Trading for Hall of Famer Chris Webber essentially cost the Washington Bullets a shot at players like Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash
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The 2021 Hall of Fame ceremony will finally see Chris Webber have his name etched in basketball history. A controversial figure for the most part of his career, the big man definitely deserves the recognition after being a 5-time All-NBA inclusion.
Despite having a Hall of Fame career, CWebb’s time in the NBA is still considered to be a little underwhelming. After leading Michigan’s ultra-glamorous Fab Five, he was drafted No. 1 by the Orlando Magic in 1995. Where did such a promising career go downhill?
A combination of bad luck and a huge ego certainly didn’t help CWebb’s cause. He was famously traded to the Warriors after his draft because Shaquille O’Neal preferred Penny Hardaway. He had a Rookie of the Year campaign with the Warriors. However, things were right between him and coach Don Nelson. Coach wanted him to play center, but Webber did not want to match up against Shaq, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Alonzo Mourning.
Webber would have his breakthrough with the Sacramento Kings. He had a chance to win a guaranteed ring in 2003 against Jason Kidd’s Nets. However, the Kings lost to the Kobe-Shaq Lakers in the Conference Finals.
Trading for Chris Webber cost Washington a chance to draft Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash
After falling out with HC Don Nelson during his rookie year, Webb took the opt-out clause in his contract. The superstar underwent a sign-and-trade to the Bullets in exchange for three first-round picks in 1996, 1998, and 2000. The Bullets roster was extremely promising, with young prospects like Rasheed Wallace and CWebb’s Fab Five associate Juwan Howard. However, they lacked back-court presence. The Bullets traded their #11 pick to the Warriors, and their #12 pick to the Cavs for Mark Price.
With two precious picks in the loaded draft of 1996 gone, the Bullets missed on golden chances of picking talents such as Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, and Peja Stojakovic.
The results were underwhelming, to say the least. The team only made playoffs once and was swept in the first round.
Chris Webber really had all the tools for becoming a superstar in the league for years to come. As the 5-time All-Star gets nominated to the Hall of Fame, we can only wonder how his career could have panned out. After having a successful post-NBA career as an analyst, he left Turner Sports last year, and it will be interesting to see his next move.
![Jason Williams and Chris Webber have always been known to indulge in strange antics with each other, which was raised by Comedian Andrew Schulz, on his show, Flagrant. Appearing on the show, Jason Williams was asked whether he was involved "in a drive-by paintball shooting of Chris Webber's house in Sacramento". The White Chocolate burst into laughter and "plead the fifth". Williams confessed that maybe "his house caught some bullets along the way". However, to everyone's surprise, he told the comedian that "he [Chris Webber] was probably with me in some them drivebys." Adding to this, Williams also shared a hilarious story of a similar driveby with Webber, where the latter's shoe fell off but he had to somehow get it back. "We were doing that one time..we couldn't get in the gate or something so we decided we're going to go down and do our thing at the security guard at night, right, so we got two little scooters we are riding on these scooters and we dropped them in the dark and we are walking through the woods and whatever, we go the paintballs, we got the rocks, boom boom and we take off and left the scooters. But C Web's shoe falls off. And we got back and I was like 'Bro, where is your shoe?'" The story left everyone in the panel in splits as Williams made the 2021 Hall of Fame Inductee go all the way back to fetch his shoe because living in an all-white community, Webber was probably the only one with that size of shoe. However, on a serious note, the 2006 NBA champion confessed that it was one of the most fun times he had with his former teammate. He added that "it was a blessing in disguise" because they had to play a lot of games in different locations. It is obviously heartwarming to see such a chemistry between the legendary duo of Sacramento Kings. Jason Williams once had to travel in the undercarriage of the team bus Rookie hazing has been a part of teams in the NBA, where the veterans on the team try to build chemistry with young players in their own ways like alotting chores. Chris Webber once narrated one such incident where the rookie Jason Williams hid in the undercarriage of the team bus to avoid it. Upon reaching the hotel, the team noticed that Williams was missing. After searching for some time, the team looked under the bus and there was the 1998 draftee. When Webber asked him the reason, White Chocolate responded, "I don't wanna ride with y'all bi*ches up here." Even though it is a fun tradition among teammates to get to know each other, it did take a toll on the one-time All-Star. However, it was not long after this, the two developed good team ability to make some amazing plays together.](https://cdn-wp.thesportsrush.com/2023/11/7f3ad985-nba-2023-11-08t231816.707.jpg?format=auto&w=384&q=75)
