Los Angeles Sparks rookie Cameron Brink is taken to the locker room after suffering a knee injury.
Brink exited just minutes into the Sparks' matchup against the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday. With the Sun leading 9-5 with 6:23 remaining in the first quarter, Brink was driving to the basket against Sun forward Brionna Jones when she put her foot awkwardly and fell to the floor in pain. Brink immediately grabbed her left knee and struggled to put any weight on it. She was then carried back to the locker room by team staff.
The Sparks later confirmed that Brink had suffered a knee injury and was out for the remainder of the contest, which the Sun won 79–70.
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It's been a long slog for Brink this year. The 22-year-old finished her collegiate career at Stanford in March, winning Pac-12 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors while making it to the Sweet 16. Brink was selected by the Sparks with the No. 2 overall pick of the 2024 WNBA Draft in April and made her WNBA debut a month later in May. She is averaging 8.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 14 career games, and is the league leader in blocks per game (2.4), trailing only the Seattle Storm's Ezie Magbegor (2.8) and the Las Vegas Aces' A'ja Wilson (2.5).
Her summer vacation is expected to be long. Brink was named to the U.S. women's 3×3 team at the Paris Olympics along with college All-American Hailey Van Lith, 2022 WNBA Rookie of the Year Rhyne Howard of the Atlanta Dream and former Tennessee star Sierra Burdick.