Subscribe
Follow Us
With the midway point of the 2025 WNBA regular season approaching, one of the biggest questions surrounding the Los Angeles Sparks is when Cameron Brink will return from injury and rejoin the team’s lineup. Brink suffered a season-ending ACL injury during her rookie year and has not yet been cleared to play.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, once Cameron Brink returns from her injury, she’ll give the Sparks a potential generational defensive player in the middle. And per Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts, the hope is she will make her return sooner rather than later. Following a recent team practice, Roberts affirmed her belief that Brink could be back shortly, as per John W. Davis of The Southern California News Group.
“Hopefully we get her back before the end of this month, but we’ll see when it actually is,” Roberts said. “It’s gonna take some time, but again, I’ve been saying all season, let’s peak in August. And I think Cam provides a little bit of a boost. Not just on the court, but just kind of the confidence it brings to all of us having a player like that back.”
In addition to Roberts’ update, Brink was spotted participating in a separate 5-on-5 session with the Sparks’ male practice players, as per Davis. That’s certainly a welcome sign for Sparks fans and falls in line with the belief that she could be nearing a return.
In a possibly related move, the Sparks cut veteran center Mercedes Russell on Saturday, clearing what would have become a crowded frontcourt rotation. Russell has been the primary backup big all season behind Azurá Stevens and Mercedes Russell. But with the contract guarantee deadline coming up next week, as well as WNBA teams being able to sign players to 7-day contracts, the move to waive Russell could just be to give the team a little roster flexibility.
When Brink does return, her defensive ability is potential game-changer. Roberts is quite familiar with Brink’s exploits having coached against her in the old Pac-12 at Utah when Brink was at Stanford.
“We all need to have patience with that, she’s been out for 15 months, that’s hard to just jump in and hit the ground running where you left,” Roberts said. “Her defensive timing, she understands it, she’s elite defensively. Offensively I think she just gives us a boost for us as well.”
Last year as a rookie, Brink appeared in 15 games, all starts, at a little over 21 minutes per game. She averaged 7.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.1 steals and 2.3 blocked shots with splits of 39.8 percent shooting from the field, 32.3 percent shooting from the three-point line and 84 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Brink’s return will likely come after the All-Star Break. She was already ruled out for the team’s game against the Connecticut Sun on Sunday, and it’s unlikely she plays on Tuesday against the Washington Mystics.
