When people ask me — and no, it doesn’t come up often — how excellent a player Damon Stoudamire was, there’s often one statistic that stands as the go-to: the list of players to average at least 19 points and 9 assists in their first two seasons?
Per StatMuse, that list stops at two players: Oscar Robertson and Damon Stoudamire.
Stoudamire had the ultimate baptism by fire as a member of the Toronto Raptors, a team that won 21, 30, and 11 games (Stoudamire was traded at the 1998 trade deadline), but even as he changed stratospheres and joined a winning team, he had no problems transporting his skills and mentality.
In his first few years, Stoudamire had a crossover so deadly, Chicago Tribune referred to Stoudamire’s 1996 duel with Allen Iverson as the “Rivalry for the 21st Century.” In Portland, he relied tons on ball-screen action and knifing through the lane. But make no mistake about it: he could get to his crossover at warp speed.
Over eight seasons in Portland, Stoudamire averaged 12.8 points per game on 40.5 percent from the field, and that stayed virtually the same during the Playoffs. About one-fourth of his attempts came within ten feet of the rim, allowing him to showcase his cross and get into floaters. That longevity helps him to snag the No. 18 spot.