mobile app bar

“Charles Barkley, you wrote the playbook for life after basketball”: Chris Webber thanked the Sixers legend for his sizeable influence on his Hall of Fame career and for his excellence as a sportscaster

Amulya Shekhar
Published

"Charles Barkley, you wrote the playbook for life after basketball": Chris Webber thanked the Sixers legend for his sizeable influence on his Hall of Fame career and for his excellence as a sportscaster

Chris Webber thanked a lot of people while giving one of the best Hall of Fame speeches ever. Charles Barkley was among the mentors he thanked.

Chris Webber was one of the greatest players at the power forward position of all time. He combined the post-up skill of Kevin McHale with the court vision of Charles Barkley.

At his peak, Webber powered a perennial Western Conference contender in the Sacramento Kings. C-Webb was the centerpiece of the only successful team in the history of the NorCal team.

Webber may not have won the NBA championship or amassed All-Star selections because of health reasons, but it’s clear that he played basketball at an unbelievably high level for most of his career.

Also Read – Shaquille O’Neal moved across the street with Paula Abdul. Lakers superstar narrates how he built a friendship with pop singer.

Chris Webber gave a special shoutout to Charles Barkley during his Hall of Fame induction

The Kings legend chose 2 of the greatest players ever in Isiah Thomas and Chuck to usher him into the Hall of Fame. Webber began his speech by thanking Isiah, who’d been an immense presence on the Detroit basketball scene.

By the end of his speech, he moved to acknowledge at full length how Chuck had influenced his own journey:

“To my man Charles Barkley, I’m honored to have you welcome me into the Hall of Fame. You changed the way the game was played from the power forward position.”

“Personally, you’ve shown me the way in life, more than once. The first time was high school. Rick Mahorn brought you by and I got the chance to meet you. I studied the game, I knew your truth, I knew that attitude.”

View on Website

“You complimented me and encouraged me and the first time after seeing you, I felt ‘Hey, maybe I can do this if my favorite player says I can.'”

“The second time, I want to thank you on behalf of all athletes for what you’ve done with life after basketball. I’ve never had a gap in being associated with the NBA through over 30 years of playing basketball. And the reason I am in it is because of you. You wrote the playbook.”

Also Read – Stephen Curry really had Jaylen Brown dancing. When the Warriors faked the then-Celtics rookie, hit the tough buzzer-beater and surprisingly taunted him too.

About the author

Amulya Shekhar

Amulya Shekhar

x-iconfacebook-iconlinkedin-icon

Amulya Shekhar is a sports junkie who thrives on the thrills and frills of live sports action across basketball, football (the American variant works too), parkour, adventure sports. He believes sports connect us to our best selves, and he hopes to help people experience sports more holistically.

Read more from Amulya Shekhar

Share this article