Donovan Clingan Sits Down with Brooke Olzendam | Portland Trail Blazers

Donovan Clingan Sits Down with Brooke Olzendam | Portland Trail Blazers

Donovan first of all congratulations and welcome to Portland I mean how crazy has this whole experience been for you it’s been great um you know I’m really excited to be here excited to get to work you I’m just very very blessed and grateful that you know Portland took the chance on me and I’m going to give everything I got not a lot of people get the opportunity to be drafted at all let alone in the top 10 what was it like to hear your name it was a great feeling um you I put a lot of hard work in to get to this point you know a lot of ups and downs throughout my career my life and you know to hear my name called the other night was you know something I remember for the rest of my life you know it’s lifechanging and you know I’m just extremely blessed to be here and right after you heard your name called you mentioned of course your mother Stacy who passed away in 2018 you said you felt her looking down on you so very proud of you how do you honor her every day um you know just giving everything I got you know just wake up every day no matter how sore how tired I am just being able to go out there and you know just try to find ways to get better find ways to get stronger you know and I just try to give everything I have you know for her you know I know she you know she gave everything she had especially when she was sick going through treatments and stuff so you know there’s there’s no excuses for me and you know I’m just just trying to make her proud really how did she influence you basketball-wise um you know she made me you know want to play basketball she made me want to be great um she she just always pushed me to be the best version of myself be the best player I can be uh when she passed I just wanted to find a way to represent her in the right way find a way to make her proud and I felt like basketball was was the option you’re definitely doing that and also making your father proud who was here uh that hug after your name got called I I could tell that’s a special hug that was a good one what was that moment like for you guys it was it was special you know he he’s went through a lot too you know losing his wife having to raise two kids is nothing that’s you know easy as a father um you know so to share that moment with him after all the work he put in the past two years and everything he’s done for me and my sister you know it was special and you that was that was a night I remember forever just cuz you know the people I had there with me the you know my family all my friends you know it was it was real special for me and I mean it’s safe to say that winning uh is your middle name your junior year didn’t lose a game in high school senior year you won the State title go on to back-to-back championships at Yukon how can you use your winning mentality here in the NBA and for the Portland Trailblazers yeah just always giving everything I have and always finding you know what it takes to win you know that’s something about me is you know I don’t care about the stats I don’t care about you know all the accomplishments you know individually I care about you know the team and all the recognition the team gets because you know that’s how you win championships you know you you win championships as a team not as a single player and you know I just want to come in and learn every day be a great teammate be you know great player for that you know coach wants to coach every day and you know I’m just I’m excited to get to work you just mentioned your new head coach chony BBS big defensive guy loves it so he’s pretty pumped about you joining the team defensively how would you describe your game yeah I mean I feel like a you know Elite rim protector defend the rim at a high level you know I’m very lengthy and active in the ball screen game big Communicator always talking out see and stuff before it happens you know and I’m just trying to make the right play I’m going to you know make the extra effort plays and defensively I’m all over and you seem like a very positive person in general so I guess how would you describe yourself as a person yeah very outgoing you know very energetic friendly you know I’m I’m looking to build relationships with everyone you know especially my teammates everyone in the building the organization I’ll get along with everyone you know what I mean so you know I’m always the guy trying to bring people together you know and I’m just trying to win you know that’s what it comes down to and do you have like a first memory of when you perhaps started playing basketball or when you knew that this would be a passion of yours uh yeah I mean if feel like in eth grade freshman year high school when I started to get taller and started to really develop and work on my game you know I really started to fall in love with it and you know I just wanted to keep getting better and try to you know do great things I mentioned all the accolades that you have one whether it’s you or as a team but it’s I know it’s hard but when you look back is there a special memory or something that in your basketball career that is really stuck with you and you’re most proud of it’s got to be back toback titles I mean that’s you know to win one like the chances of winning one is you extremely slim but to do it you know back to back is something really special you know just to sustain that that level of play that level of intensity the level of you know just the high level of play where you can consistently win and you know no matter if someone has a bad night your team’s still going to win you know so you know it was a special two years for me and you know those were two of the best moments of my life and obviously you had and still have a very special relationship with Coach Hurley what is he saying to you as you transition from college to the NBA yeah um you know he’s he’s my biggest supporter um you know he’s just just always he just keeps telling me be coachable be ready to learn um you know it’s not going to be easy and you know it’s going to take time to adjust but he prepared me you know better than I feel like some other college kids are going to come out into the NBA just because of the way that we practice every day the way we went about things the you know just the way his style was prepared me for you know this next level I will say you know I was at the draft party at Moda Center when you were being drafted by the Trailblazers at number seven and fans were there and everyone the place was absolutely packed when your name was called I’m telling you as someone who was there and hosted it everyone was over the moon very ecstatic and also very excited because you are winner but also you bring a lot of size and we mentioned earlier focus on defense but how do do you use your size to your advantage and how do you think that will translate to the league um you know not too many 72 guys out there um you know with the length that I have you know and just at times you know the Speed and Agility and the quickness that I have um you know I so I feel like in the NBA just being able to switch in the ball screen game being able to protect the rim at a high level you know and just being a great communicator you know that’s one thing about defense is communicating at a high level and so you know your guards really can’t see what’s going on behind them so you know communicating and you know I just want to have an impact I want to be you know forceful I way what has Joe Cronin said to you throughout this process we’ve talk a lot about chony but I know you were having conversations with Joe often yeah um you know just say he’s a big fan um you know he really thinks that I could have a great fit here with the way that you know I play defensively you know the teammate I am the the energy I have and you know how badly I want to win I feel like it’s something that really caught his attention um you know he’s a great guy and you know I’m really excited to to work with him that’s kind of the most intriguing part to you joining this young trebl lasers team because there is a lot of Youth obviously the goal is to win championships down the road it’s a special time right now as they look to rebuild and get better how do you feel like you can add to it um you know just like you said you know just the winning the competitiveness in me um you know the IQ I feel like my IQ is off the charge just the way I see basketball how I you know see the game and you know see stuff before it happens and you know I feel like I have a lot of potential and you know my jump shot my offensive game my defensive game of you know just every day every year just keep getting better keep growing keep learning and you know with the young Squad that we have it’s you know we have the potential to do something really special coming up a player or a few players that you’re really looking forward to learn from and play alongside yeah you know scoot I feel like scoot as a young guard is you know really really special you know Shaden sharp is you know it’s one of a kind um you know and I feel like I’m really excited to learn from Deandre and just the way that you know he’s been in the league for a while he’s learned so much he’s played along so many great bigs and you know I’m I’m I’m really excited to get to work and learn you seem very even keeled you know well balanced I’m sure that a lot of that comes from your coaches and your family what do You’ like to do when you’re not playing basketball it’s not on the docket you’re not going to practice you don’t have a game what do you like to do I I like to fish you know I enjoy fishing um you know just to get away get my mind away uh it’s peaceful and you know it’s just something since I was a little kid that I’ve always loved doing so fishing probably I’m guessing in Connecticut very different fishing here in the Pacific Northwest I have some people I can get you in touch with you can figure all that I’ve been scoping out you got some spots I’ve been scoping out awesome some goals that you have off the top of your head for this season maybe the next couple Seasons yeah um you know I just I want to be a great teammate that’s number one you know I want to be someone that everyone wants to play with you know someone that every coach wants to coach every single day um you know I just I want to win you I want to impact winning you know for me it’s not you know these individual accolades it’s whatever I could do for my team so now we know that you’re going with the number 23 with the Blazers can you take us through how you decided on that number yeah um you know all the way growing up in you know Elementary Middle School I was number 23 my mom passed away she when she played basketball she was number 32 so when she passed away I switched over to 32 as a way to you know repres Zer on the floor and that’s you know I felt a close connection and then you know Bill Wallin number you know 3 has 32 retired and so I saw 23 was open and I thought it was time to take it back to the old days that’s wonderful thank you so much for sharing that with us I’m not sure exactly what you’ve heard about the Portland Trailblazer fan base but they are extremely loyal they are passionate they’re very special groups for me especially I’ve worked here for a long time and they care so much about the team the community and the city what are some things maybe some offthe wall things you want them to know about you I don’t know I mean pretty sure a lot of people know my nicknames cling Kong we did look that up y so would we like to stick with clink Kong are you open to other ideas I mean I wouldn’t mind sticking with clink Kong but I mean if there’s other ideas I’m open to hear okay I’ll spread the word let’s go thank you welcome appreciate it thank you

Portland’s newest addition spends some time with Trail Blazers Courtside Reporter Brooke Olzendam.

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