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Chris Webber

Position	Power Forward/Center
Nickname	C-Webb
League	NBA
Height	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Weight	245 lb (111 kg)
Team	Detroit Pistons
Nationality	United States
Born	March 1, 1973 (age 34) Detroit, Michigan
College	Michigan
Draft	1st overall, 1993 Orlando Magic
Pro career	1993–present
Former teams	Golden State Warriors 1993–94 Washington Bullets/Wizards 1994–98 Sacramento Kings 1998–2005 Philadelphia 76ers 2005–07
Awards	1994 NBA Rookie of the Year 5-time All-Star All-American(1993) National High School Player of the Year (1991)

Mayce Edward Christopher Webber III, better known as Chris Webber (born March 1, 1973, in Detroit, Michigan), is an American professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the NBA. As a professional basketball player, he is a 5-time NBA All-Star, a former NBA rebounding champion, a former NBA Rookie of the Year, and a former #1 overall NBA draftee. As a collegian, he is a former NCAA Men's Basketball first team All-American and he is well remembered for his leadership of the University of Michigan Wolverines' 1991 incoming freshman class known as the Fab Five, composed of himself, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson that reached the 1992 & 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship games as both Freshmen and Sophomores, and his involvement in the scandal that led to forfeiting those games.^[1] As a scholastic player he is a former National High School Basketball Player of the Year who led his high school to three Michigan State High School Basketball Championships.

Contents 1 High school career 2 College career 3 NBA career 3.1 Golden State Warriors 3.2 Washington Bullets/Wizards 3.3 Sacramento Kings 3.4 Philadelphia 76ers 3.5 Detroit Pistons 4 Legal trouble 5 Legacy 6 African American artifacts 7 Charity 8 Trivia 9 Awards 10 Statistical Highlights 11 Notes 12 External links

Chris Webber prepped at Detroit Country Day School and at the time was the most recruited Michigan basketball player since Magic Johnson. Chris led Country Day to three MHSAA State championships. As a senior in high school Webber averaged 28 points and 13 rebounds per game. He was named Michigan's Mr. Basketball and the 1990-1991 National High School player of the year.

After graduating from Detroit Country Day School (where his number, 44, is retired) and playing for the Yellow Jackets, he went to college at the University of Michigan for two years. While a Michigan Wolverine, Webber led the group known as the Fab Five, which included himself, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson. This group, all of whom entered Michigan as freshmen in the fall of 1991, took the basketball team to the NCAA finals twice. The Fab Five, sporting long, baggy shorts and black shoes, became immensely popular as they were seen as bringing a hip hop flavor to the game. Four of the Fab Five (Webber, Rose, Howard, and King) made the NBA, and three of them (Webber, Rose and Howard) are still playing today.

On April 5, 1993, at Michigan's second consecutive NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship game, Webber infamously called a time-out with 11 seconds left in the game when his team, down 73-71, did not have any remaining, resulting in a technical foul that effectively clinched the game for North Carolina. The game marked the end of Webber's acclaimed two year collegiate basketball career. In his second season, he was a first team All-American selection and a finalist for the John R. Wooden Award and Naismith College Player of the Year.^[2]

In 1993, Webber was selected first in the NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic, who immediately traded him to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Anfernee Hardaway and three future first round draft picks. In the 1993 NBA Draft, Webber became the first sophomore since Magic Johnson to be the first overall selection.^[2]

He had an outstanding first year, averaging 17 points and nine rebounds per game and thus winning the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. He was instrumental in leading the Warriors back into the playoffs. However, he had a long-standing conflict with his coach, Don Nelson. Nelson wanted to make Webber primarily a post player, despite Webber's superb passing ability and good ball handling skills for someone his size at 6'10" (2.08 m) tall. By the 1994 offseason, Nelson felt that he could no longer coach Webber.

Webber was traded in his second year to the Washington Bullets, where he was reunited with his college teammate and friend, Juwan Howard. He spent the next three years with the Bullets (later renamed the Washington Wizards), although in the 1995-96 season injuries limited him to 15 games. Webber rebounded from the injury and was named to his first All-Star team in 1997. In 1997, Webber led the Bullets into the playoffs for the first time in 9 years, but they were swept by the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls. By 1998, Webber had established himself as a great power forward, but his time in Washington had also worn out.

On May 14, 1998, Webber was traded to the Sacramento Kings for Mitch Richmond and Otis Thorpe. Webber did not want to go to Sacramento, as they were a perennial losing team. Webber even states that he almost did not get on the plane that flew him from his Detroit home to Sacramento. His father convinced him otherwise.

When Webber arrived, the Kings also signed center Vlade Divac and drafted point guard Jason Williams. In the 1999 season, The Kings almost upset the veteran Utah Jazz, led by league MVP Karl Malone. In years to come, Webber and the Kings became an exciting team, and also NBA title contenders. He was named to the All-Star team in 2000 and 2001 while cementing his status as one of the premier power forwards in the NBA. Webber peaked in the 2000-01 season where he averaged a career-high 27.1 points and 11.1 rebounds.

On July 27, 2001 Webber signed a $127 million, seven-year contract with the Kings. However, he drew controversy from Sacramento fans through his large salary, frequent injuries, and the team's overall good performance while he was on the bench. However, in 2002, Webber led the Kings to a franchise record 61-21. He also made his fourth All Star team. and they made it to the Western Conference Finals, against the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. The Kings put up a good fight against the Lakers, eventually bowing out in 7 games. Despite the disappointing result, the series was the high point of Webber's stint in Sacramento.

The next season, Webber put up another superb year, averaging 23 points and 11 rebounds per game. He was cited as a possible MVP candidate, and made his fifth consecutive All-Star team. In a bad sign of what was to come, Webber missed the All Star game with an injured knee. Nevertheless, he returned and the Kings were among the favorites to win the NBA Championship.

In the second game of the 2003 Western Conference Semifinals against the Dallas Mavericks, Webber suffered a career-threatening knee injury that forced him to miss nearly a year of action. After microfracture surgery, he returned for the final 25 games of the 2003-04 season, but his athleticism, agility, and mobility had just started to get better.

In February 2005, Webber, along with Michael Bradley and Matt Barnes, was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for power forward Kenny Thomas, forward/center Brian Skinner, and well-known former King Corliss Williamson. Webber took some time to fit in with the 76ers offense, as he was a second scoring option for the first time in his career. However, he did help catapult the Sixers to a berth in the 2005 playoffs, where the Sixers lost to the Detroit Pistons. However, they did not reach the playoffs in 2006, despite Webber putting up a resurgent 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. However with microfracture surgery on his knee, Webber lost his lateral quickness and jumping ability. With this he was seen as a defensive liability and was usually benched for the 4th quarters. This caused Webber to reportedly call for a trade. [1]

On Tuesday, April 18, 2006, he and fellow teammate Allen Iverson were fined for not showing up at the Philadelphia 76ers final home game of the season, which was Fan Appreciation Night, despite the fact that both had injuries[2]. One day later, both of them apologized for their actions[3] even thinking it was not a big deal.

During the 2006-2007 season Webber only played 18 of 35 games for the Sixers leading the media to question his motivation. On January 11, 2007 Sixers GM Billy King announced that the Sixers and Webber had agreed to a reported $25 million contract buyout on the remaining two years left on his contract, in effect paying him not to play. Later that day, the Sixers waived Webber, making him a free agent.

On 16 January 2007, Chris Webber signed with the Detroit Pistons. He has stated throughout his career that he always wanted to play for the Pistons. Because his usual number 4 is retired in honor of Joe Dumars, Webber wears number 84.[4]

In 1998, Webber was arrested and charged with assault, resisting arrest, possession of marijuana, driving under the influence of marijuana and five other traffic-related violations after being pulled over for speeding on the way to the practice center at the MCI Center in downtown Washington D.C. Webber pleaded no contest and all charges were eventually dropped.

Later in 1998 during the off-season, while leaving Puerto Rico on a promotional tour for Fila sneakers, Webber paid a $500 fine after U.S. Customs found 11 grams of marijuana in his bag. Soon after Fila dropped Webber as an endorser. Webber sued Fila for wrongful dismissal, but the case was thrown out of court.

In 2002, Webber was charged for lying to a grand jury as part of a larger investigation of misconduct in the University of Michigan's basketball department. Shortly after prosecution witness Ed Martin died, Webber pled guilty to one count of perjury for lying about his role in a scandal in which four players, including himself, were found to have been accepting money well before they came to Michigan. Martin had been paying Webber since the 8th grade: "Webber acknowledged in the plea that in 1994 he gave Martin about $38,000 in cash as partial repayment for expenditures Martin made on his behalf." [[5]].

As a result of the scandal, the NCAA stripped Michigan of its five wins in the 1992 NCAA tournament. Michigan also forfeited the entire 1992-93 season, removed the 1992 and 1993 Final Four banners from the Crisler Arena rafters, and scrubbed Webber's records from its record book. Webber was suspended by the NBA for a total of eight games. Five of the games were for an unnamed violation of the league substance abuse policies and three of the games for perjury to a grand jury. Webber received the suspensions once he recovered from an injury that kept him out for half of the 2003-04 season.

In spite of his talent, Webber has yet to lead a team to an NBA ring. At age 33, and with the 2003 injury that took most of his athleticism, the closest he has been to the title was in 2002, when the Lakers defeated the Kings in the Western Conference Finals.

Webber has always put up solid numbers (he averages 21.4 points and 10.0 rebounds for his whole career.) The Golden State Warriors have yet to make the playoffs in the 12 years since they traded Webber, and Webber led Washington to their first playoffs since 1989 in 1997. They would not reach the playoffs again until 2005, 7 years after trading Webber. Prior to Webber's arrival in 1998, the Kings made the playoffs only twice (1985 and 1996) since they moved to Sacramento from Kansas City in 1985.

Webber was ranked # 64 in SLAM Magazine's Top 75 NBA Players of all time in 2003.

Chris Webber has a personal collection of African American artifacts which he began collecting in 1994. Webber believes that these artifacts are a reflection of his beliefs and aspirations. He initially collected them as encouragements to face life obstacles. His collection includes an original 1901 publication of an autobiography by Booker T. Washington, various documents, letters, and postcards signed by Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X. When not on public exhibit, the artifacts are stored at the Sacramento Public Library's Archival Vault. In previous years the Chris Webber Collection has previously been featured in Crocker Art Museum and Wayne State University. More detailed information can be found on his official website.^[3]

Webber is active in various charities and created The Timeout Foundation in 1993. The foundation's mission is to provide positive educational and recreational opportunities to youth. The four educational objectives are: 1. to encourage and motivate children to read, 2. to help children develop the foundational skills they need to become proficient readers 3. to distribute books to children and encourage them to start home libraries and 4. to provide reading instructions for parents in family literacy programs. The foundation has provided academic scholarships, educational incentives, books, and various donations nationwide.

In 1999, Webber created C-Webb's Crew where a group of tickets at every Kings regular home season game would be donated to at-risk youth and their families. To date, over 3,000 youths and their families have attended a game through C-Webb's Crew.

Community awards Webber has won includes the inaugural Sacramento Kings/Oscar Robertson Triple Double Award, which is annually awarded to a Kings player who exemplifies: team leadership, all-around game, and sportsmanship; the NBA Community Assist Award for his contributions in February 2003, and the Wish Maker of the Year in 2003 awarded by the Sacramento Chapter of the Make a Wish Foundation.

More recently, Webber held a celebrity weekend, Bada Bling!, at the Caesars Palace Hotel in Las Vegas. The event was held from July 28-July 30, 2006 and included a live auction and celebrity poker tournament. Many renowned NBA players participated including then-current and former teammates: Mike Bibby, Brad Miller, Andre Iguodala, Bobby Jackson, Kyle Korver, and his then-current coach, Maurice Cheeks. Other notable participants included Charles Barkley, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Gary Payton, Kenny Smith, Moses Malone, and Stephon Marbury. Numerous entertainers attended as well such as Nas and Common. All of the proceeds were donated to The Timeout Foundation.

• Can be seen at a high school all-American camp in the documentary film, Hoop Dreams.
• He was featured on the reality TV show Hi-Jinks where he pranked several children into thinking they destroyed his NBA Rookie Of The Year trophy.
• He is commonly nicknamed C-Webb, and is sometimes known as Spider and Hot Shot.
• He once dated model Tyra Banks, who was often seen at Kings games.
• Produced a song on the latest Nas album, Hip Hop Is Dead, which is called "Blunt Ashes".
• Opened Basketball Themed Restaurants in November 2006.
• Good friends with Mike Bibby, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, and Latrell Sprewell.

• 5 time All-Star
• 5 times All-NBA — 2001 first team, 1999, 2002, & 2003 second team, 2000 third team
• All Rookie NBA — 1994
• 1994 NBA Rookie of the Year
• 1990-1991 National High School player of the year
• NCAA Men's Division I Basketball All-American 1993
• Retired Jerseys: #44 Detroit Country Day School

• 1999 NBA Rebounding Champion (13.0/gm)

1. ^ http://www.umich.edu/~urecord/0102/Nov11_02/4.shtml
2. ^ ^{a b} Jindrick, Mike. The Under-Appreciated Scapegoat: Chris Webber. legalball.com. Retrieved on February 26, 2007.
3. ^ http://www.crockerartmuseum.org/exhibitions/exhib_pages/Webber03.htm

• NBA.com: Chris Webber Info Page
• Basketball-Reference.com: Chris Webber
• BasketballReference.com: Chris Webber
• Chris Webber's Official Site
• University of Michigan Basketball Statistical Archive

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