The WNBA is certainly in an era of expansion. As interest in the league continues to grow and television ratings follow, the league added its first of a number of planned expansion teams in 2025: the Golden State Valkyries, the league's first expansion team since the Atlanta Dream in 2008. The Toronto Tempo and a Portland-based franchise are set to begin play next season, and numerous other cities are angling for teams, including Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Nashville, Philadelphia and St. Louis.
As the league plans to add a 16th team in time for the 2028 season, time will tell which city wins out. One of the league's bright young stars would like to see a different version of expansion before the league adds more teams.
Second-year forward Cameron Brink suffered a torn ACL 15 games into her rookie season with the Los Angeles Sparks a year ago. She is expected back sometime next month, but the Sparks' early-season injury woes don't stop there, as guard Rae Burrell suffered a leg injury earlier this month that is expected to keep her out for 6–8 weeks.
As her team deals with those injuries, Brink spoke about the impact of the WNBA's 12-player roster limit during her podcast Straight to Cam.
"It's so unfortunate that rosters can only hold 12," Brink said. "Personally, I think roster sizes need to be expanded before we add any more expansion teams. Because, it's kind of crazy—12 people for a roster? It's kind of insane."
The NBA meanwhile, allows for teams to carry 15 players on the active roster as well as extra spots for two-way players who split time between the NBA and G League.
As women's basketball grows in popularity, it also produces more great players than ever before. If the league is generating enough interest to significant expand the league membership over the next few years, adding roster spots feels like a very fair request.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Cameron Brink Says WNBA Must Focus on Different Type of Expansion Before Adding Teams.
