It\u2019s the fourth quarter of a tense, close bout in Los Angeles between the hometown Sparks and the Indiana Fever. The game has serious playoff implications for both teams, so every bucket feels fraught, and it\u2019s going down to the wire. Cameron Brink, the 6ft 4in second-year Sparks center with an unmistakable Rapunzel-esque blonde braid has fouled out of the game, but you wouldn\u2019t know it from her enthusiasm on the bench. No one is clapping harder, cheering louder, for her teammates.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s fundamental to who Brink is, according to everyone I talk to around the team in their final push for the playoffs in recent weeks \u2013 the Sparks are in a battle with Seattle Storm<\/a> for the final spot. Brink is one of the brightest young stars in the W, securing a slew of endorsements (including a high-profile deal with New Balance which made her the first female basketball player<\/a> on their talent roster), but Brink is a far cry from the myopic, self-centered stereotype of a star.<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing I\u2019ve noticed about her, she\u2019s really intentional about including niche groups of people,\u201d teammate Azur\u00e1 Stevens tells me. \u201cI think that\u2019s a really cool trait that she has, with all her notoriety.\u201d Is that unusual for someone with Brink\u2019s profile, I ask? \u201cI think sometimes when people have a certain status, they don\u2019t always think of everybody. So I think for her having the status that she has and to always want everybody to feel included, fans, people in general, I think that\u2019s really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n Brink, a highly touted recruit out of Stanford who went No 2 overall in last year\u2019s WNBA draft, had a promising start to her rookie season, starting the first 15 games for the Sparks. But the hot start was cut jarringly short when she tore her ACL in mid-June<\/a> 2024, leading to a 13-month absence from the court. The forced hiatus was a curse, of course, but also something of a blessing. It allowed the now 23-year-old a moment for introspection, and time to explore some of her non-basketball interests.<\/p>\n \u201cI definitely just kind of explored a lot of areas of my life, it made me really realize how finite basketball is in the grand scheme of things,\u201d Brink tells me in Los Angeles. \u201cIt\u2019s something that I\u2019m realistically only going to do for, probably, 15 years at most. So it really kind of \u2026 Honestly, I was kind of on this spiritual journey of figuring out, you know, who I am outside of basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n Those other interests have been diverse dating back to childhood, she says. \u201cI saw myself being an artist, or someone creative,\u201d Brink tells me of her youthful aspirations, pre-basketball career. \u201cI grew up in a really loving, free household so they kind of didn\u2019t force me into anything. I loved pottery, pastels, all that kind of stuff. My parents always sent me to art camp, and I would definitely try every kind of medium; I was just super, super creative.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to a penchant for the visual arts (which has manifested, of late, as an interest in fashion<\/a>), Brink\u2019s creative streak was expressed behind the mic this year with Straight to Cam,<\/a> a podcast she co-hosts with her god-sister Sydel Curry (sister to NBA players Stephen and Seth Curry). It was an experience she relished, but one she is taking a break from in order to shift her focus. That focus? Basketball, and figuring out how to make a true impact in the world, something that has become of increasing importance to the Oregon native.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m actually taking a break from the podcast, which, it was honestly one of the best experiences of my life,\u201d she tells me. \u201cIt was just time-consuming, and I feel like I just want to pour all of my energy into basketball. I do think, in the future, I [would] love having a platform to talk about things [again]. But I think I want to move towards helping marginalized groups, working maybe more so in fashion, maybe working [for example] on shoes that fit people that aren\u2019t in the normal size range, or clothing. I think I\u2019m still really trying to figure out my niche. I love doing the podcast, I just feel like I don\u2019t need to have that kind of platform right now. I can try and do things and work behind the scenes, and really focus on the on-court stuff, and the rest can flow from there.\u201d<\/p>\n Cameron Brink is averaging 5.3 points while taking it slow on her return from a 13-month stint on the injured list. Photograph: Joe Boatman\/NBAE\/Getty Images<\/p>\n In a year of big questions and meaningful introspection, Brink has successfully \u201ckept the main thing the main thing\u201d, Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts tells me. I ask what advice she had, if any, for Brink in coming back from such a severe injury, as such a high-profile young athlete. \u201cI just told her, try to take some air out of the tires, not put so much pressure,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to come back from being out 13 months, it\u2019s not gonna come back like riding a bike. It\u2019s gonna take a bit.\u201d Roberts is impressed, she tells me, with the focus and intensity with which Brink has bounced back, with her capacity to compartmentalize and tune out the noise. \u201cShe wants to be great. And I think there\u2019s a lot more she can do, and she can make a lot of money, but she wants to be great at basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n