Sparks ahead Cameron Brink will miss the remainder of her WNBA rookie season and the Paris Olympics after struggling a torn ACL in her left knee throughout Tuesday’s sport towards the Connecticut Solar.
Drafted No. 2 total in April’s WNBA draft out of Stanford, the 6-foot-4 Brink was driving to the basket towards the Solar when her left knee gave away. Brink limped off the court docket earlier than being carried to the locker room.
“You by no means assume it is going to occur to you,” Brink wrote in a press release on Instagram centered round the concept that what’s delayed is just not denied. “And regardless of all of the exhausting work typically it does. That is exhausting to fathom however I do know it is going to solely make me stronger. I can’t be derailed and I’ll proceed to like this life- I’m not outlined by basketball, however it’s one thing that I really like deeply and I’ll work on a regular basis to get again to it. It’s not goodbye basketball it’s simply goodbye. I’m at all times so grateful to your ideas and prayers.”
The Sparks introduced the severity of Brink’s damage Wednesday. It’s a blow to a franchise seeking to rebuild its roster with a “core 4” philosophy that features a foundational expertise like Brink, a day-one starter and defensive stalwart.
“It’s a part of the WNBA sadly,” Sparks coach Curt Miller mentioned after Tuesday’s sport. “My profession has been sprinkled with, the exception of the 2019 season, I’ve misplaced a starter to damage each single 12 months I’ve been a head coach on this league and also you simply must have the mentality of subsequent individual up and rally round it.”
Brink, 22, was averaging 7.5 factors in 22 minutes per sport in 15 profession begins for the Sparks, whose 79-70 loss Tuesday evening dropped them to 4-11 total and tenth place within the 12-team league.
Her 2.3 blocked photographs per sport rank third within the league whereas her 5.3 rebounds per sport ranked second on the Sparks who’ve missed the playoffs the previous three seasons.
Brink was anticipated to be a key participant on the four-member U.S. girls’s 3×3 workforce, which will likely be defending its gold medal from the Tokyo Olympics when the Video games start subsequent month in France.
“Our ideas are with Cameron as we want her a speedy restoration,” USA Basketball mentioned in a press release. “On account of Cam’s damage, USA Basketball will start the method of choosing an athlete to affix the 2024 USA 3×3 Ladies’s Nationwide Staff. We hope to see Cam again on the court docket and representing the crimson, white and blue quickly.”
The damage leaves the Sparks with 6-foot-7 Li Yueru because the workforce’s solely energetic heart. The 25-year-old second-year participant from China is averaging 5.1 factors and three.8 rebounds whereas taking part in 12.8 minutes per sport.
Coach Miller mentioned Yueru will possible have the chance to obtain further taking part in time with Brink sidelined.
“I’m a giant unintended penalties individual,” Miller continued. “Does an damage open the door for another person to essentially begin to blossom and acquire confidence of their profession? You take a look at my time at Connecticut, it was littered by that, the place somebody went down, another person stepped up and actually then blossomed into the professional they’re right this moment … however unintended penalties of accidents are it’s going to open the door for somebody like Li for much more minutes if that occurs to be obligatory or the case.
“The perfect groups don’t at all times win within the WNBA, the healthiest groups win and we ship nicely needs to all 11 different groups within the league to remain wholesome.”
The Sparks have been with out 6-6 ahead/heart Azurá Stevens, who has been sidelined all season after present process left arm surgical procedure in late March for an damage suffered whereas taking part in in China. The Sparks estimated Stevens can be re-evaluated 12 weeks after the surgical procedure.
The Sparks, who’re 0-4 on their seven-game highway journey, subsequent tackle the New York Liberty (12-3) on Thursday at 4 p.m.