Damon Stoudamire

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Damon Stoudamire
Position Point guard
Nickname Mighty Mouse
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight 171 lb (78 kg)
Team Memphis Grizzlies
Nationality Flag of United States United States
Born September 3, 1973
Portland, Oregon
College Arizona
Draft 7th overall, 1995
Toronto Raptors
Pro career 1995 – present
Former teams Toronto Raptors (1995–1998)
Portland Trail Blazers (1998–2005)
Awards 1995-96 NBA Rookie of the Year

Damon Lamon Stoudamire (born 3 September 1973 in Portland, Oregon) is an American NBA basketball player, currently playing for the Memphis Grizzlies. He was selected by the Toronto Raptors in the first round (seventh pick overall) of the 1995 NBA Draft. In college he played for the Arizona Wildcats. Damon is the cousin of former University of Arizona standout and current Atlanta Hawks guard Salim Stoudamire.

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[edit] High school career

Damon Stoudamire attended Wilson High School in Portland, where he led his team to a 74-4 record and two state championships.

[edit] College career

Stoudamire played point guard for the University of Arizona Wildcats and led his team to the 1994 NCAA Final Four. He played for legendary coach Lute Olson and was awarded First Team All-American, and was a finalist for College Player of the Year.

[edit] Toronto Raptors

Stoudamire had a noteworthy rookie season with the Toronto Raptors averaging 9.3 assists and 19 points. He earned the nickname "Mighty Mouse" due to the fact he stands only 5'10" (1.77 m), and that he had a Mighty Mouse tattoo going into his rookie season. He received the Rookie of the Year Award for the 1995-1996 season and the Most Valuable Player of the All Rookie Game.

[edit] Portland Trail Blazers

In 1998 he was traded by the Raptors along with two other players to the Portland Trail Blazers, for Kenny Anderson, Alvin Williams, Gary Trent, two first-round draft choices, a second-round draft choice and an amount of money. As a member of the Trail Blazers, his stats have fallen somewhat from his career high. In 2002 the Blazers benched Stoudamire for most of the season. The coach went with Scottie Pippen and Bonzi Wells at the guard positions. However, in the playoffs Stoudamire received significant playing time.

On January 14, 2005, Stoudamire hit a career-high and Trail Blazers franchise record 54 points, which included 8 3-pointers, against the New Orleans Hornets. Same year, on April 15, 2005, he shot an NBA record 21 3-point attempts, making only 5 of them.

Stoudamire's contract with the Blazers expired in 2005, and it became widely known that the Trail Blazers, who were focusing on a "youth movement", had no intention of re-signing Damon. This became abundantly clear in August 2005 when the team signed free agent guard Juan Dixon to a contract, and assigned him Stoudamire's uniform number (3).

[edit] Memphis Grizzlies

On August 5 2005, after Stoudamire had been in discussions with several teams, it was announced he had signed a 4-year deal with the Memphis Grizzlies, where he replaced Jason Williams, who left for the Miami Heat, as the starting point guard. In a December 30 game in his hometown of Portland, Stoudamire tore his right patellar tendon. He was carted off the court, and had successful surgery in Birmingham, Alabama the following week. He was out for the rest of the 2005-06 season, and should be ready to play by next season.

[edit] Suspension

His stint with the Trail Blazers was marred by several marijuana related incidents including one where, with then-starting power forward Rasheed Wallace, his yellow Hummer was pulled over on I-5 for speeding and driving under the influence of marijuana. After Stoudamire's third arrest for marijuana possession in 2003, he was fined $250,000 and was suspended for three months. Trail Blazers president Steve Patterson announced that he wanted to void Stoudamire's contract, but did not find a provision in the contract that would allow him to do so. [1] Stoudamire completed a 90 day rehabilitation program and publicly swore off the use of marijuana. [2]. In addition, he made an agreement with The Oregonian sports columnist John Canzano to take a unannounced urine test during any point in the 2003-2004 season; to prove his sobriety. Midway through the season, Canzano appeared in the team locker room and produced a specimen bottle which Stoudamire filled; an independent testing laboratory reported back the result that he was indeed "clean". The incident rehabilitated Stoudamire in the minds of many Portland fans, who had come to regard him as one of the "Jail Blazers". However, Stoudamire was widely criticized by the NBA Players Association for the drug test, who claimed that NBA players may only submit to such tests as prescribed by the league's Collective Bargaining Agreement. The fact that the test was voluntary, and not administered by the league or any of its teams, did not make Stoudamire immune to such criticism. Despite the criticism, no official action was taken by the union against Stoudamire for his participation in the test.

[edit] External links

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