Stoudamire, the Raptors’ first draft pick and star, on those historic first games in Toronto—and returning to cheer on this year’s champions
Stoudamire during a game in 1997 (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images)
Damon “Mighty Mouse” Stoudamire was the original Raptors star. The team’s first-ever draft pick in 1995, he went on to win the league’s Rookie of the Year award. Now a coach at the University of the Pacific in California, he spoke to Maclean’s about playing in the cold of the SkyDome, the thrill of beating Michael Jordan’s Bulls and how hard it was to leave the city.
A: I remember it in this sequence. I remember hearing my name. I remember feeling really happy that I had made it. I finally got my dream of being drafted. I remember thinking of going to Canada, not knowing a whole lot about it at that time. And then, getting booed.
A: I really didn’t care. I promise you, it didn’t bother me one bit. I just figured they weren’t educated on the game. [Laughs] I’d overcome this stuff my whole life, so a couple boos weren’t going to affect my day. Nobody was going to take my shine away from me.
A: The first exhibition game. As soon as that happened, it was all good.
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A: When I got to Toronto, I stayed in the SkyDome until I found my own place. You’re a kid, 22 years old. I wanted to find some good food, number one. The second thing I did was go to the Eaton Centre—that’s what you do in a new city. You go to the mall.
A: I wasn’t tall, so I fit in. I hadn’t played any games yet, so navigating around town was easy. Then we played our first game in Toronto. Once I started playing, everything changed.
A: I was nervous. I was part of history. We ended up playing well that game. We won. I had a double-double. It was an exciting moment.
A: It was different. The trajectory on shots was different. I got used to it because it was our home court. It was always cold in there, too. That was different.
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A: Those winters, boy, they got me prepared for that cold weather. One day, my rookie year, it was snowing so bad. I looked out the window of my condo—and I lived down [by the water] on Queens Quay—and the lake was frozen. The snow was coming down. I was sitting, wondering what to do. I called the trainer, who put [Coach] Brendan [Malone] on the phone. I said: “Coach? Do we have practice today in this cold?” He said: “Damon, if you don’t get your ass to this practice . . . You make enough money. Get yourself a cab.” What I failed to realize was that in Toronto, when you get bad weather, you have those machines on the road that lay down salt. I wasn’t used to that. Where I grew up, if it snowed, they shut down the city.
A: The Bulls were on pace to win 72 games. Michael Jordan was in town. It was on a Sunday afternoon, on national television. We played our ass off and it was joy to get that victory—against the team with the best record in NBA history at the time. That felt so gratifying. It was like our playoff game.
A: I went out. C’mon, man! Can’t remember where, but I went out. It was a historic moment.
A: When you look back, I was young and I wish I had handled it better. But at the same time, you thought you were doing what you needed to do. We were going into our third year and we hadn’t lived up to the expectations. Eventually, if someone’s not happy, you try to move them on. That’s what happened.
A: It never felt right.
A: For them to bring us back, I thought that was big. The beauty of what’s going on is, besides the Raptors playing the way they’re playing, it’s turned into a celebration. They’re paying homage to the past while the present is doing the work on the floor. And to hear my name called one last time by Herbie [Raptors in-game announcer Herbie Kuhn]—man, it felt good.
Note to readers: Maclean’s, in concert with Sportsnet writers, has produced a one-of-a-kind commemorative edition to celebrate the Raptors’—and Canada’s—first NBA championship title. This 100-page edition includes expert commentary, player profiles, fan interviews, series game rundowns, statistics, a sweeping history of the making of the team and, of course, iconic photographs. Look for it on newsstands—or buy a copy at macleans.ca/raptors.