Every player wants to make a name and style in their rookie season when they enter the league, and when their performances are talked about by countless people in the future, they always have a big smile on their faces – Damon Stoudemire is no exception.
At 178cm tall, Damon wouldn't even think of him as a basketball player in a normal crowd — including when he once doubted himself.
Damon loves to play basketball and dreams countless times that he will stand on the NBA stage, but because of his size, sometimes he will appear less confident, especially considering that his father is still a former NBA athlete, and the number of times he plays with him at home is very small, but fortunately, Damon's grandmother has always encouraged him to challenge himself, so that Damon slowly becomes confident and shines on the court.
Although limited by his height, Damon took his agility to the extreme, he was a left-handed player, with a very low center of gravity, fast speed, and freely walking through the long forest, at the same time, his passing vision was very good, his attack was full, and he resembled a miniature version of Isaiah Thomas - coincidentally, the official "Smiling Assassin" himself who summoned Damon into his command.
'I saw my own shadow in him and he would be a good defender. Isaiah Thomas, then executive vice president of the Raptors, said.
Thomas is not wrong, Damon's debut showed his skills, 10 points, 10 assists and 3 steals of two double-double statistics, the second game he showed his impact, a single game to make 12 free throws and all hits, a total of 26 points and 11 assists.
Damon in the rookie season is absolutely top-notch, scoring 30 points twice in 70 games and 20+10 in 24 games, second only to "BIG O" Robertson at the time, 178 little fast and strong, fearless of confrontation and opponents, with Damon's tattoo of the little mouse on his arm, the nickname of "Mighty Mouse" (Little Flying Squirrel) is well known.
If there must be a game as a representative battle for Damon's rookie season, it must be the game against the Chicago Bulls on March 24, 1996, the first three meetings between the two teams, all ended in the Raptors' losses, and just when people thought that today's Raptors would only add chips to the Bulls' road to 73 wins, even jordan and Kukoc combined to cut 59 points, the Bulls failed to steal this victory.
Damon shot 11 of 21 from the field, cut 30 points, 4 rebounds, 11 assists and 1 block of the double-double data, especially 11 assists, so that the rest of the Raptors players also had a good play, Tracy Murray 23 points, Carlos Rogers 15 points, Christie 13 points, the Raptors team fought with the Bulls to the last minute, as Steve Kerr's free throw failed to hit, the Raptors stole the victory 109-108, directly occupying the news map of the day.
Throughout the season, Damon averaged 19 points and 9.3 assists per game, beating Sabonis, "Champion" Smith, Finley, Garnett, Starkhouse and other good players, lifting the best rookie trophy, he hit 133 three-pointers and set a rookie three-point record at the time.
In the next two seasons, Damon first averaged 20 points and 8.8 assists per game in the second grade - in that season, only Kevin Johnson and Tim Hardaway were left with 20+8 players per game, and then maintained a stable 19+8 stat in the third grade. During this time, Damon once again faced Jordan with a performance of 31 points, 13 assists and 3 steals to win, which also made Jordan praise him in the interview as "one of the most troubled people." ”
However, although Damon's personal data has been very good, but in the past three years, the Raptors have not been able to enter even one playoff, and at this time, like Vince Carter behind, Damon's "American heart" began to surge, he wanted to return to his home country to play, rather than living in Canada all year round, so in the 97-98 season, the Raptors completed the deal with the Blazers, "Little Flying Squirrels" not only flew back to their home country, and even directly played for their hometown team. But when the ambitious Damon was ready to play in his hometown team, he found that he could not compete with his own ball power in Toronto in the new team, and Damon, who came to Portland, played 22 games and averaged 8 assists per game, but his score dropped to 12.4 points, but the Blazers ranked sixth in the West with a record of 46 wins, which was Damon's first playoff experience.
In the first playoff game, Damon scored a double-double of 12 points and 10 assists, but his shooting efficiency is not high, fortunately, he has always had a good ability to adjust, the second game re-played a 17+14 performance, and the fourth game also played a good performance of 24 points and 8 assists, but the Blazers were still eliminated by the Lakers.
In several seasons in Portland, Damon has had playoff experience, but because the team can play too much, Damon's stats have not exceeded 10 points for two consecutive years, but he can still connect the whole team, averaging 9 assists per game, and the team has also reached the Western Conference Finals.
It wasn't until the 00-01 season that Damon got a good chance in the playoffs, that year, the "Little Flying Squirrel" averaged 17 points and 3 assists per game, and also got his playoff career-high 25 points, but overall, after leaving the Raptors, Damon seemed to never find his former self, and in those years, Damon's highest average of points per game was 17 points, even in the 2002-2003 season. His average also slipped to 6.9 points and 3.5 assists per game, and with the advent of Amare Stoudemire (that is, Xiaosi), Damon Stoudemire's name gradually moved out of the field of vision, but Damon has been trying to prove his ability again, has been sticking to his training style, trying to get back to the top.
Damon's persistence paid off, and in the 2004-2005 season, in the Blazers' challenge to the Hornets, the 32-year-old "Little Flying Squirrel" played his own game again after nine years, and on January 15, Damon shot 20 of 32 in the game and shot 8 three-pointers, slashing 54 points, setting his career highest score and the second-place score record in the league that season.
We all thought that Damon would come to his second spring, but 54 points was the final climax of Damon's basketball career, and then, Damon came to Memphis, the Grizzlies originally wanted Damon to use experience to lead the team to grow, but Damon not only did not perform as expected, but also suffered a knee injury, even after recovery, he has long been unable to compete with conley and others in the team for playing time, in the days that followed, the "Flying Squirrel" went to the southwest, but whether it was in the Spurs or the Rockets, Damon did not leave an impression on people. Even in the days of the Rockets, Damon did not even participate in the team training camp and play, and in December 2008, the "Flying Squirrel" officially announced his retirement.
In 2013, Damon, who has become a coach, said in an interview about his career and his experience in Toronto: "I was too young at that time," Stoudemire said with a smile, "Basketball is business, and when you grow up, it's more about building relationships, that's more important than selfishness." For me, I wish I could do it all over again because it wasn't going on the right way. ”
"I don't think I handled this in the right way, I just wish I could do it all over again." Stoudemire said.
But the life of "Flying Squirrel" continues, since 2016, has been the head coach of the men's basketball team at the University of the Pacific, Damon in the years of coaching, Damon won the WCC Best Coach and Ben Job Award, last October, Damon joined the Boston Celtics as an assistant coach.
Damon may not have so many praiseworthy honors, but for short guards, Damon is their spiritual mentor, the size of 178 is playing his own world in the NBA, the "little flying squirrel" has made a good start for many guards, and later Boykins and others enter the NBA, Damon will also do his best to help them adapt to the cruel arena of the NBA.
"People see me on TV, but I actually think I'm a good person." Damon said. In addition to caring for the players, he was also passionate about pro bono, establishing the Damon-Stadamer Foundation to help the poor in Ontario and Portland, and giving $20,000 to the Boys and Girls Club in Ontario as a motivating scholarship.
"I was plagued by the cannabis problem, and now I've reformed and wish I could help other people." Damon said.