Chris Webber

Chris Webber, born March 1, 1973, in Detroit, Michigan, is the most beloved player in Sacramento Kings history and one of the most gifted power forwards the NBA has ever produced — a five-time All-Star whose combination of passing, scoring, and ball-handling at 6-foot-10 was simply unlike anything the game had seen at the four position. Nicknamed "C-Webb," he was both a transcendent talent and a tragic figure whose career was defined as much by what he almost achieved as what he did accomplish. Webber grew up in Detroit, the son of Doris and Mayce Webber, and became one of the nation's most coveted recruits. At the University of Michigan, he was the centerpiece of the legendary "Fab Five" — the freshman class of Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson that reached the national championship game in 1992 and 1993 in matching black shorts that transformed the aesthetics of college basketball. The Fab Five were simultaneously the most beloved and the most controversial team in college basketball, and Webber was their undisputed star. The Orlando Magic selected Webber first overall in the 1993 NBA Draft and immediately traded him to the Golden State Warriors. After stints in Golden State and Washington, Webber landed in Sacramento and found his basketball home. Surrounded by Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic, Mike Bibby, and Bobby Jackson, Webber became the engine of one of the most entertaining teams in NBA history. The 2001-02 Sacramento Kings were a revelation. They finished with 61 wins, played the most beautiful team basketball anyone had seen in years, and pushed the Los Angeles Lakers — the reigning back-to-back champions — to seven games in the Western Conference Finals in a series still debated as one of the most controversial in NBA history. Webber averaged 24.5 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 5.0 assists that season, and was perhaps the best player on the best team not named the Lakers. Sacramento came within minutes and contested officiating decisions of an NBA Finals berth. Webber's time in Sacramento was interrupted by devastating knee injuries, most severely a torn ACL in 2001. He fought back, but the injuries ultimately diminished his later years. He finished his career with the Sixers and Warriors, retiring in 2008 with 24,176 career points and five All-Star selections. The Kings retired his number 4, and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inducted him in 2021.