or Pop Choir, with his wife.

Nevenka Bila, 72, said the choir has provided a much-needed positive contrast to the everyday reality of political tensions and pro-democracy protests in the troubled Balkan country.

“In this madness that we are living, where I spend half of my free time in the streets fighting for basic human rights, I found something that feels so good for me,” Bila said. “I discovered a new world.”

The group packs halls and venues across the country weekly to belt out popular tunes — mostly in Serbian, though sometimes they also sing songs by Croatian and Bosnian bands and singers. Though amateur, the choir often performs at festivals and events in Serbia and abroad.

“I never miss a class,” said Radmila Kozarac, a 62-year-old economist. The choir has changed her life for the better, she said, adding that she has made wonderful new friends and can’t wait for their after-class chat and coffee together.

The choir has had “a very positive effect on me, psychologically,” she said. "It is joyful, it reduces stress.”

Music is known for positive neurobiological and psychological effects, psychologist and Singidunum University professor Aleksandra Djuric said. In a group, she added, “we release the energy together, cortisol (levels) come down and positive hormones rise out of union and happiness.”

“I keep telling my students that we can’t be exposed on a daily basis to information, to be bombarded by information and follow everything all the time,” Djuric said. “We need to find a space to calm down, relax and connect.”

Serbia endured years of wars, international sanctions and economic crisis in the 1990s. The country remains politically divided and struggles economically. Youth-led protests against populist President Aleksandar Vucic erupted in 2024 over a train station tragedy blamed on widespread negligence and corruption in big state-run infrastructure projects.

Azanjac said many people have joined his choir after their therapists recommended singing as an anti-stress activity. They “find a sense of belonging here, they enjoy it,” he added, describing a ”feeling of togetherness."

“Singing comes second, socializing comes first," Azanjac said.

In total, some 2,000 people have sung with Pop Hor since it started in the town of Gornji Milanovac in 2022. Azanjac said he's not stopping there.

The plan is “to have the whole region sing," he said.

Choir members perform a song during a practice in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Choir members perform a song during a practice in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Choir members perform a song during a practice in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Nenad Azanjac, founder of Pop Choir, leads a song during a practice in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Choir members perform a song during a practice in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)