Chris Webber News

"Ex-Piston Chris Webber took a shot at Pistons coach Flip Saunders' credibility on the TNT telecast Sunday night. The Pistons were down 10 points at the half of Sunday's Game 4. "

"This is a time to celebrate the career of Chris Webber, who will go down as one of the greatest and most unusual power forwards in NBA history. Judging by his performance on TNT on Thursday night, and his enchanting demeanor in general, Webber has a future in broadcasting. But he did the Warriors a huge favor by announcing his retirement this week."

"There's an unfulfilling aftertaste when reflecting on Chris Webber's impact now that he has retired from the NBA after 15 years. His legacy now falls at the mercy of the historians."

"The Warriors fans never got their opportunity to see a productive Chris Webber the second time around. He retired this week because of recurring left knee problems, ending a solid career that never quite lived up to expectations because Webber wasted his few chances at championship stardom."

"Webber, having formally announced his retirement from the NBA, reflected on his 15-year career and how much he appreciated the chance to end it with one final - if ultimately unsuccessful - spin through Oakland. "People say you got to go until the wheels fall off," the injured Webber said. "Well, the wheels fell off. I went all the way to the end, so I'm happy.""

"When Chris Webber announced his retirement Wednesday, he left the NBA with career averages of 20-plus points, nine-plus rebounds and four-plus assists. That's a feat accomplished by only Kevin Garnett, Larry Bird, Billy Cunningham, the late Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor. That's a list of four players (Bird, Cunningham, Chamberlain and Baylor) in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and one more (Garnett) who will be. "

" It ended where it began, without all the drama. Wearing a grey suit, light blue dress shirt and yellow tie, Chris Webber walked into a press room near the Warriors' locker room, smiled at his small audience and made it official. The left knee buckled for a final time. This was it. The best player in the history of the Sacramento Kings' franchise retired Wednesday at the age of 35."

"It has been three years since Chris Webber wore a Kings jersey, but his name remains synonymous with Sacramento's franchise. "He put Sacramento on the map," Kings forward Ron Artest said. "He had a good career. If he didn't get injured, I think he would be one of the better power forwards in the league right now.""

"For as long as I've known Chris Webber -- who retired Wednesday after 15 seasons in the NBA -- he has been a paradox... Over the years I've tried not to go too overboard on predicting stardom for young players, but it was difficult not to foresee greatness for Webber. After seeing him play as a high school freshman in the 1987-88 season, my questions were: How many state championships will he win? How many NCAA national championships will he win? How many NBA titles will he win?"

"The worst thing about saying goodbye to Chris Webber on Wednesday was that the Warriors never really got to say a proper hello. As Webber officially announced his retirement at the arena where he began his career, the rest of the Warriors were left to ponder how the 15-year veteran's second act in Oakland might have played out if not for a left knee injury that put a halt to proceedings after just nine games."

"Chris Webber made up with coach Don Nelson and made his way back to the Warriors, but the prodigal son's return to Oakland is ending in another abbreviated stint. The injured forward/center will officially announce his retirement at Oracle Arena today, bringing his NBA career to a close 15 years after making his pro debut with the Warriors. "

"Chris Webber got his reconciliation with the Warriors. And that will have to do. Nearly a month after an awkward landing caused swelling in his surgically repaired knee, Webber is retiring from the NBA after 15 seasons in the league, the team announced Tuesday night. Webber, who averaged 3.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists since rejoining the Warriors on Jan.29, will make it official today at a 10 a.m. news conference. "

" The return of Chris Webber to the Warriors neither aided nor ended the team's quest to reach the playoffs for the second year in a row. His basketball intentions may have been good but C-Webb's play exposed him for what he is, a once-gifted presence who now belongs somewhere other than the NBA. "

"The Warriors' signing of former Kings forward Chris Webber was never meant to make or break their season, but they had plenty of hope."

"Kelenna Azubuike beat the media to the punch Wednesday as he came off the floor from the Warriors' shootaround alongside teammate Chris Webber. "So," Azubuike asked, "how's the knee?" The short answer: Still in limbo. Webber returned to the Bay Area on Tuesday night from a week's worth of rehabilitation work in Atlanta, but he didn't bring back any concrete answers as to when his strained left knee might allow him to play again."

"Just as the Warriors are about to get one center back, they're losing another. Though an MRI exam taken Monday on Chris Webber's sore left knee revealed no new structural damage, Webber probably will miss the rest of Golden State's current road trip."

"Chris Webber's going to sit out this road trip. The Warriors' forward will stay in Atlanta to have his left knee checked out, skipping tonight's game at Charlotte and the following games at Miami and Orlando. He wasn't in attendance for the Warriors' 135-118 win over the Hawks on Tuesday at Philips Arena. "

"Chris Webber said all along he thought it would take 10 games to become fully reacclimated to the Warriors after a nearly 14-year absence. If game No.8 is any indication, his schedule might just be on target. "

"Chris Webber doesn't get riled up playing against his former Sixers team, nor does he hold any real animosity toward Maurice Cheeks. But Jim O'Brien? "

"Chris Webber may have buried the hatchet with Warriors coach Don Nelson, but the feud involving his ex-boss from Philadelphia is still very much alive. More than a month after former 76ers coach Jim O'Brien — who now leads the Indiana Pacers — blasted Webber in the Philadelphia media, the Warriors center responded in kind Friday morning before Golden State played the 76ers. "

"Golden State's Chris Webber said he enjoyed many things about his brief tenure with the 76ers, but one of them wasn't playing for coach Jim O'Brien."

"The landscape of the NBA's Western Conference keeps changing, faster than a Monta Ellis dash down the floor, and the Warriors have to change along with it. If this team has any chance of making the playoffs - or grabbing anyone's attention if they get that far - Chris Webber can't be part of the plans."

"Just as it took Don Nelson only one game to abandon his plan of starting Mike Dunleavy at power forward last season, the Warriors coach changed his mind equally quickly regarding the usage Chris Webber at that same position."

" Sad that Chris Webber's first shot was a bumbling mess. Sad that his teammates brought so little energy to the party. Sad that the NBA's idiotic stance toward the playoffs - refusing to ditch the conference alignments and seed the 16 top teams on basis of records - makes the Warriors' .592 winning percentage so irrelevant."

" And in the end, a Chicago team missing three of its top four scorers -- guards Ben Gordon (out with a sprained wrist) and Kirk Hinrich (bruised ribs) and forward Luol Deng (left Achilles tendinitis) -- proved tough enough to craft a 114-108 victory against a Warriors squad that lacked any continuity despite nearly a week of generally high-quality work on the practice floor."

"Chris Webber returned Thursday night. Please don't wring your hands wondering why the Warriors settled for C-Webb when they might have had Pau Gasol or Shaquille O'Neal. The short answer is neither Gasol nor O'Neal was available to the Warriors. The more revealing answer is the Lakers and Suns are chasing championships, while the Warriors are chasing the playoffs. "

"The Warriors let the highlights roll on the Oracle Arena video boards before Thursday's game against the Chicago Bulls, same as always. Only this time there was a new face in the mix. It was a young Chris Webber, moving at the speed of hope, slashing across the lane and throwing down a drive-by dunk. It was breath-taking. Anyone know where the Warriors can get their hands on a guy like that?"

"Chris Webber ran onto the court and into his past, and for a night anyway, dominated all the polls. He was welcomed back with a rousing ovation, the sentiment throughout the evening warm and cuddly, forgiving and forgetful, and oddly familiar. Don Nelson was on the sidelines, a few years older, several pounds heavier. The arena features a new name and several new amenities, but for the most part, resembles the stage where he made his NBA debut."

"Adding a five-time All-Star such as Chris Webber undoubtedly increased the talent level on the Warriors roster, but as the team prepares for its prodigal forward-center to make his return tonight against the Chicago Bulls, there remains one unanswered question: Whose minutes is he going to appropriate? It's a complex problem whose answer is going to shape the remainder of Golden State's season."

"Day One of the Chris Webber Minicamp had come to a close, and the man himself couldn't stop smiling. At long last, he had scrimmaged with both the A and B teams, worked out alongside Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson."

"It's Chris Webber who made the curious decision, if the new definition of curious is really asking for it. The Warriors take on the potential challenge of living with him and dealing with rubberneckers looking for any sign of conflict with coach Don Nelson, but C-Webb assumes all the real risk."

"When Chris Webber finally spoke Friday, he was asked about a dozen different ways why he chose to come back to Golden State, to the coach he never got along with, and to the fans who haven't forgotten how wrong it all went 14 years ago."

"It was 15 years ago. That's what Chris Webber wants everyone to understand. The feud with coach Don Nelson, opting out of his contract and forcing a trade, ruining the franchise -- that saga began 15 years ago, when Webber was drafted in June 1993. "

"Chris Webber said it was 'surreal' to be back in the building again Friday night, and indeed it was. For both him and us."

"The scoreboard screen played a highlight montage of both Jason Richardson and Webber in Warriors uniforms. It was a dazzling display of Warriors talent from vastly different eras: one full of promise, one mostly devoid of hope."

"After years of reconciliation and days of speculation, Chris Webber officially rejoined the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday with the intent of making his 2007-08 debut next Thursday. That game is against the Chicago Bulls in Oakland and sets up another scheduled reunion two nights later against the Kings, also at Oracle Arena."

"Chris Webber is a Warrior again, and everyone seems to have an opinion about it. But there are so many facets to Webber returning, it’s impossible to boil the move down to simply good or bad, smart or dumb, or makes sense or doesn’t. "

"Webber and Nelson had an acrimonious split in Nelson's previous tenure at Golden State, but Nelson said he was not concerned with that."

"That whirlwind romance rekindled between the Warriors and Chris Webber? Try a well-planned and long-running recruiting process. The Warriors came clean before their game against the Houston Rockets, admitting that they had had been targeting Webber -- whose signing was officially announced Tuesday -- since the team's October training camp."

"The story of Chris Webber's unlikely return to Oakland has roots dating back to training camp. Coach Don Nelson said that's when he first asked forward Matt Barnes to send out a feeler to Webber, his close friend and two-time teammate, about playing for Nelson again. Thus began Golden State's full-court press"

"So let's review: Don Nelson says he's worried about the Warriors' ability to hold off Houston and two of the three Northwest Division contenders. He also says the team's two biggest needs are at big man and point guard. So the responses are these: Chris Webber, who hasn't played in more than six months, and C.J. Watson, the NBA Development League promotion. Which is fine, as far as it goes. But that's the question: How far does it go?"

"When Don Nelson finally landed Chris Webber -- the first time -- he was more than thrilled. He was defiant. "Maybe I can't coach the big guy as some of you accuse me of," Nelson told reporters. "But you can't accuse me of not trying to get one." He's still trying. You don't hear much about it anymore, perhaps because even the most cogent observation has a shelf life, but Nelson has spent almost the entirety of his 2,198-game NBA coaching career without a great big man. (Not to be confused with a great-big man, as we shall document.)"

"HIS IMPACT was of "wow" magnitude, as he provided both production and spectacle. The young man had charisma. And then he was gone, off to achieve greater fame or infamy, depending on one's perspective. Chris Webber? Yes. But also Reggie Jackson and Rickey Henderson and Jose Canseco. They all left and came back. "

"Fourteen years ago, I witnessed firsthand one of the ugliest of ugly sports divorces ever. Hence, it'd be quite the uplifting sight to witness a full, fruitful reconciliation between Chris Webber and one Don Nelson."

"What's the first thing coach Don Nelson will say to Chris Webber now that the longtime adversaries are representing the Warriors again? "Congratulations," Nelson said en route to Houston, where the Warriors play the Rockets tonight. Golden State will make its official announcement today, after Webber cemented the unlikeliest of reunions by signing as a free agent Monday."

"After nearly a 14-year hiatus, Chris Webber will once again be a Warrior. A team source said Monday that Webber was slated to sign a one-year contract either late Monday or today. Another source confirmed the team put in for waivers on injured guard Troy Hudson, clearing the way for Webber, a five-time All-Star, to join the club."