Cameron Brink Opens Up About ACL Injury Recovery Before 2025 WNBA Season

Los Angeles Sparks star Cameron Brink described her "whirlwind" ACL injury recovery process.

Jul 16, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; LA Sparks players huddle around forward Cameron Brink during the game against the Seattle Storm at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

With the second pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft the Los Angeles Sparks selected Cameron Brink in hopes of finding a brand new face of the franchise. But Brink's rookie season did not go as planned, as she went down with an ACL injury in her 15th career game last June.

It has now been eight months since her injury, and Brink opened up about her ACL rehab on her podcast Straight to Cam with Cameron Brink and Sydel Curry-Lee on Monday. She described the challenges of working her way back on the court.

“Honestly, like, it’s been a whirlwind. But I feel like now people don’t talk about it as much," Brink said. "This is the hardest part for me because I’m just finally starting to do the jumping, the running, and the cutting slightly."

.@cameronbrink22 gets real about the road to recovering from her ACL injury.

Full episode with Cam, @SydelCurryLee, and @iamkaylanicole is out now! pic.twitter.com/NDC2V7OZMP

— Straight to Cam (@straight2cam) March 24, 2025

The biggest challenge for Brink throughout her rehab has been the mental aspect. She feels as though she has to relearn the game and find her way back to becoming the athlete she used to be.

"I went on a run the other day, running for four minutes and then walking for one minute. When I tell you, I’ve never been so gassed in my life!" Brink said. "I’m like, I’m not an athlete right now. The same thing with shooting—I’m not making shots; I feel like I’m just having to relearn everything.”

Brink is known for her defensive excellence and immediately showed that in the WNBA. She averaged 2.3 blocks per game in her truncated rookie season, and throughout her career at Stanford she accumulated 3.1 rejections per game.

The Sparks, who made waves by acquiring star guard Kelsey Plum in the offseason, will expect that and more from Brink once she returns to the court. In the meantime, fans surely appreciate the young star keeping them up to date on her thoughts leading up to the 2025 WNBA season.

It still has yet to be announced if Brink will be cleared to play for the Sparks when the season begins. Los Angeles will open with a road game against the expansion Golden State Valkyries on May 16.