http://www.indystar.com/articles/7/192681-9237-179.html Deuces wild With Shaquille O'Neal gone to the Eastern Conference and the Dallas Mavericks among a group of Western Conference teams angling for supremacy, Mavericks center Erick Dampier is feeling pretty good these days. The former Pacers center has even taken to boasting a bit. While waxing about his position among the best centers in the game, Dampier wasn't bashful. "I consider myself right behind Shaq," he said. "Some people are going to say top three, but personally, I consider myself the second best." On opening night, he was second best on the court, as Kendallville, Ind., native and Sacramento center Brad Miller lit him up for 24 points. And, of course, there are 1.3 billion Chinese and quite a few NBA executives who would dispute Dampier's opinion about the league's No. 2 big man, considering the presence of China's Yao Ming in Houston.
I consider myself 2nd best small forward behind Tmac, eventhough I am 5'11 and weighs about 250 pounds.
Dem's is fightin' woids Dallas better front Yao and play the passing lanes, or Yao will teach Dampier some humility -- droxford
Second? He's not even top five . . . What about Brad Miller, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Eddy Curry, Ben Wallace, or Vlade Divac, not to mention Yao Ming? Can't wait to see Yao Ming drop 30 on him
hahaha That's just pathetic... So many centers are better than Dampier. Curry, Miller, Big Ben, Z, Magloire and he can't even touch Yao.
12ppg/12rpg is the best he'll ever get. And that was on his contract year. I'm from the bay area and I've been watching that loser all these years. His "defense" on yao is grabbing and pushing yao in the back with both arms.
dampier is a good player but not the second best center in the leauge, for he is just somebody very useful u use in a team zho already have their core players and just need some good role players
Dude lost his mind after 3 wins,,,, can't blame him though. Since when did Warriors win 3 games in a row last year.
Eddy Curry Say what you want about Dampier - but there's no way Curry is better than him!! Shaq, Ming, Ilgauskus, Big Ben are all clearly better - but you've gotta say that Damp would be up there with the rest of the contenders!
i dunno what the deal w/shaq is. he has been putting up rather modest numbers. i suppose he's still the best, but it's not as clear cut as in previous seasons.
dont know why they say "the former Pacer", I meanhe played his rookie season with Indy, then spent the next seven seasons as a Warrior. thats how I know him, as a former warrior
That's because it's from an Indy paper. These media guys seem to always try to mention local ties. I live in LA and I constantly read referances about guys in pro ball with the tag, "former USC standout" even if they are way more famous for their pro days and didn't have a huge college career. Maybe it's in their contract or something.
Have you seen Curry play? Don't read the statline, watch him play. He is going to be a VERY nice player in the league, and he's already a pretty dangerous weapon right now, certainly better than Dampier.
