Cameron Brink's Injury Timeline Gets an Update

One of the best athletes to come out of Stanford in recent years, Cameron Brink should be returning to the WNBA hardwood before long. She was selected by the Los Angeles Sparks with the second overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, right after Caitlin Clark, but she was only able to play in 15 games in her rookie campaign after a knee injury ended her season.

Recently, John W. Davis of the Long Beach Press-Telegram caught up with LA Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts, and she said that they are hopeful to have her back by the end of the month.

While July isn't even half over and the end of the month is still more than a couple of weeks away, this is a huge update for when the Sparks could get one of their stars back on the court. It's also not that long of a span in terms of games, given that there are just six more games left on the schedule in July, with All-Star Weekend scheduled for the 18th and 19th.

The Sparks play just two games next week leading into the brief break before play starts back up on July 22. You could even argue that it could only be as many as another five games missed, since the final game in July is on the 29th, and the update was technically before the end of the month. That game would be the last opportunity to reach that goal.

While how quickly she'll return to playing in games is currently the biggest question, it should also be noted that she's not likely to be back at full strength immediately. After missing 15 months, it's going to take some time to get back into the rhythm of the game and build up that endurance.

As things sit entering play on Sunday, the Sparks are 6-14 on the season, and just 3-7 in their last ten. They're also closer to the 3-17 Connecticut Sun at the bottom of the standings than they are to being in postseason position--though not by much.

The Indiana Fever currently hold the No. 8 seed in the WNBA's overall standings at 10-10, giving them a four game lead on Los Angeles as things stand now. In fact, the Golden State Valkyries and Washington Mystics (along with former Stanford teammate Kiki Iriafen) are also 10-10, and hold the sixth and seventh seeds, so the Sparks aren't too far out of being able to make a push in the second half of the season. Perhaps Brink will spark a second-half run in LA.