http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/12451944p-13308093c.html
What is Webber saying? He insists trade isn't 'about me and Peja'
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Friday, February 25, 2005
DALLAS - Chris Webber said his emotional goodbyes to Kings coach Rick Adelman and several players after learning of his trade to Philadelphia late Wednesday.
Emotional, he said, because he has grown to admire his teammates as well as his adopted city.
"It's funny," Webber said Thursday from one of his two Granite Bay homes after flying home, "just as much as I didn't want to come (to Sacramento), I didn't want to leave."
Webber said he had no problem with Peja Stojakovic, that he had wanted to win an NBA championship with the Kings and that he had wanted to retire with the team.
But Webber, the Kings' leading scorer and rebounder, also said he decided not to block the trade.
Webber had to waive a clause in his contract that would have been triggered when he was dealt. That clause, however, would have lifted his salary above the maximum level allowed in the collective bargaining agreement.
"I got off the bus (at the hotel in Dallas), and (Adelman) asked me to come to his room because he and (Kings president of basketball operations) Geoff (Petrie) needed to talk to me," Webber said. "Geoff told me there might be a trade. I told him I didn't want to leave. I wanted to win a championship here with these guys.
"But I knew that if I didn't have that clause in my contract, I probably already would have been traded, so I wouldn't stand in the way."
Webber said he met with Adelman after the deal had been consummated, and both called their conversation emotional.
"He said some very nice things to me," the coach said of Webber.
Said Webber: "People can criticize me all they want, but I know coach Adelman opened up my style of play through all types of injuries. He trusted me and allowed me to expand my game.
"Before I came to the Kings, I played in the post quite a bit and not out on the floor. But because of the system we used in Sacramento, that was not the way I played here. So I wanted to thank coach Adelman and coach (Pete) Carril and coach (John) Wetzel and E.T. (Elston Turner), because I think it's not likely that I'm going to get to work with a group like that again.
"Not in business or basketball or anywhere else, I'm guessing."
Webber also spent time in his room with Bobby Jackson, Mike Bibby, Maurice Evans and Kevin Martin that he said also helped soothe the pain of the business of pro basketball, in which players sometimes are sent away from where they want to be.
A day and a plane trip back to Sacramento later, the effects of the deal still hadn't truly hit Webber.
"I'm purely shocked," he said. "I didn't expect this."
Webber said he hoped people would not believe reports that he had problems with Stojakovic.
"I had no problem with Peja and told him numerous times how much I wanted him to stay (in Sacramento)," Webber said.
"Even in the summer," when Webber was quoted as saying his team had been soft in the playoffs, "there was never anything directed at Peja, because I wouldn't do that to him. My comments were directed to us as a team, no matter how people want to take them. It was about us getting it together as a team. People shouldn't make this about me and Peja."
Soon Webber will board a plane for Philadelphia to begin one more phase of a star-crossed career. But he won't be alone. He was traded with Matt Barnes and Michael Bradley.
Barnes, a former Del Campo High School star, was unavailable for comment.
Webber said he initially had concerns about Philadelphia's demanding fans. "I really worried about how the city of Philly was going to accept me," he said, "but then about five minutes after the trade, (Allen Iverson) was on the phone with me, and that made me feel better."
What is Webber saying? He insists trade isn't 'about me and Peja'
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Friday, February 25, 2005
DALLAS - Chris Webber said his emotional goodbyes to Kings coach Rick Adelman and several players after learning of his trade to Philadelphia late Wednesday.
Emotional, he said, because he has grown to admire his teammates as well as his adopted city.
"It's funny," Webber said Thursday from one of his two Granite Bay homes after flying home, "just as much as I didn't want to come (to Sacramento), I didn't want to leave."
Webber said he had no problem with Peja Stojakovic, that he had wanted to win an NBA championship with the Kings and that he had wanted to retire with the team.
But Webber, the Kings' leading scorer and rebounder, also said he decided not to block the trade.
Webber had to waive a clause in his contract that would have been triggered when he was dealt. That clause, however, would have lifted his salary above the maximum level allowed in the collective bargaining agreement.
"I got off the bus (at the hotel in Dallas), and (Adelman) asked me to come to his room because he and (Kings president of basketball operations) Geoff (Petrie) needed to talk to me," Webber said. "Geoff told me there might be a trade. I told him I didn't want to leave. I wanted to win a championship here with these guys.
"But I knew that if I didn't have that clause in my contract, I probably already would have been traded, so I wouldn't stand in the way."
Webber said he met with Adelman after the deal had been consummated, and both called their conversation emotional.
"He said some very nice things to me," the coach said of Webber.
Said Webber: "People can criticize me all they want, but I know coach Adelman opened up my style of play through all types of injuries. He trusted me and allowed me to expand my game.
"Before I came to the Kings, I played in the post quite a bit and not out on the floor. But because of the system we used in Sacramento, that was not the way I played here. So I wanted to thank coach Adelman and coach (Pete) Carril and coach (John) Wetzel and E.T. (Elston Turner), because I think it's not likely that I'm going to get to work with a group like that again.
"Not in business or basketball or anywhere else, I'm guessing."
Webber also spent time in his room with Bobby Jackson, Mike Bibby, Maurice Evans and Kevin Martin that he said also helped soothe the pain of the business of pro basketball, in which players sometimes are sent away from where they want to be.
A day and a plane trip back to Sacramento later, the effects of the deal still hadn't truly hit Webber.
"I'm purely shocked," he said. "I didn't expect this."
Webber said he hoped people would not believe reports that he had problems with Stojakovic.
"I had no problem with Peja and told him numerous times how much I wanted him to stay (in Sacramento)," Webber said.
"Even in the summer," when Webber was quoted as saying his team had been soft in the playoffs, "there was never anything directed at Peja, because I wouldn't do that to him. My comments were directed to us as a team, no matter how people want to take them. It was about us getting it together as a team. People shouldn't make this about me and Peja."
Soon Webber will board a plane for Philadelphia to begin one more phase of a star-crossed career. But he won't be alone. He was traded with Matt Barnes and Michael Bradley.
Barnes, a former Del Campo High School star, was unavailable for comment.
Webber said he initially had concerns about Philadelphia's demanding fans. "I really worried about how the city of Philly was going to accept me," he said, "but then about five minutes after the trade, (Allen Iverson) was on the phone with me, and that made me feel better."
