Cameron Brink’s early-season flashes—like a hard stop on Caitlin Clark’s layup attempt and a burst of production—are stirring belief inside the Sparks. But the numbers from the first games are still harsh, and the bigger test is whether Brink can consistently
The Sparks’ season has had the familiar noise of a team trying to find its footing—until Cameron Brink steps in and looks like she belongs in the middle of everything.
In one practice-like moment captured on camera, Caitlin Clark paused, shifted left, and lofted a right-handed layup. Brink was looming tall. She smacked the ball out of bounds. then caught herself on camera yelling a couple of curse words before chest-bumping teammate Erica Wheeler so hard Wheeler tumbled backward.
It’s exactly the kind of intensity coach Lynne Roberts says she’s been waiting to see.
“That was quite the highlight,” Roberts said last week. “That’s what we see in practice, she’s been like that. I was just smiling. … I’m so proud of her.”
The emphasis matters because, through the first stretch, the Sparks haven’t gotten the production they were counting on—especially when it comes to Brink.
After the first game of the season, a 105-78 loss to Las Vegas, Roberts was asked about Brink playing only eight minutes, when she finished with a minus-19.
“We need Cam to produce,” Roberts said. “We need Cam to bring that defensive energy. We have so much confidence and belief in her. She’s got to get out on the floor with some confidence and do what she’s capable of doing.”
The next game brought a smaller response but still no full reset. In an 87-78 loss to Indiana, Brink contributed 11 points and five rebounds. After that performance, Roberts wanted to “end ‘the narrative’” that the 24-year-old was off to a slow start.
Then the Sparks brought Toronto Tempo into the story, and Brink delivered again—this time scoring 10 points in 16 minutes during a defeat of the Toronto Tempo.
The problem is that the Sparks are in win-now mode. and they haven’t proven—yet—that this is the version of the team that can finish games with confidence. Brink would be a cornerstone player for almost any team in the league. In her current role. she’s asked to deliver that kind of impact as a bench player. while expectations steadily rise.
“My teammates aren’t gonna trust me if I don’t believe in myself,” Brink said. “Coaches, same thing. So, you know, I’ve had a slow start, but I’m putting in the work with the coaches. They work with me every day. We watch film, shoot a little extra.”
Brink is averaging 8.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.
Her path back has been its own storyline. After the first two seasons where she had moments, Brink is now coming off the bench again after doing so last year for the first time since her freshman season at Stanford. Dearica Hamby is starting, and Nneka Ogwumike has joined the lineup.
Roberts has said she wants at least two of them on the court at all times.
Through the first four games, Brink has played 16.2 minutes per game. When she is on the court, the Sparks are minus-29 points.
Ogwumike frames the difference she sees as something more than role or minutes.
“Coming into the league. it’s interesting because a lot of times people feel like they have to do something different or more. ” Ogwumike said. “But I think one thing that she’s done is she’s really leaned into who she is. and that that level of self assurance is something that I think really plays out when she’s on the court as well.”.
Even if the season’s early numbers have been difficult, Brink’s defensive fingerprints are already there. In 38 career games, she is already 10th all-time in blocks in Sparks history. She dealt with a 13-month layoff after tearing her ACL and meniscus just 15 games into her rookie season. then was slowly re-integrated last season in 19 games.
What makes the current expectations feel so urgent is the way the Sparks talk about what Brink can be—if she stays aggressive enough, and if the chemistry catches up.
Brink’s ceiling in this season’s sixth-player role is clear to her teammates.
“What could really separate the Sparks from the rest of the league, though, would be if Brink plays to her full potential as a sixth player,” the Sparks’ internal belief is built around that idea. “There are few players in that role who can take over a game the way she can.”
Brink described what’s giving her clarity this year.
“I definitely feel like I have an understanding for just the speed of the game, the nuances and what we’re doing,” Brink said. “The playbook this year is much easier because it was the same as last year.”
For a team rebuilding, the sparks aren’t only about individual effort. The Sparks rebuild started last season with the addition of Kelsey Plum, when the team gave up the No. 2 pick to Seattle that would become Dominique Malonga. Then this offseason, they added Ogwumike, Ariel Atkins and Wheeler while trading away their other young star, Rickea Jackson.
Still, the early results have been rough: the Sparks gave up 90-plus points in three of their first four games.
Brink’s plus-minus has been among the toughest on the roster, but she’s also made important defensive plays and has 1.8 blocks per game.
“She erases a lot of mistakes out there,” Ogwumike said. “Being able to be out there and know that she has my back, and we’re looking for each other to be in good spots to do well, yeah, I’m just, I’m just happy that we’re rebuilding our chemistry early and fast.”
Brink’s style has always carried an edge. At Stanford, she was known for fouling habits. In the pros, one extra foul to work with has helped, and she’s averaged seven fouls per 36 minutes in her first two seasons.
There’s another variable now, too: the new officiating mandate to allow more freedom of movement.
For Brink, it’s a hurdle and a chance at the same time. Her path to being an elite pro hasn’t been easy for someone described as one of the most dynamic college players of the past half-decade, but this season feels essential for both Brink and the Sparks to find themselves together.
Moments like that block—like the one that knocked Clark’s shot away—are proof that the player the Sparks need is still in there.
“It’s one of those things where you’re in awe,” Ogwumike said. “But also, you know she can do that. I always tell her, go out there and release everything and be yourself. That was very much a Cam Brink play.”
Cameron Brink Los Angeles Sparks Caitlin Clark Lynne Roberts Erica Wheeler Nneka Ogwumike Dearica Hamby Kelsey Plum Ariel Atkins Rickea Jackson Dominique Malonga