Chris Webber's HOF Case (via Grantland)

[bozzwell]

Link to the article:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9682949/chris-webber-hall-fame-case

I always said that if C-Webb had just one NBA ring to his name we would be talking about him as one of the greatest PF's ever without any doubt. Even without rings, the linked article makes a good case why he is still is one of the best and a HOFer.

 

[VF21]

Excellent article!

At one point during the Infamous Game 6, Webber was 6-of-8 from the field and the rest of the Kings were a combined 9-of-30; the Lakers may have blown the Kings out of the building in that game, rendering shady officiating unnecessary, had Webber not shown up and caught fire. Remember: That team should have won the title. Had they done so, this is an entirely different conversation. Webber would likely be a shoo-in, the centerpiece of a champion that played some of the most visually pleasing basketball in recent NBA history. "We were the envy of the country for five years there," says the legendary Pete Carril, the longtime Princeton head coach and Kings assistant during the team's heyday.

 

[Glenn]

That's a nice article that highlights the good stuff and the bad or perhaps better said, average.

I think CWebb is on the cusp and I suspect the "no ring" albatross around his neck will keep him out. I hope I am being unbiased in thinking that this focus on rings is overblown. Richmond has a ring. Horry has a lot.

Anyway, none of it takes away from what he did on the court and I must admit that it took me awhile to appreciate exactly how great he was. I eventually caught on and I hope when time comes to think of the HOA, the voters think like I do. I think we would all like a King in the HOA because, well, just because. I also think Chris is a nice guy albeit flawed and his continued support of Sacramento is wonderful.

 

[chasen4r1]

That was a great article. CWebb is what made me love basketball. I even wore #4 as a kid. What a great day it'd be for Kings fans if he ever made it in. He deserves it, imo... even if I am a little biased

 

[Bricklayer]

Link to the article:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9682949/chris-webber-hall-fame-case

I always said that if C-Webb had just one NBA ring to his name we would be talking about him as one of the greatest PF's ever without any doubt. Even without rings, the linked article makes a good case why he is still is one of the best and a HOFer.

Really, after Mullin made it in I have considered Webber pretty much a shoe in at some point, unless the Michigan scandal is held seriously over his head. Thing is though, with his high post career profile and elbow rubbing with the NBA elite, its hard to see something out of his distant past outweighing the goodwill he has now.

 

[King Baller]

Agreed, CWebb should be in Hall. He made great strides as a King and has been entertaining as an announcer/celebrity.

KB

 

[bozzwell]

Apparently while researching for his Webbed/HOF article, Zach Lowe was so stoked about 98-04 Kings/Webber that he had to f0llow up with another long post:

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-t...e-17-stray-thoughts-from-the-chris-webber-era

While this latest entry brings up some stuff that is not so complimentary about Kings/Webber, I like how it ends:

"I mean, you’d imitate that in your driveway. Damn, those Kings were cool. And they probably should have been champions."

 

[Purple Reign]

Excellent Article on my all time favorite player Chris Webber!!!

With that said, C-Webb is not a Hall of Famer in my mind. If you look at all the modern day inductees into the Hall of Fame (all of C-Webb's contemporaries) from Payton, Reggie Miller, Mullin, Pippen, Malone, Stockton, D. Robinson, Jordan, Olajowon, Ewing and Barkley. Webb played against all of those guys and those guys all either have an NBA ring, NCAA ring, Olympic ring. Patrick Ewing has NCCA and Olympic and Michael Jordan has all three. Chris Webber has none of those AND his career numbers do not even come close to any of those guys.

Don't get me wrong when it comes to cultural impact on the game (Fab Five), one of the top five passing big men in the history of the sport (IMHO), and turning a downtrodden woe be gone franchise into an international brand (Kings), there are few that can compare to Chris Webber and I hope he is at peace with that. My hope is that the fans of Sacramento have come to conclude that in spite of this man's short comings on and off the floor, Chris Webber is a regional treasure!! He was bright, articulate, good looking, and a hell of a basketball player. He helped to create a Sports Entertainment Brand in the Sacramento region and he was an outstanding basketball player. I feel that he was totally unappreciated here and sometimes you don't really appreciate things until you don't have them anymore.

Webb is not a HOF'er formally, but in my book the dude is ledgend. GO KINGS!!!!

 

[NoBonus]

A Championship is a pretty ridiculous criteria in a league with the worst Championship parity in all of sports... So you HOF is going to be people from the five teams that have ever won a championship?

 

[VF21]

...

Don't get me wrong when it comes to cultural impact on the game (Fab Five), one of the top five passing big men in the history of the sport (IMHO), and turning a downtrodden woe be gone franchise into an international brand (Kings), there are few that can compare to Chris Webber and I hope he is at peace with that. My hope is that the fans of Sacramento have come to conclude that in spite of this man's short comings on and off the floor, Chris Webber is a regional treasure!! He was bright, articulate, good looking, and a hell of a basketball player. He helped to create a Sports Entertainment Brand in the Sacramento region and he was an outstanding basketball player. I feel that he was totally unappreciated here and sometimes you don't really appreciate things until you don't have them anymore.

Webb is not a HOF'er formally, but in my book the dude is ledgend. GO KINGS!!!!

Are you out of your mind? Unappreciated here? Sorry, but there's no way that's true.

 

[Bricklayer]

Excellent Article on my all time favorite player Chris Webber!!!

With that said, C-Webb is not a Hall of Famer in my mind. If you look at all the modern day inductees into the Hall of Fame (all of C-Webb's contemporaries) from Payton, Reggie Miller, Mullin, Pippen, Malone, Stockton, D. Robinson, Jordan, Olajowon, Ewing and Barkley. Webb played against all of those guys and those guys all either have an NBA ring, NCAA ring, Olympic ring. Patrick Ewing has NCCA and Olympic and Michael Jordan has all three. Chris Webber has none of those AND his career numbers do not even come close to any of those guys.

Don't get me wrong when it comes to cultural impact on the game (Fab Five), one of the top five passing big men in the history of the sport (IMHO), and turning a downtrodden woe be gone franchise into an international brand (Kings), there are few that can compare to Chris Webber and I hope he is at peace with that. My hope is that the fans of Sacramento have come to conclude that in spite of this man's short comings on and off the floor, Chris Webber is a regional treasure!! He was bright, articulate, good looking, and a hell of a basketball player. He helped to create a Sports Entertainment Brand in the Sacramento region and he was an outstanding basketball player. I feel that he was totally unappreciated here and sometimes you don't really appreciate things until you don't have them anymore.

Webb is not a HOF'er formally, but in my book the dude is ledgend. GO KINGS!!!!

Like I say, the Mullin induction is going to be the defining one for Webber.

Mullin Career
18.2ppg (.509 .384 .865) 4.1reb 3.5ast 1.6stl 0.6blk 2.3TO
17,911pts 4034rebs 3450ast
71 playoff games
5x All Star
1x All NBA First Team
2x All NBA Second Team
1x All NBA Third Team
famed college career
member Run TMZ
member Dream Team

Webber Career
20.7ppg (.479 .299 .649) 9.8reb 4.2ast 1.4stl 1.4blk 2.8TO
17,182pts 8124rebs 3526ast
80 playoff games
5x All Star
1x All NBA First Team
3x All NBA Second Team
1x All NBA Third Team
NBA Rookie of the Year
1x NBA Rebounding Champion
famed college career
member Fab Five
leader of the Greatest Show on Court teams

 

[bozzwell]

Did not realize Mullin's and Webber's career stats were so similar (when you adjust for different positions, pretty much the same). Both players stayed in the spotlight after the retirement, so yeah, if Webber keeps it up with his TV gigs which only help keep/grow his profile, I can see how the door is open wider then I thought.

What I like about the article I linked to is that there is the case to be made for Webber in HOF on merit, and not just because Mullin paved the way for borderline-but-likeable/popular cases to get into Springfield.

 

[Purple Reign]

Are you out of your mind? Unappreciated here? Sorry, but there's no way that's true.

In the last year plus of Webber's run in Sacramento, he was booed in Arco Arena. How do I know? Because in Game #5 in the 2004 Western Conference 1st Round series against the Dallas Mavericks, i was there and I heard the booing, I heard the rumbling, I heard the negativity. I heard all of the nastiness on 1140. That to me is total under appreciation. Not here in this forum, but the overall vibe around #4 was very negative and that can not be denied. I am not pointing fingers at any one person in this forum, but we can not have revisionist history either like none of that stuff did not happen. And if you don't believe it I dare you to ask Chris Webber himself.

Time heals all wounds, but there were wounds none the less, don't act all brand new.

 

[Purple Reign]

Like I say, the Mullin induction is going to be the defining one for Webber.

Mullin Career
18.2ppg (.509 .384 .865) 4.1reb 3.5ast 1.6stl 0.6blk 2.3TO
17,911pts 4034rebs 3450ast
71 playoff games
5x All Star
1x All NBA First Team
2x All NBA Second Team
1x All NBA Third Team
famed college career
member Run TMZ
member Dream Team

Webber Career
20.7ppg (.479 .299 .649) 9.8reb 4.2ast 1.4stl 1.4blk 2.8TO
17,182pts 8124rebs 3526ast
80 playoff games
5x All Star
1x All NBA First Team
3x All NBA Second Team
1x All NBA Third Team
NBA Rookie of the Year
1x NBA Rebounding Champion
famed college career
member Fab Five
leader of the Greatest Show on Court teams

WOW!!!!! that comparison is eye opening. I hope voters see this. If so, C Webb should be inducted.

 

[VF21]

In the last year plus of Webber's run in Sacramento, he was booed in Arco Arena. How do I know? Because in Game #5 in the 2004 Western Conference 1st Round series against the Dallas Mavericks, i was there and I heard the booing, I heard the rumbling, I heard the negativity. I heard all of the nastiness on 1140. That to me is total under appreciation. Not here in this forum, but the overall vibe around #4 was very negative and that can not be denied. I am not pointing fingers at any one person in this forum, but we can not have revisionist history either like none of that stuff did not happen. And if you don't believe it I dare you to ask Chris Webber himself.

Time heals all wounds, but there were wounds none the less, don't act all brand new.

If that's the game I'm thinking of (I'd have to dig through all my programs to be sure), I will admit there was some booing. BUT it was not throughout the arena and it was not done by anything other than a small group of "fans." There was criticism on KHTK about Webber, just as there's been a lot of negativity about Cousins. That doesn't mean it was the general feeling of the majority of fans. Be careful throwing around the "revisionist history" tag. It goes both ways.

The overall vibe around #4 was NOT very negative, and I can and will deny it. The frustration wasn't with Webber himself but with the fact many thought he came back too soon from his knee surgery and threw off the pace and chemistry of the team when he did. There's a big difference between that and what you're trying to claim.

 

[Glenn]

In the last year plus of Webber's run in Sacramento, he was booed in Arco Arena. How do I know? Because in Game #5 in the 2004 Western Conference 1st Round series against the Dallas Mavericks, i was there and I heard the booing, I heard the rumbling, I heard the negativity. I heard all of the nastiness on 1140. That to me is total under appreciation. Not here in this forum, but the overall vibe around #4 was very negative and that can not be denied. I am not pointing fingers at any one person in this forum, but we can not have revisionist history either like none of that stuff did not happen. And if you don't believe it I dare you to ask Chris Webber himself.

Time heals all wounds, but there were wounds none the less, don't act all brand new.

I don't want to argue but I would bet that the over all feeling towards Chris Webber in Sacramento is positive. I don't know about booing and I watched all the games. I don't know how many people boo'd nor do I know what team they represented. Man, this place is getting negative!!

 

[King Baller]

Most people agree the Kings should have the 2002 Larry O'Brien trophy. I think that should carry some weight.

KB

 

[Purple Reign]

The overall topic of this is "should Webber be inducted into the HOF. I gave an "in passing" remark that I felt Chris was underappreciated here in Sac. I was asked "am I out of my mind".

I do feel that Chris Webber was vilified here. No malice, that is how I feel. Go back and look at the post in 2003, 04 and 05. I'm not just making this up to be negative. But two things can be equally true. Chris was the man in this region and he was looked upon in a negative light. Some of his own doing, some out of pure ignorance, and to act like none of that happened is not being sincere. Time heals wounds; that seems to have happened. Let's get the dude in the HOT.