$1.9 Billion Ex-Grizzlies Owner Repaid Damon Stoudamire’s Debt With a 2-Year NBA Offer

During his tenure as an assistant coach with the Memphis Grizzlies, Damon Stoudamire helped the team complete the most successful season in franchise history. They finished third in the Southwest Division with a 46-36 record in 2010-11. However, did Stoudamire really want to be a coach, or did he bag that job for some other reasons?

While talking about his initial coaching job with the Grizzlies during an episode of ‘Broken Play’, Stoudamire revealed that everything started because the then-owner of the Grizzlies owed him money.

“The Memphis Grizzlies called me. Now, a lot of people don’t know that I got that job because the owner, who since passed away, Michael Heisley, I deferred some money, so the dude owed me some money. So he told the new coach who got the job, Lionel Hollins… ‘We’ll call Damon cause I owe him some money anyway’,” said the 1996 ROTY.

As per Forbes, Heisley, who passed away in April 2014, had a net worth of $1.9 billion. He was the last on the Forbes billionaires list in 2012. In the following year, he fell off the list.

As a player, Stoudamire had signed a 4-year deal with the Grizzlies as he was coming off the best season of his career with the Portland Trail Blazers. He was hoping to lead the Grizzlies, as he was a 10-year veteran, and was ready to replace Jason Williams, who was traded to the Miami Heat just three days earlier. But things did not turn out as everyone hoped. Stoudamire got injured early in the season and had to undergo a season-ending surgery. He wasn’t the same player after that. This led to the Grizzlies waiving him in 2008.

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All of this eventually turned out to be a blessing for Stoudamire, as he later used this experience to continue his coaching career. He is currently the head coach of Georgia Tech and recently made history by taking down Duke in his debut match against them.

Damon Stoudamire has a blend of college and NBA coaching experience

Stoudamire has coached several college teams as well as NBA teams. He has more than a decade of coaching experience. Currently, he is Georgia Tech’s new head coach and is on a five-year contract. Tech officials are hopeful that his strong playing and coaching profile will bolster its team.

Georgia Tech even witnessed its first big win under Stoudamire after they defeated Duke, 72-68. After the Yellow Jackets’ previous losses against UMass-Lowell and Cincinnati in November, they rolled their sleeves up and delivered.

The other college teams Stoudamire had previously coached include Memphis, Arizona, and Rice. What do you think of Damon Stoudamire’s coaching career? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

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