Cat tracks: Damon Stoudamire sets an ugly NBA record

Damon Stoudamire is one former Arizona Wildcat who holds a unique and not-so-impressive NBA record, though it depends on how you look at the word "impressive" to really judge what he did on April 15, 2005. While checking out the Wikipedia page that compiled the lists of All-Time NBA records, my editor at Dime Magazine came across this gnarly statistic.

In his final game with the Portland Trailblazers, Stoudamire launched a league-record 21 three-pointers while playing a full 48 minutes. That won't put him in the Hall of Fame. Not only was it confusing to first learn of Mighty Mouse tallying that mark, but it was even more concerning that he only made FIVE of those 21 shots.

That's a 21:4 ratio of three-pointers to twos, a compelling statistic that could quite possibly be its own record for players taking more than a few shots in one game.

Oh, but I forgot to add this tidbit. While shooting atrociously, the dude totally had a triple double, scoring 18 points, dropping 11 dimes and racking up 12 rebounds. 

Weirdest. Box score. Ever.

Now, Stoudamire is coaching under former Wildcat Josh Pastner of Memphis. The only attribute to tell me about that single game against the Golden State Warriors can be dug out of these few sentences from Stoudamire when I was talking to him for Dime about how NBA Draft prospects like Isaiah Thomas were knocked because of their size.

Dime: Watching the Finals with little guys like J.J. Barea running around, do you think height is an overrated thing that teams look at. Like in the draft, there are guys like Isaiah Thomas, guys that aren’t 6-feet tall. You were one of them. Is that something that people look into too much?

DS: I think they always have. Once you get stereotyped it’s always going to be hard. There’s no substitute for height anyway. Kids have got to understand that this day in age, everybody is always looking for something better. Play with a chip on your shoulder, understand what’s going on, understand that they’re trying to replace you every year. Everybody’s going to go through it, I went through it. Isaiah Thomas, like you said, he’s going to go through it. It’s like you’re trying to prove everybody wrong at every stop.

Being the little guy is something that Stoudamire really related to, and his reckless shooting and 12 boards that single game, in a way, says a lot about what made him a consistent and successful NBA player for all those years.