Damon Stoudamire Has Regrets About Leaving Toronto Raptors

Shandel Richardson | Dec 31, 2024

Jan 20, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Damon Stoudamire on the sideline against the Virginia Cavaliers in the first half at McCamish Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Years later, Damon Stoudamire can admit he got a little ahead of himself.

He was the Rookie of the Year in 1996 after being drafted by the Toronto Raptors but grew impatient playing for a losing expansion team. It eventually led to Stoudamire wanting a trade.

He landed with a stacked Portland Trail Blazers team that made the 1999 Western Conference finals, but nowadays Stoudamire thinks back to what could have been with the Raptors.

"Big picture again, I should've stayed," Stoudamire said on the Ballislife podcast. "You know, T-Mac [Tracy McGrady] was a rookie. He was gonna hit his stride. And you still had Marcus Camby."

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The Raptors built a team through the draft that could have become contenders in the Eastern Conference. After Stoudamire, they took Camby, McGrady, and acquired Vince Carter in a draft-day trade. Without Stoudamire, the Raptors advanced far as the 2001 conference semifinals when they lost to Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers.

Still, Stoudamire, who is now the coach at Georgia Tech, feels the team could have been special had he been more patient.

"Toronto's issue was never the drafting part," Stoudamire said. "It's just we all got out. I'd be lying, now that it's all said and done, if I didn't have some type of regret and thinking about what could've been had I stayed in Toronto."

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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