Webber To Retire

[Lamrock]

Link.

I remember back during the Kings run when Webber was one of my favorite players. Sad to see him go, though it was only a matter of time.

[Oznogrd]

beat me to it, i was excited when i saw this pretty early on hoping to get the post up...too bad for him, he had the chance to be part of something great several times and it never came together for many reasons. But i always had fun watching him.

[deihatein]

Sad to see this guy go, he his one of my favorite veteran players in the league.

[GoHornets]

I never liked the post-sacramento Webber. Still its sad to see a great player retiring without a ring

[Lamrock]

The guy was a badass in the first NBA Street.

[Chino]

Sad to see him go. He's a great player in his younger years.

[Bruce]

Webber is one of the most talented and well rounded ball players I have seen. We all knew it was coming soon. Too bad for Philly it didn't come sooner though. Philly could have done something with the cap space.

[8th Wonder]

I really wanted to see him playing for Warriors all the season.

[Andrew]

His best days were undoubtably behind him but I still thought he'd do more for the Warriors when they signed him, even if it did seem like an odd fit. Obviously that wasn't going to happen with his knee in such bad shape, a shame he couldn't end his career on a more positive note. Still, he spent about a decade as a star in the league and even though he's probably always going to remembered for the infamous timeout at Michigan or being on the losing side of the Lakers/Kings rivalry but ultimately he had a pretty successful NBA career, at least from an individual standpoint.

[Sauru]

those kings teams sure were fun to watch

[cyanide]

Although he never had good shooting mechanisms, he's gifted with what he can do with the ball. As said many times around the league, he has the best hands (Tyra Banks, anyone?) and thrived with the Kings till the damn injury that basically cut the rest of his career. Those Kings games were so much fun to watch, and I guess we can thank them for the future teams that followed their style.

[Oskar]

Sad, but true.

[el badman]

That's a shame, I thought he still had one or two decent years ahead of him, but I guess he's just way too screwed up physically by now.

[Indy]

So he has called his final timeout eh?

As a Buckeye fan it is hard for me to like anyone that comes from Michigan, but Webber was one of the few exceptions. He is one of the best passing big men this league has ever seen, and there are a ton of teams that could use a prime-Chris Webber right now. Not many players like him in the league.

[benji]

I guess we can thank them for the future teams that followed their style.

What teams? There's been nobody like them since.

[cyanide]

I guess we can thank them for the future teams that followed their style.

What teams? There's been nobody like them since.

I had a gut feeling you'd say that Well, Dallas had their run and gun moments, and the Suns have been running it for years. I guess the current Golden State Warriors could be mentioned. I'm sure there's a few other teams that have emulated their style, but can't think of more at the moment.

[Doobie]

I guess we can thank them for the future teams that followed their style.

What teams? There's been nobody like them since.

I had a gut feeling you'd say that Well, Dallas had their run and gun moments, and the Suns have been running it for years. I guess the current Golden State Warriors could be mentioned. I'm sure there's a few other teams that have emulated their style, but can't think of more at the moment.

One thing all these teams lacked was a passing big man. The Kings had Vlade and Chris, both of who were great passers. I always like Webber since I started watching basketball a couple of years ago.

[benji]

None of those teams play/played like the Kings did. The Kings were a high-paced great offense based on eye contact, cuts and multiple passes, with a great defense. The Suns are a high-paced shooting team dominated by one ball handler and with average defense. The Warriors are a high-paced gunning team dominated by one and a half ball handlers, with lousy defense.

They may all be high paced teams, but the Kings are far from the first team to have a league leading pace. Nobody has yet to copy the Kings' multiple pass offense, and pair it with a great defense. The latter teams are based on someone pushing with one-pass and a shot, the Kings would have preferred to run plays without the ball ever touching the floor and everyone touching it.

I guess the easy way to put it is, who got the assists on the Kings? Who gets them for the Suns and Warriors?

[Chaser7]

Its sad that those Kings teams have been completely dismantled since Bibby was traded this season. But now Webber joins the list of those Kings who have retired due to chronic injuries (notice a pattern? haha jk)

Vlade Divac- Back problems
Doug Christie- Foot problems
Chris Webber- Knee problems

The other key members remaining are:
Mike Bibby (atlanta)
Bobby Jackson (houston)
Peja (New Orleans)

Although if anyone remembers, the year before he got traded to Philadelphia, the Kings were better WITHOUT him, they had the best record in the league, and he seemed to kill their chemistry that year.. I'll never forget my 2nd row seats when the Kings beat the Mavs in 2001 in game 5 to close out the series.. Peace Webber you had a great career.

[Lamrock]

Peja has been plagued with injuries, and though he has been decent this year, he is one of the most overpaid players in the NBA

Jackson is... a sixth man; but more like a 7th or 8th man now.

Bibby is starting to do better for the Hawks, but he was never an all-star in his career, and now it seems he never will be.

Don't forget Turkey-Glue though, who is having the best career out of them right now.

[Chaser7]

Peja has been plagued with injuries, and though he has been decent this year, he is one of the most overpaid players in the NBA

Jackson is... a sixth man; but more like a 7th or 8th man now.

Bibby is starting to do better for the Hawks, but he was never an all-star in his career, and now it seems he never will be.

Don't forget Turkey-Glue though, who is having the best career out of them right now.

Just because Jackson was a 6th man doesn't make him any less valuable, he provided such a spark to them, that few other 6th can provide (obviously excluding Ginobili and Barbosa).

Turkoglu is not having the best career, if you meant to say season then yea, but I'd say all of those are key players have had much better careers than him. Although possibly with the exception of Jackson, but Hedo had never been quite this good until this season. Bibby was as close to an all-star as you will ever see it...

Not to mention I think we all know how those 4 players are doing anyways, a bit off topic no?

[Abctest123]

The guy was a badass in the first NBA Street.

In NBA Street 2, in regards to big men, other than Garnett, he was the closest big man who I could play like a guard (In the Street games excluding the latest one that I haven't played, I only use guards and Garnett. With guards, I play like this: fool around with handles and when the shot clock is going down, drive in and dunk over the opponent . With a big man, I can't mess with the handles, but with Garnett and Webber, I can still mess around with them to an extent).

[Jackal]

That's good to know Mofo, we were really just sitting around waiting to find out how and with who you choose to play NBA Street. Thanks, the anticipating can cease now.

I didn't Webber to do too much this year, he can't really run anymore and that's basically what Nellie's team does. Sucks to see another veteran go, all the guys I used to watch when they were the shit are slowly fizzling out.

On another note, I hated the Queens. Hated Chris even more...but only because he's got that whiney ass face of his whenever he got called for a foul. But can't deny the man had skills, I remember some of the no look passes he used to swing around the purple and gold jerseys and get his team mates the easy dunk/lay up.

Can't think of the Kings without thinking of that fucking Arco Arena, shit it was deafening...you could hardly hear the commentators, that's one series/game I'd like to have been at. And those fucking cowbells...sheesh.

Lastly...I love the Kings in my own very special way for this. I mean...they are part of my favorite shot ever.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp19op8uK1E[/youtube]

Thanks Chris and the rest of the Kings...you guys made for very, very exciting games. I remember the one year I knocked myself out against the glass door running around screaming "they beat them, they beat them..."

[Abctest123]

That's good to know Mofo, we were really just sitting around waiting to find out how and with who you choose to play NBA Street. Thanks, the anticipating can cease now.

Fine, I'll actually comment on Webber. Anyways, those Kings' teams from the early 2000s, I didn't particularly like them, but I sorta felt bad for them because they were constantly knocked out by the Lakers and just couldn't beat them. Webber was a totally different player pre-injury. I remember him faking out defenders with ease and going for nice slams, but after the knee surgery, he was never the same. None of those things were seen much (or at all) afterwards.

[Andrew]

Webber never won when it mattered most

That could be the difference when it comes to the Hall of Fame and retiring his jersey. At this point, I'd be surprised if either happened (obviously he won't be eligible for the HOF just yet anyway) though the latter seems a bit more likely. Posting career averages of at least 20-9-4 has placed in some exclusive company though.