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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u201cDell and Sonya really instilled this love of the sport in her,\u201d Greg Brink says. \u201cThat\u2019s when the competitive juices really started with her, when she saw how the Curry family was engaged in the sport. That relationship has meant everything from a basketball perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Had it not been for the Currys, it\u2019s possible that Cam would\u2019ve remained the self-described \u201cgoofy\u201d kid who was more interested in art than basketball. But at the Currys\u2019 urging, she came out for one of Dell\u2019s youth camps, and eventually joined school and club teams. Her mom says middle school was when Cam made the jump from disinterested kid to potential star. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was really amazing to watch how she went from zero skills to just being so competitive that it drove her development,\u201d Michelle Bain-Brink says. \u201cFrom sixth grade to eighth grade it really was a rapid transition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among Michelle\u2019s clearest memories from that time came when Cam was in seventh grade, playing the post in a practice scrimmage. \u201cShe started to get frustrated\u2014she hated waiting for the ball to be passed into her,\u201d Michelle recalls. \u201cSo all of a sudden she got a rebound and went coast to coast. Multiple times. It was like, Who is this kid?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everybody knows who that kid is now: a McDonald\u2019s All-American, a two-time state Player of the Year, and a two-time gold medalist after helping USA Basketball\u2019s 2018 FIBA U17 and 2019 FIBA U19 teams to World Cup titles. She\u2019s done it by rapidly expanding her skill set and range, modeling her game on some of the WNBA\u2019s very best. \u201cBreanna Stewart is just so amazing, and I feel like we have a lot of similarities,\u201d Cam says. \u201cElena Delle Donne, too\u2014pretty much any versatile 1 through 5 player.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her dad says Cam has always known what kind of player she wants to be. \u201cWhen she was young and people would ask her what position she played, she would always respond, \u2018I play all five,\u2019\u201d Greg says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A combination of hard work and a relentless competitive streak has turned that vision into undeniable reality. \u201cShe is incredibly competitive\u2014she has this love for the game, and she absolutely hates to lose,\u201d Greg says. \u201cShe just wants to kill you. It\u2019s a little scary sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once she wraps up her prep career, Cam will take that lethal game to Stanford, where conveniently she\u2019ll be just down the road from Stephen and his family. Chef Curry is happy to help Cam tweak her ever-improving jump shot, so don\u2019t be surprised if she makes the occasional drive over to her bro\u2019s house for some work. \u201cHe\u2019s a good resource for me,\u201d Cam understates. \u201cI\u2019m sure we\u2019ll get some shots up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Size, a killer instinct, and maybe the greatest shooter of all time helping her fine-tune her shot? Cameron Brink really might not be fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ryan Jones is a Contributing Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter at @thefarmerjones<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.slamonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/brink4.jpg\")
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