This year’s WNBA draft may go down as one of the most important ones for the league. Blessed with great young talent like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Kamilla Cardoso, this star student draft has coincided with a huge boom in WNBA viewership. Cameron Brink is another marquee draftee, and nothing encapsulates the hype around this draft class than Jimmy Butler pulling up to an LA Sparks game in the crypto.com Arena, supporting the Stanford Rookie.
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The Los Angeles Sparks hosted the Dallas Wings and dug their heels in to clinch their third victory of the season. LA is always associated with having big names sitting courtside, and today was no different, with the Miami Heat forward donning the #22 in support of Brink.
In a hard-fought battle, the Sparks managed to come out on top as they locked down the Wings in the fourth, only allowing 9 points in the entire quarter. Brink addressed the fans and a few people while she was walking off from the court.
As she was about to walk toward the tunnel, the rookie saw Jimmy Butler standing there, rocking her away jersey as a sign of support and respect. The two went on to hug each other and exchange a few words before Brink headed to the locker room.
Cameron Brink x Jimmy Butler. ✊
(via @WomensHoops_USA)
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) June 8, 2024
It was a special moment for fans as well as for the WNBA as well. Over the years, many have noticed how NBA players are rarely seen attending WNBA games whereas that hasn’t been the case when the two sides inter-switch with one another.
So, for an NBA star to pull up to a WNBA game to publicly express his support for a WNBA rookie may go on to change the trend of stars from the NBA coming to more women’s basketball games.
Jimmy Butler ended up linking with Cameron Brink days after her video on ESPN’s official YouTube channel garnered attention where the Stanford product chose one out of two players she liked or felt was better than the other.
The 22-year-old guard went on to pick Jimmy Butler over San Antonio Spurs rookie, Victor Wembanyama. Brink stated that she loved Jimmy as a player and went on to pick the All-Star forward over the likes of Jayson Tatum, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Damian Lillard, and Devin Booker.
It was Kevin Durant who ended up dethroning Jimmy for Cameron as she continued to choose her favorite player out of the two choices she was given. But it may be safe to assume that Butler might’ve come across the video and might’ve wanted to return the favor.
