Star rookie Cameron Brink suffered a torn ACL in her left knee Tuesday night vs. the Connecticut Sun the team announced Wednesday afternoon.
The LA Sparks 2nd overall draft pick fell awkwardly while driving to the basket in her team’s 79-70 loss after taking a bump from Brionna Jones. Brink remained down momentarily before requiring assistance to get back to the locker room.
The 22 year old took to social media after the announcement to thank fans for their support. “You never think it will happen to you,” Brink said on her Instagram account. “And despite all the hard work sometimes it does. This is hard to fathom but I know it will only make me stronger. I will not be derailed and I will continue to love this life – I’m not defined by basketball, but it is something that I love deeply and I will work everyday to get back to it. It’s not goodbye basketball, it’s just see you later. I’m always so thankful for your thoughts and prayers.”
Prior to the injury, the former Stanford standout was averaging 7.5pts/5.3reb/1.7ast/2.3blk per game. Brink entered Tuesday’s contest in 3rd place across the WNBA in terms of blocks per game trailing only A’ja Wilson and Ezi Magbegor.
The blow is a significant one not only to the Sparks who sit in 10th place at 4-11 on the season, but also to USA basketball as well. Brink was named the MVP of the FIBA 3×3 World Cup in 2023, and was preparing to represent her country at this summer’s Olympic Games in the event as well.
While both USA Basketball and the Sparks have both elected to reserve their comments for a later date, it’s safe to say that both groups will need to plan for a summer without the 6’4″ forward.
Photo: John Mac. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.