He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Indiana Pacers, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks.

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.

However, some critics claimed 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 off-season.

On August 24, 2004, Dampier was signed and traded to the Dallas Mavericks along with Dan Dickau, Evan Eschmeyer and rights to Steve Logan in exchange for Christian Laettner, Eduardo Nájera, 2 future first-round picks, the draft rights to Luis Flores and Mladen Sekularac, and a trade exception.

On July 13, 2010, Dampier was traded to the Charlotte Bobcats along with Matt Carroll and Eduardo Nájera in exchange for Tyson Chandler and Alexis Ajinça.