PORTLAND, Ore., Oct. 1 (UPI) -- The Portland Trail Blazers have reinstated troubled guard Damon Stoudamire, who said he spent a portion of the summer in a treatment program.
"I want to close a dark chapter in my life and move forward," Stoudamire said on the team's web site. "I'd like to focus on basketball."
Team president Steve Patterson said Stoudamire's $250,000 fine for conduct detrimental to the team would be revoked, and that the Blazers will match a $100,000 donation Stoudamire made to the Albina Head Start facility fund.
"I know I can't throw money at a problem and donating money isn't going to win fans over," Stoudamire said. "You have to earn fans' respect on and off the court."
Last season, he averaged career lows of 6.9 points and 3.5 assists in 59 games.
On July 12, Stoudamire was arrested at Tucson International Airport in Arizona and charged with possession of 40 grams of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, both misdemeanors.
"I'm not an idiot," he said. "I've just made some really bad decisions."
The 5-10 Stoudamire, 30, is scheduled to make $14.375 million this season and $15.75 million in the 2004-05 campaign. The 1996 Rookie of the Year is the NBA's highest-paid player who never has made an All-Star Game.
In 566 games over eight seasons, he has averaged 14.6 points and 6.8 assists per contest.
