You guys stood by me when the world left me for dead. I’m thankful that God brought me to Sacramento and let me be a King. “It was because of you guys that this worked. “When I came here at the beginning, I really didn’t know what to expect," Webber told the crowd. The current Kings, including former Webber teammates Brad Miller and Bobby Jackson, sneaked onto the court to watch the ceremony during the 23-minute halftime, with Kevin Martin lounging across the scorers’ table. Webber got a two-minute standing ovation and raucous chants of “C-Webb! C-Webb!" when he stepped to center court under a spotlight at halftime. “Those memories of mine, the best moments that I’ve had in my life, they were here," said Webber, who made four All-Star teams and led the Kings to within an overtime Game 7 loss of the NBA finals in 2002. Gary Payton, Webber’s partner in the former stars’ promising new careers as television analysts, and Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson also were in attendance. “This was a really unexpected honor, one that I never expected to receive." Vlade Divac, Doug Christie, Scot Pollard and Mateen Cleaves were among the former teammates who returned to Sacramento for Webber’s ceremony. “I’m just happy, humbled, excited - having every emotion you can think of, including a stomach that’s tied up in knots," said Webber, who didn’t betray any of those nerves in his gray three-button suit and bright-red tie with matching pocket square. Yet that’s exactly where Webber ended up Friday night when the Kings retired their former power forward’s number in recognition of his pivotal role in this long-struggling franchise’s greatest years. 4 jersey in Arco’s rafters some day would have been the most improbable thought of all. The ex-NBA rookie of the year certainly never imagined the best times of his life would occur in drafty old Arco Arena with a patchwork collection of teammates who somehow played sublime basketball together. 1 draft pick initially had no intention of ever playing for that scruffy franchise out in some remote part of California. When Chris Webber was traded to the Sacramento Kings nearly 11 years ago, the former No. Webber would feel like a Wolverine again if that happened.īut until Michigan does something like that, nothing is going to change.SACRAMENTO, Calif. Webber, the player, deserves to have his jersey hanging from the rafters of Michigan’s Crisler Center. If Michigan really wants to accept Webber as a Wolverine again, they’ll acknowledge what he was on the court. Webber doesn’t need to meet Michigan’s athletic director to feel like he’s part of Michigan again. They are a part of history that should be acknowledged. They did not get those banners because Martin gave Webber some cash. At the very least, Michigan owes it to the other four members of the Fab Five to put their banners back up. There was a lot of ugly in this whole situation and there were a lot of hurt feelings. "If it's not something that affects their bottom line, they're not going to be in a rush to act." "They can choose to acknowledge what we accomplished regardless of what he does. He is a Michigan legend.Ĭhris Webber not on Chris it's on Michigan," Jalen Rose told the Detroit News. They should realize, whether they want to acknowledge it or not, he’s the best player to ever play for Michigan. They should also realize that Webber made Michigan a whole lot more money than he was ever given by Ed Martin. If Webber decided to donate some money to the school, which he ironically is now allowed to do since the disassociation has ended, I’m sure Coleman and Brandon would be more than willing to take his money. If that’s how Michigan wants to be, fine.Ĭoleman and Brandon can choose not to forgive some men who made a choice a long time ago as kids that almost any kid would have made. “But I think you have to reflect on the larger meaning and that we want to hold ourselves to a higher standard.” “Some day, I won't be president anymore, and maybe someone else will have a different view,” Coleman told The Michigan Daily, the school’s student paper, last year. University president Mary Sue Coleman took down the Final Four banners Webber helped raise, and as recently as a last year, she made it clear those banners aren’t going back up as long as she’s around. They took every opportunity to turn up their nose at Webber. Those in charge at Michigan felt like they could. Was it a mistake for them to take money? Yes. Webber, Maurice Taylor, Robert Traylor (now deceased) and Louis Bullock were made out to be the bad guys for accepting money from a bad guy in Ed Martin. This disassociation was not Michigan’s doing-it was the NCAA’s.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |