NEW YORK -- Losing Erick Dampier to the Mavericks might look as if it's minimized the Knicks' odds of accomplishing something meaningful this season and maximized Dallas' chances of winning the West, but there's a little-known overcast medical fact about him that might diminish New Yorkers' depression.
The company that insures Mavericks players feels Dampier's thrice-surgically-repaired knees are too risky to cover apropos to a specific injury; it's called an exclusion pertaining to a pre-existing condition.
Meaning the company is not liable to pick up the normal 80 percent of the team's $72 million tab, confirms Mark Cuban by e-mail, should the 29-year-old become disabled throughout his six-year deal due to that specific knee injury. Or until the Mavs can prove the previous injury has healed, "which we hope is this year," stresses the Mavericks' maverick.