In the summer of 2004, the Lone Ranger signed free agent Eric Dampier for seven years and 73 million.
In the NBA league at that time, the number of 73 million was really not small.
Dampier, who entered the league with the 10th pick in 1996, averaged 12.3 points and 12 rebounds per game for the Golden State Warriors in the 03-04 season and was a quality center player.
However, he is not seen as an All-Star interior.
And when it comes to Dampier, we have to mention his story with Yao Ming:
In the 04-05 season, Yao Ming's red team will face the Nowitzki-led lone rangers in the playoffs. Supposedly, this was a head-on conversation between the German chariot and Yao Mai.
But Dampier's words caused a lot of shock at the time. He boasted that he was the second center in the entire NBA, behind O'Neal.
At that time, O'Neal had already moved to Miami, in other words, Dampier believed that he was the first center in the West.
As a Chinese fan, you will not agree with Dampier's words.
Later, as we all know, Yao Ming's team drank and hated in the battle of the seven and regretted to stop in the first round.
So, how did Yao Ming and Dampier perform in this series?
In seven playoff games, Yao Ming averaged 21.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, shooting 65.5% from the field.
Dampier's stats are averaging just 6.3 points and six rebounds per game.
The two have met 26 times in the NBA, with Yao Ming averaging 20+6 per game, while the "league's second center" is only 6+6.
In terms of rank, Dampier obviously cannot be compared with Yao Ming.
Throughout his career, Yao Ming has been regarded as one of the best interior in the league, and Dampier has played the role of coolie a lot of times, and at Nowitzki's side, he was more on the defensive end.
In 16 years of professional career, he played for the Pacers, Warriors, Lone Rangers, Heat and Eagles, and Dampier averaged 7+7 per game.
And he is well known to Chinese fans precisely because of his "wild words".
Brothers, remember Dampier as a player?