LOS ANGELES — Cameron Brink set an on-ball screen, rolled to the basket, caught the ball and dished it off the potential assist at Sparks practice Saturday morning.
In that moment, Brink’s agility, versatility, length and potential was on full display.
The 6-foot-4 forward, who was the team’s No. 2 pick from Stanford in the 2024 draft is getting closer to playing in her first game since last year’s season-ending torn ACL and meniscus injury that she suffered against the Connecticut Sun on June 18, 2024.
Brink did not practice with her teammates but did play in an extended half-court 5-on-5 practice session after Sparks practice with the team’s male practice players.
According to Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts, Brink could potentially return by the end of the month. In her rookie season, the defensive stalwart averaged 7.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots (second in the league behind three-time MVP A’ja Wilson).
“She’s coming back, it’s going to take time,” Roberts said. “We all need to have patience with that. She’s been out for (13 months). That’s hard to just jump in and hit the ground running where you left. It’s going to take her some time and I’m fine with that. We’re going to give her that, but I played against her for four years at Stanford. Her defensive timing, she understands it. She’s elite defensively and then offensively I think she just gives us a boost for us offensively as well.”
Brink’s return will mark the first time the Sparks have had 12 healthy players this season.
“Hopefully, we get her back by the end of this month,” Roberts continued. “We’ll see when it actually is and it’s going to take some time but I’ve been saying all season like we want to win but let’s peak in August and I think Cam provides a little bit of a boost not just on the court but just the confidence it brings to all of us having a player like that back.”
Until then, the Sparks are searching for more than a positive takeaway. They simply need a win against the last-place Sun on Sunday afternoon at Crypto.com Arena in their push toward climbing from 11th in the league standings to make the playoffs for the first time in five seasons.
It will be the first of three games between the two teams this season. The Sparks are four games outside of the WNBA’s final playoff spot nearing the All-Star break, which is the midway point of the record long 44-game regular season.
“These are huge games,” Roberts continued. “We can still make the playoffs. That’s the goal, but we’ve got to get going now. Through 20 games, I think we’ve figured out who we are and who we aren’t, but now we’re starting to get everybody back and healthy. Cam is going to be back shortly. It’s got to happen now and so the urgency needs to be felt from top down.”
The Sparks (6-14) are coming off a 91-82 home loss to the first-place Minnesota Lynx Thursday. All-Star guard Kelsey Plum had a team-high 17 points and a season-high 12 assists, but the home team was outscored by a 58-33 margin in the second and third quarters, partly due to 22 turnovers over 40 minutes.
The Sun (3-17) are coming off a 79-65 loss at the Seattle Storm on Friday. Veteran center Tina Charles (2012 WNBA MVP), who eclipsed 8,000 career points in the defeat, had 20 points and 10 rebounds for her second straight double-double.
“There’s no game in this league that you can exhale,” Plum said. “We know that they’re coming in here very determined and they can be explosive at any time. You have one of the Hall of Famers in Tina Charles. She can go for 30 on any given night.”
However, Plum said believes the new version of the team’s backcourt rotation that now includes starting point guard Julie Allemand and reserve Julie Vanloo, is trending in the right direction.
“Julie Allemand and also Julie Vanloo are pros and winners,” Plum said. “So they play with a different level of pace. They can create their own shot, create for others. It takes a lot of pressure off of me. The last couple of weeks have been tough trying to figure out how to run the offense and also score and also defend the lead guard. It’s just a lot of things and for anything, I’m the most excited that they’re back. I try to force Julie Allemand to never go to EuroBasket, so just very excited that both of them are back and really excited that Vanloo is here and she’s going to continue to help us. We want to play fast. We want to play with a lot of pace and space and so we’re going to continue to build that chemistry and it will be great.”
Vanloo, a 5-foot-8, 32-year-old second-year guard, who was recently signed after being waived by the Golden State Valkyries, was a spark off the bench, with 15 points on 5 of 7 shooting from 3-point range.
“I’m so super grateful to be here that this organization is giving me the chance,” said Vanloo, who is also a member the Belgium national team that won the EuroBasket 2025 tournament. “KP told me, just shoot the ball like when you kill us when you play Team USA.”
Roberts said she’s happy to have Vanloo’s scoring punch off the bench.
“It’s great,” Roberts explained. “It’s what we’ve been missing. That’s why I was thrilled that when the Valkyries released her and I said to our GM, let’s see if we can get in on that because I felt like the one thing we really needed was a punch off the bench and someone who can really shoot it. We’ve got good players off the bench, I’m not trying to say that but just someone that can come in and be instant offense.”
Meanwhile, the Sparks waived center Mercedes Russell after Saturday’s practice. The 6-foot-6 eight-year veteran averaged 1.7 points and 1.2 rebounds in 20 games.
SUN (3-17) AT SPARKS (6-14)
When: Sunday, 3 p.m.
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV: Spectrum SportsNet
Exclusive: Cameron Brink held her own personal half court 5 on 5 practice session after LA Sparks practice Saturday morning.
Sparks coach Lynne Roberts is hopeful Brink will return to action before the end of July. pic.twitter.com/z1FohQiYqe
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) July 12, 2025
Exclusive: LA Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts on Cameron Brink hopefully returning by the end of July and the team’s playoff push over the last 24 regular season games.
Coach Roberts said the team’s defense needs to hold opponents to about 8 less points in their pursuit to win. pic.twitter.com/FGX7M3ESM5
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) July 12, 2025