Chris Webber admitted he didn’t want to be with the Sacramento Kings – Basketball Network
Chris Webber, Mike Bibby
As far back as Chris Webber remembers, all he ever dreamed of was to get rid of the stigma of his infamous timeout mistake in Michigan and start anew in the NBA. Well aware of his overall game, “C-Webb” already knew where to take his talents. But unfortunately, fate always took him to a different team.
C-Webb just wanted to dominate
For those who didn’t know, the Orlando Magic selected Webber as their No. 1 pick in the 1993 NBA Draft but immediately traded him for Golden State Warriors No. 3 pick Penny Hardaway. That wasn’t how Webber wanted it, as he already pictured himself becoming a force alongside Shaquille O’Neal in Orlando.
“All I wanted to do is play my position,” Webber said. “I told him [Shaq] back then that I’m gonna average a triple-double. I said, they’re gonna give it to me at the free-throw line, I’m gonna drive and throw that b***h up each time.”
Nevertheless, C-Webb still proved why he was the No. 1 player in his draft class at Golden State, averaging 17.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game in his rookie season. However, a feud with then-Warriors head coach Don Nelson saw Webber being shipped to the Washington Bullets after just one season with the team.
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Embracing being a King
In Washington, Webber took off. For four straight seasons, C-Webb hovered around 20 to 24 points per outing, earning his first All-Star appearance in 1997 in the process. But in the summer of 1998, Washington sent Webber to the Sacramento Kings, a team he never wanted to be in since Day 1. In the All-Star power forward’s head, he was in his peak form, and it was about time that he finally joined Shaq in Los Angeles.
“When I got there, one of the first conversations that I had was with [then-Kings coach] Rick Adelman and it was before a practice — he understood that I didn’t want to be there,” Webber said Friday on “The Jason Ross & Doug Christie Show” via NBC Sports. “I made it very clear because I thought that a trade could happen in between, and I thought that it was going to be to the Lakers.”
Regardless of what he was told at the time, Webber wasn’t dealt to the Lakers. Adelman then came clean about the Kings’ plan for him. C-Webb was pacified a bit. But it was until his Sacramento debut that he realized he was destined to be a King.
“So, it didn’t happen and I remember coach just bringing me into his office and he disarmed me. I mean, I was a King after our first practice because he said to me, ‘I understand, I don’t care about what happens before or after. You’ve got a clean slate here, and we really, really want you.’ And what could you say after that?…I tried to fight it in my head, but I was watching our game against San Antonio, the first game that we ever played together, and I knew right then. You could tell right then.”
Looking back, Webber never played with Shaq and the Lakers, but we could all agree that he wouldn’t have been a “King” had he not accepted Sacramento with open arms.