Cameron Brink injury update: Sparks forward expects to make season debut
Brink, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, has not played since last season when she suffered an ACL injury in the 15th game of her rookie campaign.
She previously told reporters on June 26 that she was cleared to make her return but wanted to get some more practice with the team and be fully up to speed with everything before playing.
"I'm really excited to be able to just go out there and do what I love," Brink told reporters.
There had been some indication that Brink was working her way closer to a return after she was spotted participating in parts of practice in recent weeks.
On Monday, Brink spoke with the Long Beach Press-Telegram's John W. Davis and revealed that she is hopeful of being back on the court for the team's next game.
"I don't know if I can say that, but yeah," Brink answered when asked if she planned on playing Tuesday. "It means the world. I am very excited, very humbled by this experience. It's no easy thing to come back from."
As of Monday, Brink's status was listed as out. WNBA.com previously reported she was expected to play at some point in July. The game against the Aces would be the last contest before the Sparks' August 1 game.
On July 25, Brink was listed as 'doubtful' on the Los Angeles injury report with a "left knee injury" ahead of the Sparks' road game against the New York Liberty. While she did not play in the game, it was the first time Brink had been listed as anything other than 'out' this season.
Her first game back would put her in the lineup alongside All-Star guard Kelsey Plum, who was acquired in a trade with the Las Vegas Aces before the start of the 2025 season.
The Sparks are 11-14 overall as of July 28 and in 10th place in the standings. Only the top eight teams make the playoffs, and Los Angeles sits one game behind the eighth-place Washington Mystics.
The Sparks will host the Aces on July 29 at 10 p.m. ET.
How did Cameron Brink get injured?
Brink tore the Anterior Cruciate Ligament in her left knee after she slipped while attempting to drive toward the basket during the first quarter of a game against the Connecticut Sun on June 18, 2024.
The injury cut Brink's rookie season short after just 15 games as a starter. She averaged 7.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game.
Brink was a three-time AP All-American at Stanford and was named to the first team during her senior season with the Cardinal. The Sparks selected her as the No. 2 overall pick in the first round of the 2024 WNBA Draft.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cameron Brink injury update: Sparks forward hopeful to play vs. Aces
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Seahawks left tackle Charles Cross has surgery for finger injury
RENTON, Wa. (AP) — Seattle Seahawks left tackle Charles Cross will be sidelined for the next few weeks because of surgery for a dislocated right ring finger. However coach Mike Macdonald said Thursday that Cross is expected to be ready for the season opener. Cross, 24, had been practicing with a dislocated finger and would have been able to keep playing had the injury occurred during the regular season, Macdonald said. But, with more than a month remaining until the Seahawks host the San Francisco 49ers on Sept. 7 to open the regular season, the timing was right for Cross to have surgery. 'We felt like it was a good opportunity to fix it so he didn't have to worry about it once it heals,' Macdonald said. 'So, we're looking at a couple, few weeks here. Expect him to be back before the San Francisco game." Cross, a first-round pick of the Seahawks in 2022, is entering his fourth season with the team. Seattle picked up an option for his contract for the 2026 season, which guarantees Cross $17.56 million. He has started 48 games across his Seahawks tenure and missed three games in 2023 because of a toe injury. ___ AP NFL:
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
MLB trade deadline: Orioles reportedly trade slugger Ryan O'Hearn, Ramon Laureano to Padres
One of the more coveted power bats on the free-agent market has found a new home. Baltimore Orioles slugger Ryan O'Hearn was dealt to the San Diego Padres, along with Ramon Laureano, per multiple reports. The return for Baltimore is not yet clear. O'Hearn, 31, is enjoying arguably the best season of his career. The slugging first baseman and designated hitter is slashing .284/.375/.452 with 12 home runs. That performance earned O'Hearn his first All-Star nod in July. He started the contest for the American League, going 0-for-2 in the National League's win. It has been quite a road for O'Hearn to reach this point. After an excellent rookie season with the Kansas City Royals in 2018, in which he slashed .262/.353/.597 in 44 games, O'Hearn saw his numbers crater. He hit just .211/.282/.351 over his next four seasons, and it looked like his major-league career was in jeopardy. But a 2023 trade to the Orioles resurrected his numbers. Utilized as a platoon player, O'Hearn hit .275/.329/.450 in his first two years in Baltimore, and his slugging numbers might've been better over that period if not for the Orioles' raised outfield wall in 2024. The team reverted that change for the 2025 season, and then O'Hearn's home slugging numbers took a big step forward. O'Hearn was far from the biggest name on this year's trade market. Eugenio Suarez, Josh Naylor and even Luis Robert Jr. have overshadowed O'Hearn's production in recent seasons. But of that group, only Suarez has a higher wRC+ in 2025. Because of that, O'Hearn could prove to be an underrated trade-deadline acquisition. If O'Hearn's production can carry over to the Padres, he stands to benefit quite a bit. He'll be a free agent at the end of this season and could earn himself a significant payday if he can continue to excel on a national stage. This breaking news story will be updated.
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
LeBron James, Nikola Jokić reportedly meet over $5bn upstart to rival NBA
A high-profile meeting last week in France between LeBron James, his business partner Maverick Carter and Nikola Jokić's agent Miško Ražnatović was about plans for a new $5bn international basketball league, according to a report by Front Office Sports, which cited multiple sources familiar with the matter. The proposed league, spearheaded by Carter, would feature six men's and six women's teams that travel together to eight global cities in a touring format. Inspired by LIV Golf and Formula One, the league aims to offer players equity stakes, something NBA rules currently prohibit for active athletes. Ražnatović, a powerful figure in European basketball, posted a photo of the meeting on Instagram over the weekend. The caption, tagged in Saint-Tropez, teased: 'The summer of 2025 is the perfect time to make big plans for the fall of 2026.' That photo fueled speculation about a potential team-up between James and Jokić, but sources confirmed to Front Office Sports the meeting was unrelated to the NBA. Carter began pitching the league earlier this year, with Bloomberg reporting in January that he is seeking to raise $5bn in funding. Backers already include the Singapore government, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, SC Holdings, UBS and investors such as Skype co-founder Geoff Prentice and former Facebook executive Grady Burnett. Unlike the WNBA-adjacent Unrivaled league, which allows dual participation, Carter's venture is expected to require full-time commitments, effectively ruling out NBA participation unless league rules change. The NBA, meanwhile, is pursuing its own expansion into Europe. Commissioner Adam Silver and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum met with UK prime minister Keir Starmer in London last week to discuss plans for a Europe-based NBA league in partnership with Fiba. As part of that effort, the NBA announced that the Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies will play regular-season games in Berlin and London in January 2026. EuroLeague officials have pushed back against the NBA's expansion talks. 'We said to them, like we said publicly, we don't believe that the new league is something that would help the market,' EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejūnas told the Athletic on Tuesday.
