At this time last year, Donovan Clingan was getting ready for his sophomore season at UConn, looking to fill some big shoes in the starting lineup as Adama Sanogo‘s replacement and hoping to prove to NBA scouts that he could be a lottery pick.
Now, a year later and after a second national championship run in two years, he took the floor for his first regular season game with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Clingan played 13 minutes in the Blazers’ 139-104 loss to the Golden State Warriors. He scored his first NBA basket off of an assist from guard Kris Murray– a tough layup in traffic over Golden State’s Kevon Looney.
His best highlight of the night was a block on Looney, erasing the Warriors’ big man’s shot attempt and sending it careening of the glass to start a Blazers fast break.
The Bristol big man finished with two points, a block, a steal, and two rebounds.
Golden State Warriors guard Buddy Hield (7) drives to the basket as Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan (23) defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)
It was certainly a special night for Clingan, made even more so by the sneakers he chose for his first game– pink KD17s, the color chosen in honor of his late mother Stacey Porrini Clingan, who passed away of breast cancer in 2018 at age 42.
Clingan and the Blazers face the New Orleans Pelicans in game two on Friday (10 p.m.).
Donovan Clingan says practices at UConn were ‘definitely harder’ than they are in the NBA
Originally Published:
