After seeing center Erick Dampier injured his right shoulder against the New York Kicks on Friday, the Dallas Mavericks contacted 44-year old center Kevin Willis. Willis was cleared physically and signed to a 10-day contact today.
Willis last played 29 games for the Atlanta Hawks during the 2004-05 season. He did not play in 2005-06. Over the course of his career, he played 20 seasons with seven teams, including the first decade of his career with the Hawks. He’s also played for Miami, Houston, Toronto, Denver and Golden State. During his career, the 7-foot, 245-pound center averaged 12.2 PPG and 8.4 RPG.
Willis will platoon with center DeSagana Diop who is in his sixth NBA season and his second with Dallas. Diop, who is averaging 17.3 minutes per game has hit for 1.9 PPG and 3.6 RPG.
This season Dampier averaged 7.3 PPG and 7.6 RPG. Earlier this season Dampier was sidelined briefly with a sore right knee.
Dallas is the number one seed in the Western Conference and at 61- 12 has the best record of any NBA team. The Phoenix Suns hold the second-best record in the league with a 55- 18 record.
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