Chris Webber finally opens up about the timeout during the 1993 NCAA Finals, and how it propelled him to a Hall-of-Fame career
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Chris Webber was drafted #1 in the 1993 Draft by the Orlando Magic, but then got traded to the Golden State Warriors. Webber established himself as a superstar pretty early on. He had a pretty successful career too, winning Rookie of The Year and being part of 5 All-NBA teams. None of those reasons, however, are why most fans will remember his name.
C Webb was part of the ‘Fab Five’, the group which changed the scenario of collegiate sports for good. The starting five from the University of Michigan broke several records during their extraordinary run, which included competing in the NCAA Finals with an all-freshman lineup.
Also Read: 5x All-Star wanted to play for the LA Lakers over the Sacramento Kings
Besides their fascinating gameplay, the group was a marketing juggernaut. Consisting of future NBA stars in Jalen Rose and Juwan Howard, alongside Jimmy King and Ray Jackson, the world was on their feet. Surprisingly though, the roster wasn’t able to lift the championship.
Their best chance to win was dealt a huge blow by Webber’s costly technical foul. It was assessed after he embarrassingly called for a timeout when his Wolverines had none remaining. The team went on to lose the game to North Carolina in a crushing defeat.
Chris Webber said he was proud of the timeout game, and hopes that it would inspire others
Webber was understandably broken after the game, he revealed in an interview with The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
“I went home after that, I needed love and went to my parents’ house and just sunk in depression, got my mom’s cooking, all that stuff.” His family, however, wouldn’t let him give up. “I never was around people that would let me feel sorry for myself. My father’s like, ‘You’re about to be the No. 1 pick, what do you feel sorry for?'”
C Webb was introspective in his remarks.
“If there’s one game that I would ever have to show my son or daughter, it would be the timeout game. Because I was killing: I had 23 points, 11 rebounds and I was the best player on the floor. And the worst moment of my life happens. And after that, your dad was still a bad man.”
“It wasn’t the end of the world,” Webber said. “It was something … a championship, a demon I was always chasing, yes. As far as affecting — I wouldn’t be here if it affected me.”
Also Read: Chris Webber heaps controversial, yet massive praise onto the shoulder of the 76ers legend
Those surely are some inspirational words, with a lot of truth in them. Webber did go on to have a Hall of Fame NBA career and didn’t let one incident define his life.
![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)