Damon Stoudamire "Toronto best city I've ever lived in"

[GreatWhiteStiff]

I'll always have a soft spot for him, even though he was the original "I'm going to force my way out" player, and after only 2.5 seasons. At least he's come out to say he regretted it (also Isiah was a snake).

He was horribly miscast as a high-usage shot maker, but he was pretty much all we had.

Was he "horribly miscast" though? He seemed to have more success/popularity in that role than in other situations.

I'm not too sure he was much more than an average player, though we treated him like a star for a while. Actually I'd say he wan't all that good. 14/6 on portland undersized, probably bad defence, very bad TS%, he made 100 million in his career though.

[God Squad]

Who is a better player; Damon or FVV?

FVV pretty easily, regardless of the hate he gets here.

[Basketball_Jones]

He looks in great shape. He was the big dog here and made the Raptors fun to watch even during the expansion days. I was shocked at how he was used in Portland, just didn't fit their poor mans triangle type offense.

[Basketball_Jones]

Who is a better player; Damon or FVV?

Van Vleet, though if I need a bucket I'll take Damon. He'd do very well in todays NBA offense.

[CPT]

brb, buying Damon Stoudamire throwback

[Merit]

I really like that the narrative is changing/has changed. Its great that it’s American players across eras who are collectively supporting Toronto.

[kalel123]

Hate him or love him (I'd wager 90% love him), he really made it easy being a Raptors fan early on.

A rookie point guard who comes in and averages 20/8 nightly, winning ROY, and is an instant fan favorite.

Having such promising talent early on in Damon, Tmac, and Vince really allowed the Raps to survive. All the players came in and actually played games. We're so lucky they didn't pull a Steve Francis on us or we might have had the same fate as the Grizzlies.

The Raps survived because they played in city of Toronto that could support an NBA team through thick and thin.

Also why are we lucky they did what they were supposed to? That's such a loser mentality.

Lastly, nobody told Stu Jackson to draft a guy who openly stated he didn't want to play for the team then subsequently caved to make an idiotic trade before he ever put on the team uniform. You either steer clear or tell him to man the F up and play but they did the worst thing possible. I know we've had our fair share dumb s#!t happen in this team's history but that level of idiocy is rare and it's definitely not lucky if a team didn't have to go through that because it's not supposed to happen.

[XTC]

Hate him or love him (I'd wager 90% love him), he really made it easy being a Raptors fan early on.

A rookie point guard who comes in and averages 20/8 nightly, winning ROY, and is an instant fan favorite.

Having such promising talent early on in Damon, Tmac, and Vince really allowed the Raps to survive. All the players came in and actually played games. We're so lucky they didn't pull a Steve Francis on us or we might have had the same fate as the Grizzlies.

The Raps survived because they played in city of Toronto that could support an NBA team through thick and thin.

Also why are we lucky they did what they were supposed to? That's such a loser mentality.

Lastly, nobody told Stu Jackson to draft a guy who openly stated he didn't want to play for the team then subsequently caved to make an idiotic trade before he ever put on the team uniform. You either steer clear or tell him to man the F up and play but they did the worst thing possible. I know we've had our fair share dumb s#!t happen in this team's history but that level of idiocy is rare and it's definitely not lucky if a team didn't have to go through that because it's not supposed to happen.

Lol this guy. You must have really missed the Raptors history up until the Lowry era. The biggest UFA signing to date was us signing Hedo with Demarre Carroll firmly in second place. No one was lining up to play for us.

Remember the stigma that no one wanted to play in Toronto after Tmac left, and how amplified it got after VC left? It got even WORST after Bosh left for Miami. I mean Steve Nash snubbed us and we had to "settle" for Lowry.

The stigma never left until DeRozan re-signed. The first home grown all-star who re-signed after his rookie contract was up. For all the flack he gets, VC put the Raptors on the map. He made following the Raptors cool (just ask KD). Let's not forget the foot print VC, Tmac, Damon made on this franchise. Each of them could have refused to suit up and for an expansion franchise that is a death sentence. Vancouver isn't by any means a small market, they failed partly because of horrible management and because of horrible drafting.

Vancouver wasn't the first team to draft/trade a player who said they didn't want to play for them. We've seen it many times in the past. Are we forgetting all the articles claiming Kawhi wouldn't report to training camp? Trading VC for Mourning who simply refused to play for us? John Salmon a signing for less in Sacramento because God told him to lol.

[TheBoi10]

obligatory:

Watch on YouTube

It's crazy and embarrassing how much some grown men want to be reaffirmed. A teenage girl would blush.

[wegotthabeet]

Zeke wanted to draft KG, but the NBA forced the Raptors & Griz to pick 6th and 7th overall in their first ever NBA draft and they ended up taking Damon instead as a result. It was a bit of a surprise pick.

Carter - McGrady - Garnett - Camby would have been a dynasty core, but Damon was pretty good too.

[M3tro]

Now ask Kenny Anderson what he thinks of Toronto

[Kingsway_fan]

He looks in great shape. He was the big dog here and made the Raptors fun to watch even during the expansion days. I was shocked at how he was used in Portland, just didn't fit their poor mans triangle type offense.

He was awesome. Better numbers than prime Lowry.. maybe not as good on d.... season ticket holder....

[whitehops]

i know this isn't quite related but recently a pistons beat writer put out a ranking of all the NBA cities to visit and another one agreed with toronto at #1:

Read on Twitter

[Mack11]

Cant wait to see what Walt Williams has to say about his time in the city

[bluerap23]

It's just so ridiculous that this is still a topic. Brousard is such a hack? why not talk about what basketball players think about living in cities like Salt Lake, or Boston.

[dacrusha]

Are people still comparing the Raptors expansion experience with the Grizzlies?

The Raptors were never, ever in danger of leaving Toronto - Vancouver failed because of lack of ownership $$$, lack of market $$$ support, and fan interest completely dying... crappy management decisions exacerbated an already very tenuous situation.

On the flip side, the Raptors broke ground for the ACC a full year and half before VC was even drafted... and this was before MLSE's creation that brought even more financial stability and credibility via the Leafs and Teachers' Pension Plan.

Where anyone gets the idea that the team was teetering on the brink of leaving in the early years is beyond me.

[Badonkadonk]

I'll always have a soft spot for him, even though he was the original "I'm going to force my way out" player, and after only 2.5 seasons. At least he's come out to say he regretted it (also Isiah was a snake).

He was horribly miscast as a high-usage shot maker, but he was pretty much all we had.

Was he "horribly miscast" though? He seemed to have more success/popularity in that role than in other situations.

I'm not too sure he was much more than an average player, though we treated him like a star for a while. Actually I'd say he wan't all that good. 14/6 on portland undersized, probably bad defence, very bad TS%, he made 100 million in his career though.

I think we're saying the same thing. He was horribly miscast because I don't think he was a good starter in the NBA (kind of proven through his prime years in Portland), and he was DEFINITELY not ready for how the Raptors used him (41mpg as a rookie, on a terrible team).

I remember going to SkyDome to watch him that first season and seeing the disconnect between what the fans thought (all-star!) and what he was actually doing on the court, where he was in way over his head (especially on D). People just saw his ppg and assist numbers and that was it.

[kalel123]

Hate him or love him (I'd wager 90% love him), he really made it easy being a Raptors fan early on.

A rookie point guard who comes in and averages 20/8 nightly, winning ROY, and is an instant fan favorite.

Having such promising talent early on in Damon, Tmac, and Vince really allowed the Raps to survive. All the players came in and actually played games. We're so lucky they didn't pull a Steve Francis on us or we might have had the same fate as the Grizzlies.

The Raps survived because they played in city of Toronto that could support an NBA team through thick and thin.

Also why are we lucky they did what they were supposed to? That's such a loser mentality.

Lastly, nobody told Stu Jackson to draft a guy who openly stated he didn't want to play for the team then subsequently caved to make an idiotic trade before he ever put on the team uniform. You either steer clear or tell him to man the F up and play but they did the worst thing possible. I know we've had our fair share dumb s#!t happen in this team's history but that level of idiocy is rare and it's definitely not lucky if a team didn't have to go through that because it's not supposed to happen.

Lol this guy. You must have really missed the Raptors history up until the Lowry era. The biggest UFA signing to date was us signing Hedo with Demarre Carroll firmly in second place. No one was lining up to play for us.

Remember the stigma that no one wanted to play in Toronto after Tmac left, and how amplified it got after VC left? It got even WORST after Bosh left for Miami. I mean Steve Nash snubbed us and we had to "settle" for Lowry.

The stigma never left until DeRozan re-signed. The first home grown all-star who re-signed after his rookie contract was up. For all the flack he gets, VC put the Raptors on the map. He made following the Raptors cool (just ask KD). Let's not forget the foot print VC, Tmac, Damon made on this franchise. Each of them could have refused to suit up and for an expansion franchise that is a death sentence. Vancouver isn't by any means a small market, they failed partly because of horrible management and because of horrible drafting.

Vancouver wasn't the first team to draft/trade a player who said they didn't want to play for them. We've seen it many times in the past. Are we forgetting all the articles claiming Kawhi wouldn't report to training camp? Trading VC for Mourning who simply refused to play for us? John Salmon a signing for less in Sacramento because God told him to lol.

Dude, you are proving my point for me.

I'm acutely aware of what happened since 1995. What happened doesn't change the standard of what the players and the organization is supposed to do. Seems like you've developed something of a Stockholm syndrome from some of those terrible years, grateful for every little crumb of "good" news, which is kinda sad to see from a fellow Raptors fan who also went through it all.

[HangTime]

Zeke wanted to draft KG, but the NBA forced the Raptors & Griz to pick 6th and 7th overall in their first ever NBA draft and they ended up taking Damon instead as a result. It was a bit of a surprise pick.

Carter - McGrady - Garnett - Camby would have been a dynasty core, but Damon was pretty good too.

I think expansion teams in 80s picked right after the lottery picks, but they never had the additional 3 year rule of not being able to draft first.

My only thought is Tim Duncan was draft eligible in 95, 96, 97, and probably would have been the #1 pick in all of them.
They added the 98 draft, just so it didn't seem obvious.

-------------
I wonder if we would've picked Johnathan Bender in 1999, if we didn't trade for Antonio Davis.
Also if we kept Camby instead of getting Oakley.

McGrady, Carter, Bender, Camby

[Johnny Bball]

He's on Raptors TV. I don't know what else he says tbh.