His ascent to stardom at Michigan gave rise to the wave of athletic power forwards and now centers whose games have become multi-dimensional and opened up the game. Kevin Garnett, Amare Stoudemire, Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, and Carlos Boozer are just a few of the players who have reaped the benefits of Webber’s impact.
That impact was felt the moment he stepped on the court in Ann Arbor along with Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Ray Jackson and Jimmy King to form “The Fab 5”. “The Fab 5” brought a brand of basketball to the country that had previously been identified by a player or two on the court, but these were five guys who’s flair and style on the court were identical with their skill set. The baggy shorts, the black socks, the alley-oop dunks all became part of the allure of Michigan basketball. For two seasons, Chris Webber was the center of attention when Michigan was on the court. Whether on the receiving in of an alley-oop pass from Jalen Rose, grabbing a rebound and going coast to coast for the dunk or simply muscling his opponent beneath the basket, Webber became a star!
Webber and “The Fab 5” went on to consecutive NCAA title game appearances, both of which resulted in losses to perennial powers Duke and North Carolina, the second which featured an embarrassing moment for Chris. After grabbing a clutch rebound and getting away with a travel, Webber dribbled up the court before getting trapped by Carolina defenders. In an attempt to save the possession and give the Wolverines a chance to tie or take the lead, he called timeout. The problem was, Michigan was out of timeouts and charged a two-shot technical foul and lost possession to North Carolina, clinching the game for the Tarheels.
Those were his final moments in maze and blue, Webber declared for that summer’s NBA Draft and was taken #1 overall by the Orlando Magic, but dealt to the Golden State Warriors for Anfernee Hardaway, ending any dreams of pairing Webber with the previous year’s #1 pick, Shaquille O’Neal. Chris would go on to average 17.5 points per game and 9.1 rebounds and helped to lead the Warriors into the playoffs while capturing the Rookie of the Year award. The playoff run was short-lived as the Warriors faced the eventual Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns in the first round and were subsequently swept 3-0. Webber managed to create one of the greatest dunks of all-time over NBA legend Charles Barkley.
However, conflicts with head coach Don Nelson over playing center led to a rocky relationship which ended his run in Golden State after one season before being traded to the Washington Bullets (now Wizards). While in Washington, he was reunited with “Fab 5” teammate Juwan Howard for three seasons, making his first All-Star team 1997 and along with Rasheed Wallace carried the Bullets to the playoffs where they were swept by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
Yet again, Chris wore out his welcome and was shipped off to the Sacramento Kings, a perennial loser in the NBA. However, along with Webber came Vlade Divac and Jason Williams, Peja Stojackovic soon followed and the Kings were among the NBA elite following the lead of C-Webb. He had his best years in Sacramento, where he averaged 23.5 points and 9.8 rebounds over six and half seasons. Leading the Kings to the Western Conference Finals in the 2001-2002 season, where they lost the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games.
In game two of the 2003 Western Conference Semifinals against the Dallas Mavericks, Webber went down with a knee injury that led to him needing microfracture surgery, a procedure that was truly the turning point of his career. When he returned to the court, that burst was gone, the athleticism was reduced, yet he was cerebral enough to still average a double-double, yet the Chris Webber that people expected was gone.
Over the next few years, he was playing against a ghost, his own. The window of opportunity for a title in Sacramento began to close and much of the blame was placed directly on his shoulders. Unfair as it was, his debilitating knee injury made it nearly impossible to compete at the high level people had grown accustomed to seeing him play, couple that with emerging teams in the Western Conference and Sacramento knew they had to go in another direction. The team was slowly dismantled and Webber found himself in Philadelphia playing alongside Allen Iverson.
A high basketball IQ and pure skills allowed him to average 20 points and 10 rebounds per game again, but Philadelphia was entering a rebuilding stage and decided to buy out the remaining two years on his contract, paying him $25 million to become a free agent. He signed with the hometown Detroit Pistons in hopes of winning that elusive NBA title. He became a key player on a team that made a run to the Eastern Conference, but was upset by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
However, Detroit decided that they will attempt to get younger and more athletic, so they did not resign him in the offseason. He spurned offers to play in Europe and two 10-day contracts as a tryout from the Lakers to return to Golden State and play for Don Nelson. Their relationship repaired over the years, the two decided to give it one last run with the young Warriors, but Webber’s knee was unable to sustain and after 9 games, he decided that the NBA had seen the last of C-Webb.
When he entered the NBA, Webber began studying how to collect artifacts and began a collection of African-American artifacts that includes slave records, an original autobiography of Booker T. Washington and other mementos from African-American legends such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and Frederick Douglas. He unveiled his collection last summer at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History in Detroit. Additionally, he has ventured into the music world, releasing a solo hip-hop album in 1999 and producing a track for Nas.
He never won an NBA title, never had the huge endorsement deals and may never get his due as a trend setter on the court, but Chris Webber was a man who went about things his own way, on and off the court. Who knows what’s next for him, but history tells us it will be extraordinary.
Leave a respond
Post a Comment