Erick Dampier
Erick Trevez Dampier (born
July 14 1975, in
Jackson, Mississippi) is a 6 ft 11 in / 265 lb.
center who currently plays for the
Dallas Mavericks in the
NBA.
Dampier played college
basketball at
Mississippi State University. He was an early entry to the 1996 NBA draft after his junior season, in which he led MSU to the
1996 Southeastern Conference tournament championship, and the
NCAA Final Four before being drafted as the tenth pick in the first round by the
Indiana Pacers.
He played 72 games in his rookie year with the Pacers, starting 21 of them and finishing with averages of 5.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. On
August 12 1997 he and
Duane Ferrell were traded to the
Golden State Warriors for likely future Hall of Famer
Chris Mullin.
He spent the next seven years, primarily as the starting center, for the Warriors, hitting his peak production in 2003-04 with averages of 12.3 points, 12 rebounds and 1.85 blocks per game. However, some criticized that he stepped up his production because he was in a contract year, and indeed he was considered a top free-agent commodity in the 2004 offseason.
Eventually he signed with the Mavericks, and in his first season in Dallas he played in 59 games (starting 56), averaging 9.2 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.85 blocks per game. However, in the
2005 playoffs, he played against elite centers
Yao Ming and
Amare Stoudemire and was criticized as inconsistent and foul-prone.
In his second Mavs season, Dampier acquired a decent backup in
DeSagana Diop. Together, they form one of the strongest defensive center rotations in the NBA.
Dampier is a big and powerful player who possesses good footwork for a center. He is a good rebounder, especially on the offensive end, and one of the few players who can at least slow down
Shaquille O'Neal in the post on pure physical power. Dampier's offensive input is limited, but he is a decent defender. He is also rarely injured, having played 229 of 246 possible team games in his last three years.
The main weakness of Dampier is arguably his inconsistency. During his contract year in Golden State, he was a steady
double-double player, but has dropped to single digits in both points and rebounds since then. He even lost his starting spot to DeSagana Diop in the next season, but seems more efficient coming off the bench.
*Dampier once proclaimed that he was the second-best center in the NBA (behind
Shaquille O'Neal). At the time, Dampier was coming off a 12 point/12 rebound per game season. The media brought up the quote again months later during the Mavericks' playoff series against the Rockets in an attempt to spark up a rivalry which made him the target of jokes by O'Neal, who said while being injured he "played like Erick Dampier" and continues to lampoon the center up to now, calling him "Erica Dampier" and that he belongs in the
WNBA.
*His nickname is "Damp".
*
NBA.com - Erick Dampier*
ESPN.com - Erick Dampier*
NBA Fantasy Basketball Stats - Erick Dampier
