This season was supposed to be a special one for the Los Angeles Sparks. After narrowly missing the playoffs last year, bringing back Nneka Ogwumike and re-signing Kelsey Plum gave the team hope. Instead, the Sparks are out of playoff contention, with Plum already traded away. And as if another disappointing season wasn’t enough, the Sparks suffered another setback against the NY Liberty, with Cameron Brink forced to leave the game after suffering an injury and needing help to get off the court.

The incident occurred during the sixth minute of the fourth quarter. As shared by espnW on X, the footage showed New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart driving toward the basket with Brink defending her and preventing her from getting to the rim. However, Stewart then appeared to shoulder-bump Brink, who took the contact directly to her chest.

The resulting collision from the play saw Breanna Stewart still proceeding to make the shot, but she was called for an offensive foul. Cameron Brink, on the other hand, immediately doubled over on the floor in intense pain, holding her right rib area. She in fact remained on the floor for several minutes before she was eventually helped to her feet and assisted to the locker room by team personnel with a towel over her head, clearly struggling to move.

It’s also worth noting that the blow to the chest wasn’t the only physical blow Brink absorbed on the night. She also took a hard hit to the head after colliding with teammate Rae Burrell earlier in the game.

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Before that point in the game, Cameron Brink had played 19 minutes and delivered nine points, seven rebounds, two assists, three blocks, and a steal. The entire Sparks team was also putting together a massive 21-0 run to fight back from a 28-point deficit.

Unfortunately, the Sparks couldn’t complete the comeback, eventually falling 85-81 for their third straight loss and 10th defeat in their last 12 games. Brink’s absence may have made the task even more difficult as Los Angeles attempted what would have been the largest comeback in WNBA history.

Following the game, head coach Lynne Roberts did not provide a timeline for Brink’s return but confirmed that she was dealing with a rib injury.

“Cam’s getting evaluated right now. She took a brutal hit to the ribs. The docs are looking at her right now. That’s all I know right now,” Roberts said, per Justin Russo.

The latest injury is another setback in what has already been a difficult start to Brink’s professional career since she was drafted No. 2 overall in 2024 behind Caitlin Clark. Just 15 games into her rookie campaign, she suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), which required surgery and ended her rookie season.

Even this year, before this incident, Brink sprained her ankle on June 15, which cost her a month’s worth of games.

“It’s a good ankle sprain. I don’t anticipate her being back (soon),” head coach Lynne Roberts told reporters a couple of days after she picked up the injury, and Brink finally returned to the court on July 15 against the Minnesota Lynx.

This latest injury setback couldn’t have come at a worse possible moment for Brink, as she was finally starting to find her groove since returning from that ankle injury.

As per Sports Illustrated’s Grant Young, Brink was averaging 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game over her past five contests, compared to 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game in her first five games back from the ankle sprain.

For someone who has struggled to find a rhythm throughout her professional career, this finally looked like the stretch that showed the Sparks were right to invest in her. But once again, that decision could now come under question.

Did the Sparks Do the Right Thing by Showing Faith in Brink?

The writing had been on the wall for a while with this team. The Sparks hadn’t had a winning season since 2020, and they knew simply keeping Plum wouldn’t be enough to change their fortunes. So, they made the difficult decision to move on from her.

In doing so, they landed two draft picks, one of which could be a lottery pick with the Mercury unlikely to qualify, along with a promising young player in Monique Akoa Makani. It’s clear that the Sparks are looking to build around their young core moving forward, especially with plans for a new $150 million training facility scheduled to open in 2027.

There were trade rumors surrounding Cameron Brink ahead of the trade deadline, with both the Toronto Tempo and Connecticut Sun reportedly making offers for the former Stanford star. However, the Sparks firmly rejected both proposals, making their intentions clear that they see Brink as part of their plans for the future.

And there’s plenty of upside to keeping Brink. Despite the Sparks star playing just 59 of a possible 117 games, per Sporting News, she is averaging a career-high in points while also putting up 4.9 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in just 18 minutes per game. Those numbers offer a glimpse of Brink’s potential and explain why Los Angeles continues to view her as a key part of its future.

Add to that the fact that the Sparks will likely have two lottery picks in the upcoming draft. If they can move up the board and put themselves in a position to land JuJu Watkins, the prospect of Watkins and Brink playing alongside each other could be incredibly intriguing.

That said, even Brink knows this period is more or less an audition for her to prove to the Sparks that she is worth investing in for the future.

That becomes even more important with Farhan Zaidi, special advisor to team owner Mark Walter, making it clear that the franchise is open to anything that can help make the team successful.

“We pushed in a lot of chips this year, and we had good reason to do that, but the reality is it hasn’t gone as we’d hoped or expected,” Zaidi told the Times on July 29. “Now we have to be open for anything. Everything has to be on the table for us.”

If the injury proves to be serious, it could effectively mark the final chapter of Cameron Brink’s time in Los Angeles. But if she can return and continue showing the form she displayed over her last five games, there’s still a strong chance the Sparks get the return they hoped for from their investment in her.