Today Damon Stoudamire is the starting point guard for the Blazers, and his current contract is $100 million over a seven year time period. He is one of the more popular Blazers, and a 'hometown hero' of sorts for the Portland community, and has hundreds of fans in Portland, Toronto and many other places. But despite his current position, he did not always live such a luxurious life. Growing up he lived in a tiny, two-bedroom house on Knott Street in a rundown part of Northeast Portland. The details of his childhood that you see on television and most often hear about are actually only about one-half of the story. The happier stories and facts are reported frequently, while the media rarely acknowledges the other half of the story.

Damon was the only child born to his mother, Liz Washington. Liz and Damon's father, Willie Stoudamire, were college sweethearts but they never married. Willie was a star basketball player at Portland State University in the 1960's. Although the Seattle Super Sonics drafted Willie in the eighth round of the 1972 draft, he was never offered a contract.

Even at a very young age Damon showed signs of having a lot of talent at basketball. Not only did he ball up pieces of paper, toss them into a trash can, and exclaim two points, but when Willie began taking him to his AAU games Damon would go onto the court at halftime and shoot, using a basketball two sizes too big for him.

"A lot of my friends and coaches wold marvel at this kid, he could really shoot." Willie remembered to an ESPN magazine reporter.

When Damon was seven years old Willie was hired to a brewery job and moved to Milwaukee, just as his father left him. After leaving, he very rarely came back to Portland and would never bring Damon to Milwaukee, even when Liz offered to pay for it.

Liz worked two jobs to pay for rent and food, and barely had enough left over to pay for Damon's school clothes. Because Willie had never signed the birth certificate he didn't have to pay child support, and only twice did Willie help pay for clothes and other things.

"I don't think he truly knew how hard it was, I worked a lot of overtime." Liz said about how much she had to work to pay for things (like basketball shoes).

Since Liz had to work two jobs that meant she was rarely home to watch Damon. The job of helping to raise Damon fell to Wanda Stoudamire-Matthews, Willie's mother. Damon spent a lot of time at Wanda's house on 236 N. Page.

"My second home was Grandma's house-- 236 N. Page St., across the street from Harriet Tubman Elementary School, just a few blocks from the Rose Garden. That was me. That was where I grew up. I lived with my mom, but when she was at work, if I wasn't at home, I was over at my grandmother's house. Words can't explain what Grandma meant to me. I saw a lot coming in and out the door at her house. She was always there to kick knowledge in my direction. She instilled in me the heart I have right now. She always told me to be positive, to never let anything get me down." Damon told The Oregonian newspaper reporter Kerry Eggers in May 2000.

On the way home from Wanda's house one day Damon turned to Liz and asked 'Do I have a sister?' That day at school a girl had tugged on his sleeve and told him that she was his sister. Apparently Willie had three other daughters and never told Damon or Liz.

Growing up Damon had several "substitute fathers", including his uncles Charles and Anthony Stoudamire. Charles always made sure to be Damon's basketball coach, and Anthony made sure to be Damon's football coach.

Before long Damon stopped caring about school and focusing on basketball. He cared more about the games he played at Irvington Park than about his grades. He played at Irvington Park and at the Matt Dishman community center, usually with guys five to ten years older than him, trying to learn as much as he could and become as good as he could at basketball.

Damon was much better at basketball than everyone his age by the time he was 12, having spent so much time playing with older guys. He was also much more mature off the court, because he had to make his own decisions and act responsibly at a very young age. He was responsible for getting himself up and to school on time since Liz had to go to work at 6 a.m., as well as several other things because Liz usually didn't get home until late.

"I was staying at home by myself when I was like 10 years old. I don't think a lot of people could handle it but it allowed me to grow up." Damon said, "I had whole days to myself sometimes. My mother was a disciplinarian, but she wasn't around all the time."

"Damon was always older than kids his own age. The decisions he made were pretty sensible. He was a little more mature." Liz recalls.

After spending all of his grade school years at Holy Redeemer, a catholic school, he went to Wilson High, which was across the river from where he grew up. During Damon's junior year there (in 1990) Wanda died from cancer.

"She passed away right about the time things started going good for me in basketball. I remember the day she died like it was yesterday. You knew it was coming, but it didn't lessen the grief. I held strong for about three days, but at that funeral... it meant she wasn't going to be around anymore, and the emotions just let loose. It still brings tears to my eyes, 10 years later."

"Man, I loved her a lot. I wish she could see what I was doing right now. I would love for her to see what she helped develop. I know she would have been proud of me. I know she is watching me up high, but I wish she were here to share in some of the success. About a year and a half ago, I had her picture and her address tattooed on my left arm as a tribute to her memory." -- Damon (May 5, 2000)

Willie came back for the funeral, and while he was there he bought Damon a watch, some shoes, and allowed him to take his car. Liz (among others) thought he was trying to buy his way back into Damon's life.

All the years Damon had spent playing basketball with older guys in the inner-city league paid off. He led Wilson High to a 74-4 record and took them to state twice during his time playing there. As a senior he averaged 26 points, 9 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game. He earned Oregon Player of the Year honors and Converse HI.S. All- American recognition during his senior year.

Damon had several options for college, and came extremely close to choosing the University of Oregon before deciding on Arizona.

"I wanted to go where I could put myself in a good position to get to the next level. Arizona offered the total package."

As a freshman at Arizona he was named to the All-Pac-10 Freshman team. He led Arizona to the Pac-10 title and 1994 NCAA Final Four during his junior year. As a senior he led all college seniors in assists as well as scored around 19 points a night. He was a three-time All-Pac-10 selection, and was a co-winner for Pac-10 Player of the Year honors. Also as a senior he was Consensus All-American and Naismith Award finalist. Overall he was fourth on Arizona's all-time scoring with 1,849 points total, first in three pointers made (272) and attempted (677), and second in assists (633). He was only the second player in Pac-10 history to score 1,800 points, get 400 rebounds and 600 assists.

In 1995 he was drafted in the first round, seventh overall, by the expansion team Toronto Raptors.

"We never seriously considered anyone else" Isiah Thomas (GM for the Raptors at the time) said about drafting Damon. When the Raptors drafted Damon it was the franchise's first ever draft pick.

In his rookie year with Toronto he averaged 19 points, 9.3 assists, four rebounds, 1.4 steals and 40.9 minutes in 70 games, all of which he started. In his 11th game of the season, November 21, he got the first-ever triple double in Toronto history, scoring 20 points, 11 assists and a team-high 12 rebounds). This was the fourth fastest a rookie ever got a triple double. Oscar Robertson did it in his first, Hambone Williams in his fourth and Magic Johnson in his fifth. His minutes played average during the 1995-'96 season (his rookie season) was the seventh highest in NBA history. All of the six players who averaged more minutes now are in the Hall of Fame.

On February 25 1996, Damon hit five three pointers in the last 1:24 of a game against Dallas, and got his sixth consecutive double-double, and in this game his six three pointers made him the all-time rookie leader in three-pointers made in a season, finishing the season with 133. He was the only unanimous selection to the Shick All-Rookie First Team. He was named Shick Rookie of the Month twice, and was named MVP of the Shick Rookie Game during the NBA All-Star Weekend.

Damon did not play in the last ten games of his rookie season due to Tendinitis in his left knee. The Raptors went 1-5 without him. He spent the remainder of the season in Portland, resting his knee. Although he was resting his knee, he was also taking care of his mother, who had tripped over a curb and fractured both arms.

At the end of the season, he was named NBA Rookie of the Year, receiving 76 of a possible 113 votes. (The other 37 went to future teammate Arvydas Sabonis). He was the second lowest draft pick of all time to win NBA Rookie of the Year honors (He was seventh overall). Mark Jackson was the lowest, 18th overall, in 1988. At 5'10" he was the smallest player ever to win the award.

In the 1996-'97 season, his second season pro, he averaged 20.2 points, 8.8 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.52 steals. He averaged 40.9 minutes in a total of 81 games, once again all of which he started. In that season he was one of only four guards to rank among the NBA leaders in five different categories, those being scoring (he was 19th), assists (sixth), free throw percentage (28th) steals (29th) and minutes (fourth). The others were Latrell Sprewell, Michael Jordan and Kevin Johnson.

The 1996-'97 season was Damon's last full season in Toronto, before being traded to the Portland Trail Blazers February 13, 1998. At the time of the trade he was Toronto's leader in scoring (19.4), assists (8.1), free throw percentage (84 percent), shots made (354), three pointers made (65), free throws made (179), minutes played (2033) and games played in (49 so far that season).

After the trade Damon averaged 12.4 points, 8.2 assists, 1.50 steals, 3.7 rebounds and 39.6 minutes in a total of 22 games. He ranked ninth overall in the NBA in assists, 29th in scoring, 23rd in steals, sixth in minutes played, and 27th in free throw percentage overall for that season.

The 1998-'99 season was shortened severely by the Lockout, which was caused by the inability of the players and owners to agree on how to share the league's revenue. In this shorted season Damon averaged good numbers and was one of the key people (he and Brian Grant) who sparked their playoff appearance and the Blazers winning the Pacific Division title.

Damon currently lives in Lake Oswego, and is about a half-hour drive away from the Rose Garden. He is involved in the Portland Community in many ways, including through the Damon Stoudamire foundation.

"I want to try and give back to the community where it is needed. When I started my foundation

I purposely did not pick any one particular cause or organization because I am in a unique situation. I am in the city where I am from. I know a lot of organizations, groups and people that have needs. I didn't want to just focus on everything. I am trying to get money together and establish a foundation to do everything. I have done funerals, Thanksgiving dinners, everything possible to give back. They don't have to be big things. I try and give back to the North/Northeast Portland community where I grew up. That's where I get the biggest joy... when I see people that I knew growing up, or older people, and they come up and tell me how great I am doing. That makes me feel real good and means a lot to me. I always tell people that regardless of what is going on, I will never lose touch with what's going on in my community. That's

something I take a lot of pride in." - Damon in the April 2000 issue of Rip City.

Damon maintains a healthy diet during the season, as he told Oregonian Reporter Kerry Eggers in a recent edition of the playoff diary he has been writing. (A cash donation goes to his foundation for every entry.)

"I eat three meals a day. For breakfast, I eat some kind of omelet using only egg white, which is healthier and tastes better to me than yolk. I try to stay away from pork, but sometimes I might eat a few pieces of ham. I have hash browns, some wheat toast, orange juice. I don't mess with milk. I can't eat a lot of dairy products, which just aren't right with my system.

For lunch, I try to get some kind of chicken-and-rice combination, or I might eat about three cans of tuna right out of the can. It might not sound that appealing, but it is all right in terms of what it gives your body.

For dinner, I eat pasta, maybe a steak, some fish. My favorite fish is salmon, so I stick to that a lot. I try to stay away from steak, but it has been calling me lately. I don't like eating dinner after about 9:30 p.m., though I usually get something to eat late after games. I don't put on a lot of weight, but I have found that when you eat late, it makes you real hungry in the morning.

I snack, but I try to stay away from candy and chocolate stuff. I quit eating candy when I was in college, even during the off-season. Fruit snacks and bars and yogurt and granola bars . . . it's not going to be like that every day, but those are the things I try to stick with."

Damon is very appreciative of all the hard work his mother did while he was growing up, and has showed his appreciation in several ways (including having her initials tattooed on his chest).

"I adore her. I admire her for everything she did and went through while she was raising me. She is so caring and so loyal, when I am going through bad times, it is almost as if she is suffering more than me. Mom retired when I signed my first NBA contract in 1995. I was so glad to be able to have that happen. I wanted to buy her a house, but she wasn't sure what she wanted to do. She thought about moving to Las Vegas, which is where she was from, but decided to stay here. We are in the process of building her a home now. She has a nice piece of land out near the Columbia River."

Damon is incredibly thankful for all he has achieved, and his life shows what hard work can accomplish.

"I am so competitive and get so mad sometimes. But then when I go home and think about it, I have done a whole lot and I am only 26. I feel very privileged and I feel great. God has blessed me with the things I have. In a short time in this league, I have been able to do a lot of things. I am real appreciative of that. "

 by: stoudamire_fan@yahoo.com (c)(do NOT copy this w/o credit and permission!)