The No. 7 overall pick in June’s NBA Draft, 7-foot-2 Donovan Clingan is already doing things we don’t usually see from first-year big men. He’s blocked at least one shot in his first 17 career games, which only three other players in history have done — they all happen to be Hall of Famers (Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O’Neal and Pau Gasol … not to mention he just passed Michael Jordan). But in Saturday night’s 104-98 win over the Houston Rockets, Clingan etched his name into the annals of historically bizarre NBA stat lines.
Drawing the start in place of the injured Deandre Ayton, Clingan pulled down a career-best 19 rebounds … without scoring a single point. He’s the first player to go scoreless with at least 19 rebounds since Omer Asik in November of 2012, per Stathead. Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman did it seven times over the course of his career, once recording a zero-point, 28-rebound game with the San Antonio Spurs.
Clingan’s feat was all the more impressive, however, because it came in just 25 minutes of action. The last player to pull down at least 19 rebounds in 25 or fewer minutes was Steven Adams in 2022. The Blazers rookie added three blocks, one steal and one assist to his extremely rare statistical evening. In the locker room afterward, Clingan’s teammates showered him with chants of “19” from every direction.
“It feels good,” Clingan said of the praise from his teammates. “I’m working hard and just trying to help my team win. So if that’s what it does, that’s what it does.”
The UConn product has put up a solid rookie campaign with averages of 5.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in just 17 minutes per game, recording a career-high eight blocks just over a week ago against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The injury to Ayton and load management for fellow big Robert Williams has led to increased playing time for Clingan, who has taken full advantage by averaging 7.7 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.2 blocks in his last six games — all starts — in which the Blazers have gone 4-2.
