Former Stanford Cardinal star Cameron Brink is finally in the pros after the Los Angeles Sparks selected her second overall during Monday night's 2024 WNBA Draft. She likely would have been chosen No. 1 if it wasn't for Iowa Hawkeyes product Caitlin Clark being in the same draft class.
In any case, Brink has achieved her dream of reaching the WNBA, which seemed like something she was always destined to accomplish.
Speaking of which, a nearly three-decade-old pair of photos of Cameron Brink's mother, Michelle Bain-Brink with former WNBA star Dawn Staley has been making the rounds of the internet.
Markeshia A. Grant initially shared the photos around the time of the 2024 WNBA Draft. So far, the post has garnered over 7,900 likes on X and more than a thousand reposts.
“Ya’ll remember Cameron Brink mentioning that her mother Michelle Bain-Brink was on Coach Staley’s Nike shoe product team? Well, she was the Product Manager! Raye Pond, a former Nike exec and marketing legend gave me permission to share these photos. 🥹 Basketball is the gift that keeps on giving!”
Ya’ll remember Cameron Brink mentioning that her mother Michelle Bain-Brink was on Coach Staley’s Nike shoe product team? Well, she was the Product Manager!
Raye Pond, a former Nike exec and marketing legend gave me permission to share these photos. 🥹
Basketball is the gift… pic.twitter.com/gDJmJ1fnFw
— Markeshia A. Grant, M. Ed (@savvyfive) April 15, 2024
Staley played in the WNBA from 1999 to 2006 and spent the majority of her career with the Charlotte Sting, who selected her in the first round as the ninth overall in the 1999 draft. Staley, currently the head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks, also was one of the three WNBA stars with signature shoes in the 1990s.
The other two were Sheryl Swoopes and Lisa Leslie, who got their deals first before Nike rolled out the Nike Air Zoom S5 in partnership with Staley. That apparently was the shoe that had Cameron Brink's mother working closely with Staley, who just steered the Gamecocks to a national title victory in the 2024 edition of the NCAA Tournament.
Cameron Brink's WNBA outlook with the Sparks
It is still too early to tell what kind of career exactly Brink will have in the WNBA, particularly with the Sparks, but it's perhaps fair to expect her to have a good one in her rookie campaign. Brink also knows she's still got plenty of things to learn to become successful in this new chapter of her basketball career, and there's no shortage of desire on her end to get better at her craft.
“This is a nerve-racking environment, but I’m so proud of all of us who are here today,” Brink said during the draft (h/t Steve Galluzzo of the Los Angeles Times). “It takes a village, and I’ll keep leaning on all the people in my life,” added Brink. “My passion is reignited being here.”
The Sparks have not stepped foot in the WNBA Playoffs for years now. Los Angeles' last postseason appearance happened in 2020 when Derek Fisher still coached the team.
Since then, they have won just a total of 54 games against 66 losses throughout three seasons. In the 2023 WNBA campaign, the Sparks went just 17-23, leading to a high pick in the draft.
In Cameron Brink, the Sparks have an incredibly talented defensive asset. Brink won the 2024 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year three years in a row from 2022 to 2024. During her four-year stint with the Cardinal, Brink averaged 17.7 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks through 125 games.
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