Women, parenthood, and the WNBA? It’s always been a bit complicated between these three. Players leave to start families, sometimes unsure if they’ll ever return, while others come back swinging harder than ever. Beneath it all, one thing is clear – the current CBA still isn’t doing enough. Yes, there have been upgrades, but the average WNBA career is just five years, and that does not exactly scream longevity.
Of course, players like DeWanna Bonner, Skylar Diggins-Smith, and Napheesa Collier have rewritten the narrative. But they’re not just thriving athletes, they’re also some of the loudest critics of how the league handles motherhood. Their success isn’t proof that the system works; it’s proof that they worked despite the system. So, now, as rising stars like Cameron Brink quietly wonder when – or if – they’ll be able to have children without cutting their careers short, the new CBA has a chance to finally answer back with a resounding “Yes, you can”.
In April, on “Straight to Cam”, Cameron Brink, who got engaged last year, got into a heartfelt conversation with Sydel Curry and NLE on parenthood. Now, both Curry and NLE have children who have given them immense happiness, and it was pretty evident from how they expressed themselves. And while Brink was definitely in awe, she also felt unsure about which path to follow.
“I don’t know when I’ll start having kids to balance like with basketball because I want to play for as long as possible and a lot of I feel like a lot of people talk about how short people’s careers are in the W like the average career span is three years but there’s a lot of women that have played up to 13 years 14 years 15 years so I want to see how long I can play but I just don’t know how to,” Brink said. So, it is clear that she wants to have a family of her own. And she made it clear again in the most recent episode, with Dearica Hamby and Sue Bird, even though the moment turned nicely awkward.
The three were discussing Breanna Stewart’s daughter, Ruby, which made Cameron Brink let out quite an abrupt statement. “I want a baby.” Hamby was having none of it, however! “Relax. Cut the camera.” The LA forward said, caught by surprise by Brink’s statement and sudden want. Cameron started to explain that she doesn’t want a kid just yet; rather, she’ll wait out the next five years. She was so caught off guard by Hamby’s reaction and questioning that Cameron Brink had a very important question of her own.
“Is that crazy?” Brink asked, and Sue Bird was quick to reassure her! “No, it’s not crazy to want a baby, it’s just the work,” the Seattle Storm legend said, and that’s more than fair. Bird went on to talk about how she might not want to have kids at the end of the day, but she still has her “eggs on ice” and advised Brink to do the same. And Brink has actually been planning on the same as she said in that April episode. After all, she believes her “main purpose is to be a mom“. Also, anyone who remembers the 2023 drama between the Aces and Dearica Hamby knows why she reacted the way she did.
When Dearica Hamby announced her second pregnancy during the Las Vegas Aces’ championship parade in 2022, things got tense between her and the team. She said they treated her unfairly because of her pregnancy, and a few months later, in January 2023, she was traded to another team, the LA Sparks, in a way that seemed shady. The WNBA actually looked into it and found that the Aces broke some rules. The league punished them by taking away their 2025 first-round draft pick and suspending their coach, Becky Hammon, for two games.
Then, in August, Hamby filed a lawsuit. She claimed that team officials made her feel like getting pregnant was a betrayal, like she wasn’t serious about her career. She even said they acted like she had promised not to get pregnant when she signed her contract. She described the whole experience as feeling “lied to, bullied, manipulated, and discriminated against.”
Despite her own experience, Hamby has pointed out that things have gotten better under the current CBA, Now, players get their full pay while on maternity leave, a two-bedroom apartment, private places to breastfeed, and even up to $60,000 in fertility, adoption, or surrogacy help, if they’re veterans. However, she wants those benefits to also cover retired athletes who put off starting families for the sake of their careers.
Anyway, let’s see what the new CBA will offer. Till then, her life with Ben Felter will keep evolving.
Cameron Brink and Ben Felter celebrate a major milestone
With a whole lot of love, patience, and a “yes in every lifetime”, Cameron Brink’s relationship with fellow Stanford alum Ben Felter has been quite a story to behold! Her knee injury has given the two a lot of time to connect, bond, and spend time together; however, they’ve been quite productive with their moments too!
We know that Brink went back to college and finally completed her degree in Communications from Stanford in December. Meanwhile, Felter, after graduating with a BS Computer Science degree, straight away joined the Master’s program at Stanford for the same.
And this week, Felter finally graduated! So, of course, Cameron Brink didn’t waste a second before congratulating her fiancé on Instagram. “My handsome man got his masters. So incredibly proud of you,” she said, sharing the special moment with all of her fans and supporters.
According to LinkedIn, Ben Felter has been working part-time with Lockheed Martin as an Autonomy/AI Research Engineer. Even though his major ended up staying the same, Felter did take the opportunity to represent Stanford’s rugby team during his postgraduate studies after rowing on the college team for 4 years.
The two have been faithfully and lovingly committed to one another for more than four years now, and are all set to walk the aisle together soon. Their relationship has been a lovely, safe space for the LA Sparks star as she battles through injuries and a fog of uncertainty surrounding her return to play. But Cameron Brink’s return is drawing nearer, and we can’t wait to see what she ends up doing in her sophomore season!
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