This year’s rookie class in the WNBA has received tons of hype, and it goes well beyond the first overall pick in Caitlin Clark.
Los Angeles Sparks forward Cameron Brink, who went right after Clark in this year’s Draft, has enjoyed a solid start to her WNBA career. Coming out of Stanford, she also had a large fan base that couldn’t wait to see what she did at the pro level.
But Brink’s mission in helping grow the game of women’s basketball goes far beyond her own platform. She wants everyone on her Sparks squad to be championed and believes the "younger white players" in the league have "privilege."
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"I could go way deeper into this, but I would just say growing the fan base to support all types of players," Brink explained to Uproxx. "I will acknowledge there’s a privilege for the younger white players of the league. That’s not always true, but there is a privilege that we have inherently, and the privilege of appearing feminine. Some of my teammates are more masculine. Some of my teammates go by they/them pronouns. I want to bring more acceptance to that and not just have people support us because of the way that we look.
"I know I can feed into that because I like to dress femininely, but that’s just me. I want everyone to be accepted — not just paid attention to because of how they look."
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Brink also discussed the narratives she’s seen going around since the beginning of regular-season play, including veterans being against the rookies. While we’ve seen instances where that appears to be the case, like Chennedy Carter’s hip-check foul on Clark, Brink doesn’t see it at all.
"The most tired narrative is that the vets are against the rookies — this old-school versus new-school narrative — and the narrative that the rookies need to be perfect," Brink said. "I feel like Clark has that the worst right now, but even I get that. She had three points the other night [against New York Liberty]. I had three points the other night [against Clark’s Indiana Fever]. We’re expected to be perfect. We were drafted to high-drafting teams coming off of losing seasons, which is fine."
Brink added that it’s a "learning process" despite many wanting these top picks to be perfect and make immediate impact.
"I feel like we learn how to tune it out, but still, it’s unrealistic, and it kind of just shows that people don’t know basketball," she said.
Brink is averaging 8.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.6 blocks per game over her eight starts with the Sparks. She’s averaging 24.6 minutes per game on the floor as well.
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