Former UConn Star, Trail Blazers Rookie To Miss Multiple Weeks With MCL Sprain
A former national championship center under Dan Hurley is facing his first unfortunate injury at the NBA level.
Seven-foot-two rookie center Donovan Clingan has excelled for the Portland Trail Blazers through the first 17 games of his career.
Clingan is averaging a robust 14.2 rebounds and 12.3 points per 36 minutes for Portland.
He recently broke a Trail Blazers rookie record previously held by Bill Walton by tallying a block in 16 consecutive games (Clingan is up to 17 now).
Thus far, Clingan has completely rewarded Portland for selecting him at No. 7 overall in the 2024 NBA draft.
His progress will have to take a momentary pause, however, as Clingan recovers over the next couple of weeks from a knee injury.
On Tuesday, the NBA’s official injury report stated that Clingan suffered an MCL sprain.
“Rookie center Donovan Clingan received additional imaging on the left knee which revealed a grade 2 MCL sprain,” the report said. “Clingan will be reevaluated in two weeks.”
ClutchPoints’ Jedd Pagaduan also discussed Clingan’s injury and how it have happened during Saturday's game versus the Houston Rockets.
“Clingan picked up the injury during the Blazers' 104-98 win over the Houston Rockets this past Saturday; the 20-year-old center still managed to play 29 minutes, finishing with zero points and 19 rebounds, before Portland took him out of the game presumably for matchup purposes,” Pagaduan said.
“The concern was that Clingan had already picked up a knock to his knee earlier in that game but still returned to action, and now, that decision is going to force him out for at least the next two weeks, when he'll be due for a re-evaluation.”
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Colin Keane is a contributing journalist for "UConn Huskies On SI." Born in Illinois, Colin grew up in Massachusetts as the third of four brothers. For his high school education, Colin attended St. Mark's School (Southborough, MA), where he played basketball and soccer and served as student body president. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Villanova University. Colin currently resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "UConn Huskies On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org