That was apparent prior to the Fever-Mystics when Indiana head coach Christie Sides, unprompted, sent her thoughts to Brink, Curt Miller and the Sparks franchise.
In her own media availability prior to the game, Caitlin Clark, who was roommates with Brink for Team USA at the U19 FIBA World Cup in 2019, called the injury “devastating” and offered her support to her rookie classmate as well.
“You don’t want to see anybody deal with any sort of injury and obviously an injury of that magnitude,” Clark said. “I know she’s the type of person that will be able to get through it and come through it stronger. But, yeah, it just breaks your heart. She’s such a good basketball player but an even better person. Obviously, knowing her and her being one of my friends and kind of going through this process together from where we were 17 years old and roommates on the road in Thailand and getting to share like draft weekend together or award shows our junior year of college.
“And then she was obviously having a great start to her rookie season and then seeing, obviously, something so devastating like this,” Clark continued. “I know she’ll come back stronger and I know so many people are thinking of her and praying for her. I’m sure she’s overwhelmed by the support right now and she definitely deserves it. Knowing the type of person she is, this will only make her better in the long run.”
As with so many players in the WNBA around the same age, Clark and Brink have a number of shared experiences at Team USA together. At the U19 FIBA World Cup, the pair was part of a stacked roster that also included Aliyah Boston, Paige Bueckers, Hailey Van Lith and Rhyne Howard, among others.
The pair did meet twice in the WNBA this season, once in Los Angeles, where Clark connected on a pair of clutch 3-pointers to secure a win, and once in Indianapolis, where the Sparks got revenge.
It’s always tough to see players go down with injuries as serious as this, but the outpouring of support can certainly offer at least some silver lining to an unfortunate situation.
