Branden Carlson is a newcomer to the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers this season, having played his first two seasons in the league with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Last week, Carlson was interviewed scrum style after a Blazers training camp practice and was initially asked basketball-related questions before one reporter piped up and said, "I'm kind of an idiot. Can you describe what you do on a mission and what you did specifically on yours?"
Carlson is from Utah and served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in England in between going to Bingham High and the University of Utah.
The 7-foot, 220-pound Carlson explained that for two years, "I'm just out there spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, taking service opportunities where I can get them and I don't play basketball for those two years."
Carlson estimated that from 2017-2019 when he was serving, he touched a basketball "maybe a dozen times."
The reporter asked if it was difficult to not play for that long, given that Carlson surely had aspirations to play professionally. Carlson acknowledged that it was and that he was very out of shape when he returned to the court at Utah.
"It was tough to get your legs back and kind of the confidence and took a while to find a little bit of rhythm, but I mean, (the mission) was a great opportunity. The mission, I think I learned a lot, I grew a lot (of) maturity. I don't think I'm here today without having gone there."
Carlson is becoming more established in the NBA and became a pleasant surprise after arriving in the league. He was a star at Utah after his mission, garnering first-team All-Pac-12 honors twice and becoming Utah's all-time leader in blocked shots, but he wasn't really on the NBA radar coming out of school.
He spent some time on a two-way contract with the Raptors 905, the Toronto Raptors' NBA G League affiliate, before joining the Thunder organization in November 2024. During the 2024-25 season, he split time as a two-way player between the Thunder and its G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, as the Thunder won the NBA championship.
"It was tough to get your legs back and kind of the confidence and took a while to find a little bit of rhythm, but I mean, (the mission) was a great opportunity. The mission, I think I learned a lot, I grew a lot (of) maturity. I don't think I'm here today without having gone there."
Last summer, Carlson signed another two-way contract for the 2025-26 season and appeared in 42 games with four starts for the Thunder, averaging 5.8 points and three rebounds in 11.6 minutes per game.
This summer, he signed a standard NBA contract with the Trail Blazers and will compete for backup frontcourt minutes alongside the likes of Robert Williams III, former Utah Jazz big man Micah Potter, Jeremy Sochan and Yang Hansen.
"I have to give a shoutout to OKC," Carlson said. "I think they took a chance on me and developed me and put me in a good spot that my agent was able to go talk with teams, and I thank Portland as well, shoutout to them for taking a chance on me."
Utah Utes center Branden Carlson (35) shoots over Arizona Wildcats center Oumar Ballo (11) during the game at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
