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When Cameron Brink made her Unrivaled debut, she was limited to only seven minutes because of foul trouble. In her first seven games, she never committed fewer than three fouls in a game, racking up five or four fouls on several occasions. Her last four games have looked quite different. Brink only fouled more than twice in one game.
In the Breeze’s most recent game, a win over the Vinyl, Brink only committed two fouls and racked up four big blocks. In that very game, Lisa Leslie said on the broadcast that she had been working with Brink and her teammate Dominique Malonga on staying out of foul trouble.
Learning how to block shots and not foul much could be the first step in Brink’s journey to a Defensive Player of the Year award. If Brink enters the conversation, it would alter a race that has been dominated by A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, and Alanna Smith in recent seasons.
Brink is one of the best shot blockers in the game
Cameron Brink averaged at least 2.6 blocks per game in each of her four college seasons at Stanford. As a senior, she averaged 3.7 blocks, making her the best shot blocker in her draft class.
Her ability to protect the rim quickly translated to the WNBA. She averaged 2.3 blocks per game in the fifteen contests before she tore her ACL in her rookie season. In just her second game as a pro, she recorded five blocks against the Aces. The only players who averaged more blocks per game during May of 2024 were Ezi Magbegor and A’ja Wilson. In June, Brink tied with Wilson in blocks per game and trailed Alanna Smith by a tiny margin. Brink also averaged four fouls per game, though.
Both of those numbers were way down in 2025, but Brink also only averaged 12.8 minutes, as she was still working her way back from her ACL injury.
The next season—whenever it starts—will be Brink’s first shot at a fully healthy WNBA season. Playing in Unrivaled during the offseason will definitely help her put together a career season in the W on both ends of the floor. The Sparks and fans all around the league have only gotten small glimpses of Brink’s potential in the WNBA.
If she can stay healthy and continue to block shots at a high rate while not fouling a lot, she should be a candidate for the Defensive Player of the Year award for years to come. Blocked shots always carry a lot of weight when it comes to that award, which is why bigs have always dominated the voting. The last time a wing/ guard won was in 2018 when Alana Beard was named Defensive Player of the Year for a second consecutive season.
