What Brink's injury means for the rookie, Sparks and USA 3x3 - ESPN

The worst fears about Los Angeles Sparks rookie forward Cameron Brink's knee injury were confirmed Wednesday: She suffered a torn ACL in her left knee and will miss the rest of the 2024 WNBA season and the Paris Olympics.

It's a crushing blow for Brink, the Sparks, the WNBA and USA Basketball, which must replace her on the 3x3 roster. Brink was injured in the opening minutes of the Sparks' loss Tuesday at the Connecticut Sun. The No. 2 pick in April's WNBA draft, she was off to a solid career launch with the Sparks, starting all 15 games.

Now Los Angeles — which hasn't made the playoffs since 2020 and is in what might be called a franchise refresh with longtime star Nneka Ogwumike now with the Seattle Storm — must move on without Brink. And Brink must deal with the dual disappointments of missing out on a trip to the Olympics and not being able to complete the rest of her rookie season.

The New York Liberty dealt with a similar issue in 2020 when No. 1 pick Sabrina Ionsecu suffered a season-ending ankle injury three games into her rookie season. Ionescu recovered well: She returned in 2021, was an All-Star and second-team WNBA pick last season and is part of the U.S. 5-on-5 Olympic team this year.

The outlook is still bright for Brink, although that doesn't provide much solace for her or the 4-11 Sparks right now. Here's a look at how Brink has played thus far, where the Sparks go from here this season and what Brink's future might hold.

Pelton: As expected, Brink had been one of the WNBA's top rookies, rating as a league-average player right away. I have her third among the four players from this year's draft who have performed better than replacement level in at least 100 minutes of action:

In particular, Brink has