For the Toronto Raptors the 2014-2015 NBA season has been a special one. On the court the club is performing at an unprecedented pace flying off to their best start in franchise history. Dwane Casey and company along the way have set a record of 27 wins at the mid way point of the season. Off the court the Raptors are also winning in terms of popularity flirting with an all time high. The buzz in the city is comparable to both their inaugural season and early 2000’s when Vince Carter was dropping jaws with his ultra athleticism.

Success both on and off the court couldn’t have come at a better time with the franchise also celebrating their twentieth anniversary of existence this season.

It still feels like yesterday (May 24th 1994) when the team’s logo and first General Manager, Isiah Thomas were revealed at a press conference in downtown Toronto. The team’s colours of bright red, purple, black, and silver were also revealed. Sales of Raptors merchandise ranked seventh in the league, marking a successful return of professional basketball to Canada since the ancient Toronto Huskies.

For the Raptors to survive they needed a product on the floor to captivate the city’s admiration for the sport. Enter first ever lottery pick Damon Stoudamire. Damon in his rookie season embodied the future of the franchise. A small fish that hat had no issues swimming in a big pond. Referred to as Mighty Mouse, Stoudamire laid a foundation so firm that until this day still resonates with day one Raptor fans. Whether it was  dropping 30 and 11 in a victory versus the 72-win Bulls team, Rookie game MVP or whatever the moment, the 1996 NBA rookie of the year was, still is, and forever will be; a legend in Raptors franchise history.

Now an assistant coach with his alma matter Arizona, Hoops Hype Canada correspondent Sonny Bairos caught up with the original Raptor for an exclusive one on one.

Stoudamire recollects his tenure in Toronto. Damon tackles both the high’s and the lows. He also makes known that despite the franchise already honoring Vince Carter among others as part of the clubs 20th anniversary celebrations, Mighty Mouse verified his time is coming. So while a long awaited standing ovation from Raptorland awaits, in the mean time Hoops Hype Canada delivers you proud day one supporters an exclusive 1-on-1.

Bairos: Mighty Mouse it’s a pleasure. You were a pioneer, ambassador, heck the first ever elite NBA athlete Canada had in their back yard. Still have some fond memories of your tenure in Toronto?

Stoudamire: I always loved Toronto. I still have a lot of friends up there that I talk to. I actually try to get back every year. I was definitely a big fan of Carabana (laughing). I have a lot of great memories. Living down there on Queensquay on the water, learned how to drive in the snow and people were always good to me. Every where I went they showed me love. Even right now if I come back to Toronto or if I see some Canadians they always show me love, its’s kind of crazy.

Bairos: I have to get this off my chest. Raptors have honored Vince Carter even though he is still an active player, heck, they even honored Leo Rautins but still no official word they are going to have an appreciation day for you. Please tell us that day is coming?

Stoudamire: No date has been set because I gotta let them know the exact date I can come. It’s just I know I’m coming but just don’t know when. Hopefully it’s after a national championship. I’m kind of planning off that. Once all that happens I’ll know. Maybe around the playoffs, ill definitely try to be there for the first two home games.  I’m looking forward to coming back.

Bairos: Lets start on draft day, NBA draft was held in Toronto and the crowd who didn’t know any better wanted UCLA’s Ed O’Bannon fresh of his final four award to be selected. When your name was called it was followed by a rein of boo’s. What was your thoughts that night?

Stoudamire: I didn’t even know what was happening. It’s funny how everybody talks about draft night, the people booing me and all that stuff. Crazy thing about it was I didn’t even care. I was like for me just making it to the NBA at that time, nobody could take away my moment. I wasn’t even really worried about it because in my mind the only thing I thought about was these people just don’t really know who I really am, I wasn’t a household name so I got it. It didn’t really rub me off the wrong way because I knew what was in store for them. It was all good.

Bairos: So before the whole draft process the General Manager at the time Isiah Thomas was pretty vocal publically about how he admired you. Any idea that the Toronto Raptors were going to select you at 7th overall?

Stoudamire: I knew Toronto was going to draft me in January. The only way that I wasn’t going to get drafted by Toronto was if Kevin Garnett slipped and had been there at seven because they were going to draft Kevin Garnett. That is what I was told in January. Isiah and several members from the Raptors organization had basically been following me the whole summer going into my senior season. We played out at the Palace my senior year up against Michigan and I can remember that particular game when I didn’t know Toronto had interest in me, Isiah was at the game and he was kind of looking at my every move. He was staring at me the whole game and understand at that time a guy like Isiah Thomas, I grew up idolizing, so to see that I was obviously trying to have my best game. Funny thing though was in January I knew they were going to draft me after my college coach told me and they had spent a lot of time doing their homework and research on me.

Bairos: You arrived standing 5’10” weighing 170 lbs. Originally from Portland, Oregon via the University of Arizona. What was your first impressions of the city Toronto back in the mid nineties?

Stoudamire: That first moment I actually got to the city of Toronto it took a little while because we were in a lock out that year. We actually had training camp in Hamilton. I was thinking at the time Hamilton is a little slow. I was like it’s not really that bad out here but going from the gym to the hotel I hoped Toronto was a little more exciting. Then when I got to the city I was like damn! that’s all I could say. I just had no clue what I was getting into. 

Bairos: You were 5’10” but played like you were 6’5″. For the record you averaged 19 points and almost 10 assists per game your rookie season. How were you so effective at that size? You don’t see that often in today’s game let alone for a rookie.

Stoudamire: Honestly I think it was because I was used to being so small. I had an ability but I always had to work hard. I felt I always had to put in the extra work to be successful because every step of the way there would be people doubting me. To get to the NBA and then do the things that I did, I honestly wasn’t really surprised because I had prepared for the moment. 20 something years ago it was totally different then nowadays. There wasn’t even cell phones, social media wasn’t in effect, the websites like Hoops Hype Canada all of that stuff wasn’t even heard of. It was different in terms of exposure. Guys were allowed to go to college and just kind of be college students and evolve as players. I was able to evolve as a player. People forget I went to college for four years. So when I came to Toronto I was ready to step in right away and be a day 1 player because I was a production guy in college. 

Bairos: Any particular Raptor teammate you credit for taking you under their wing during your rookie season? Carlos Rogers, Oliver Miller, Spider Sally,Tracy Murray or Willie Anderson? It couldn’t have been Alvin Roberston right?

Stoudamire: The guy that taught me habits I have to say was John Salley even though he was only there for half a season. You have to understand I’m coming from college I was at McDonalds or eating Burger King, eating fast foods, fried foods all that good stuff and that’s all that I wanted to do. John pulled me to the side and said “young fella don’t do this, don’t do that, you gotta take care of your body” and x, y, z. He was great for me, he taught me how to be a pro. Another guy that was good was Willie Anderson, who also taught me how to be a pro. Those guys really took me under their wing and helped me out that first year. It was an adjustment but those guys did a really great job of being veterans and I’m always grateful to those guys.

Bairos: How about when Willie Anderson was traded to the Knicks for Doug Christie at mid season. Doug becoming your new back court partner, was it something you were cool with?

Stoudamire: Irony of that was I had known Doug for years.  Me and Doug are kind from the same area so I was happy with that move.

Bairos: I cant speak about Doug and not ask about his wife Jackie who I think gets the NBA wife award for tightest leash. Is that something you saw first hand?

Stoudamire: (laughing) I plead the fifth (laughing) I plead the fifth (laughing).

Bairos: Media wise during your tenure they would have in the newspaper full pages explaining a referee’s call. They had to explain basketball to Canadian people. Can you reflect on how that was?

Stoudamire: I think the media was always fair and good to me. At the same time they were trying to educate themselves on basketball. I feel our team was kind of like the pioneers that helped them. It was kind of like a trial and error process, just like it was a trial and error process for the whole country. You may have kept up with basketball but hockey was that deal. It is what it is. Hockey, the Blue Jays if I’m not mistaken had a nice little squad and that’s how  I remembered it being up there. Just trying to educate the media with a trial by error process through my years up there.

Bairos: Playing for coach Brendan Malone, what was that like?

Stoudamire: Brendan Malone I talk to every time I see him. He’s a good dude and sometimes the business of basketball sometimes messes us all up. He was only there for one year or what not but Brandon I tell you I learned a lot from. He was a great dude, he was very organized, very meticulous, very detail oriented and that just kind of went along with all the coaches I had ever been with from that stand point and It was great playing for him.

Bairos: What about Darrel Walker, back in the day were you as big a fan of him as he was of you?

Stoudamire: Darrell was more of a players coach, a little more enthusiastic, a little more fire in him. Darrel is going to get after you, look he might even try to fight you ya know. But it is what it is. Brendan and Darrell each had there strengths in their own way and it was great playing for both of those guys.

Bairos: The expansion squad was a collective group that got along well. Acie Earl had a reputation for being a team joker and one night late in the season at Boston, Earl scored 40 points. The first 40 point game in franchise history. How crazy was that?

Stoudamire: My rookie year I sat out the last 10 games of the season with a knee injury and that was one of those games. I was actually back home in Portland, Oregon rehabbing because the team was on the road and I didn’t go on the trip. So I’m watching the game on T.V. and honestly all I could do was laugh. I was with my boys watching the game and we just couldn’t believe it. Crazy thing about it was Acie played for Boston so you know how crazy that guy Tommy Heinsohn can be on the mic.Tommy Heinsohn was just like “I cant believe Acie Earl is doing x, y and z! Where was this at when he was a Celtic” (laughing) I was just like wow but I was happy for Acie, he was one of those guys just like most of the guys on the team that brought a lot of energy, they brought a lot of fun to the team and all though our record didn’t show it man, we were a together team but we just didn’t have enough. 

Bairos: Your exit now, the media kind of painted it toxic. They painted a picture that as soon as Isiah was out you wanted out. Was that the case?

Stoudamire: I think a lot of things went on during that time and honestly l just didn’t know what I was going to do. Going into my third year I could’ve got a contract extension with the team but little did I know at that time that the team didn’t have a whole lot of money. The ownership change was coming but little did anybody know it. We were under the cap but we didn’t have a lot of money. The contract offer that they made me at that time honestly wasn’t market value if you know what I mean. I had that on the table, or I could have just played it out. I wanted to play it out and had no idea that all the stuff that happened was going to happen. So then  all of a sudden Isiah, John Bitove and everybody goes the other way and I was like where do we go from here.

Bairos: Anything from those tumultuous times that you would want to clarify to Raptorland?

Stoudamire: What I want to clarify is what bothered me most about the situation. It wasn’t the fact that I wanted to leave Toronto, it was at that time nobody could sit up there and say there was stability with what was going on. It wasn’t a matter of me dissing Toronto or not wanting to be a Raptor because obviously if you look back on it I probably stay a Raptor my whole career and never leave. Who know’s I might still be living there. My point is I never wanted to leave, all I wanted to do was see a vision. They ended up making some great moves. Drafting Carter, trading Marcus [Camby] for Oakley but you couldn’t read it at that time. So I had an opportunity to go to a contending team and it just made sense. The things that happened with me it didn’t happen to do with Toronto the city itself, because in so many ways I kind of owned the city. Why would I want to leave somewhere where everybody loves you? So that didn’t make sense to me. I just wanted to be in a situation where we had a chance to win. At that time I was going to sign a six or seven year deal and I just wanted to do things in the right way.

Bairos: Any thing you look back and wished you could have done differently?

Stoudamire: I will say this, some of the things I said, being so young, I feIt I could have done it in a different way.  In terms of moving I just didn’t know the direction of the team and I felt like what I did was best for me at that time. That was a rough moment for me. That was hard, change is hard. People don’t understand I was there a short period of time but you get to know people, restaurants, I had my routine and I am a routine guy and don’t like breaking routine. All of a sudden mid stream I had to break routine. I was 22 and I just didn’t know nothing about the business of basketball at that time.  I’ll never forget we were in Jersey and it was about 9 in the morning and I get a call from the Blazers President Bob Whitsitt and he just said we made a deal for you and your coming home.

Bairos: Moving on, it’s only a matter of time before a Canadian baller gets to play at home here in Toronto. Yourself and Derrick Rose were two players that for the most part succeeded at playing in your home towns when many people say it is extremely difficult to do. Do you have to be a certain breed to survive playing at home?

Stoudamire: You gotta be thick skinned playing at home. Especially as a starter and as such an integral part of the team. Your going to be ridiculed as much as anyone on the team and much more will be expected from you. Playing in Portland every time I looked at the crowd I felt like I knew everybody. If I didn’t know everybody I knew 75% of the crowd and the other 25% of the crowd I had seen there face before. You gotta be tough and your circle has to be tough to play at home. I didn’t really believe this until it happened but now I truly believe this. You never change as a person but the people around you change with their expectations. I really believe that. You have to be a mature person to deal with that because your not going to make everybody happy. Your going to lose some friends along the way you know but at the end of the day if your strong you can make it happen.

Bairos: So after it was all said and done, do the pros out weigh the cons? Was playing at home everything you expected or even better?

Stoudamire: It can be up and down or rocky but what better feeling then lets say for example your from Mississauga, and you play for the Raptors. What better feeling then knowing twelve different ways to get to the game if there is traffic on the freeway? What better feeling then to win games in front of people that you know? There is no better feeling and you don’t want to leave. When you get to the playoffs the vibe is there, it’s the spring time, the sun is out, the people are excited and I’m telling you its just a great feeling to rep your hometown. I played in Portland for 8 years, I was one of the longest tenured Blazers during those runs that we had. There was ups and downs but for the most part it was worth it. 

Bairos: How about Arizona University. You are now an assistant coach at your old stomping grounds. The Wildcats have produced so many NBA point guards to the point they are known as point guard U. Mike Bibby, Miles Simon, Jason Terry, Jerryd Bayless, Gilbert Arenas I mean is their a certain formula in Tucson to breed NBA point guards?

Stoudamire: It really wasn’t like that when I first got yo Arizona. What I always tell people is that me and another guy I played with by the name of Khalid Reeves, we were kind of the pioneers of the point guard U. We were coach Olsen’s first guards that how he put it to us we were able to do the things that nobody else could do that he had coached. He was like I cant hold you guys back so I got to see if this thing can work and we went to the Final Four. The profile just kind of took off from there. Then you had a Jason Terry, you have a Mike Bibby, actually Miles was with me, although he wasn’t a point guard he was still a very good guard. Then you get Gilbert Arenas and all these guys were just added in and what happens is if you start to see a legacy then guys will say damn I want to be a part of that. Especially if they are putting guys out like that. That’s just kind of how it went. I take a whole lot of pride in that because like I said before Kahlid and I got there Arizona wasn’t thought about like that. Coach Olsen’s strengths was more for a big man. I take a lot of pride in that now. When you watch today you expect a good point guard in Arizona.

Bairos: Last but not least is there any moment in your Toronto tenure that stands out more then any other? An award, single game or anything like that. Like looking back twenty years ago any moment your like damn, felt like yesterday?

Stoudamire: The Raptors biggest moment as a franchise with me in my rookie year was when we beat Chicago. They won 72 games and that to me was the franchise high because that was over and beyond. I don’t think anybody expected that and that was a special day for us. Also for me my moment that I felt like I belonged in the NBA in my mind was when we played Chicago the third game of the season at Chicago. Michael Jordan was playing point guard and I had an excellent game. I don’t remember my exact numbers but I had a double-double (22 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds). That game right there I just knew I belonged and I didn’t have to act giddy or goddy. It told me it was something I was capable of doing on a consistent basis. That was like my defining moment.

There you have it. Stoudamire would go on to play 13 seasons in the NBA and then coach another three. Now he is an assistant at his alma matter Arizona. Vince Carter may get the notoriety but for life long Raptor fans they will tell you how much Damon was missed. He made Toronto proud second to none. Stoudamire gave the city of Toronto something to hold on to from a basketball standpoint when there was nothing to hold on to at the time.

For that, as pioneer in Raptors history, Damon deserves a standing ovation.