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03-25-2008, 06:28 PM
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Decapod 10
Posts: 4,149
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Webber Will Retire
Webber, battling chronic knee problems, to call it a career
By Marc Stein ESPN.com Updated: March 25, 2008, 7:20 PM ET Time is apparently up on Chris Webber's basketball career. Sources close to Webber told ESPN.com on Tuesday that the 35-year-old has decided to retire from the game and end his comeback with the Golden State Warriors after more problems with a surgically repaired left knee that has plagued him for the past half-decade. Webber is expected to formally announce his plans Wednesday, sources said, less than two months after rejoining the franchise that unleashed him on the NBA as the first overall pick in the 1993 draft and the face most synonymous with Michigan's famed Fab Five team. Sources said that Webber, unable to play since March 2 because of the latest complications with his knee, decided in the past week to end his pro career after 15 seasons, having struggled with his mobility for the past five of those seasons since a serious tear in the 2003 playoffs that required microfracture surgery. Webber sat out the first four months of this season and flirted with a return to the Detroit Pistons before signing with Golden State on Jan. 29, hoping for one last run at the championship that repeatedly eluded him and hoping as well for a fairy-tale reunion with the coach under whom he won NBA Rookie of the Year honors in 1993-94. But his seemingly unlikely reunion with Warriors coach Don Nelson -- after the collapse of their first marriage led to Webber's trade to Washington within six months of his rookie award -- ended faster than anyone imagined after Nelson pushed harder than anyone in Oakland to bring Webber back. Webber appeared in a mere nine games with the Warriors this time, averaging just 3.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 14.0 minutes as Golden State went 6-3 in those games. He played only once more after sustaining his most recent health setback in a Feb. 29 win over Philadelphia and found the knee slow to rehabilitate after such a long layoff to start the season. Asked Monday about a timetable for Webber's return after almost a month out of the lineup, Nelson admitted to the San Francisco Chronicle: "It'd be pretty hard at this point." It was Nelson, back in January, who scoffed loudest at the widespread skepticism regarding Webber's ability to keep up with Golden State's run-and-gunners. Nelson insisted that the Warriors needed Webber's passing from the high post and ability to sink mid-range jumpers to get them unstuck when their half-court offense bogged down or when their 3-pointers weren't dropping. "I'm afraid if we don't get him here [that] our team is not strong enough to be a playoff team," Nelson said at the time. "That's my biggest fear. I think if he comes [that] it can benefit our team, it can benefit his and my relationship [and] it can benefit players on this team. I think he has a chance to make some of our players better and make our team better. Really, that's all that's important. I'll get along with anybody who can help our team." Nelson also dismissed the idea that he would struggle to coach Webber again, insisting that he and Webber had reconciled years ago, starting when he chose Webber to replace the injured Shaquille O'Neal -- over Dirk Nowitzki from Nelson's Mavericks -- as the West's starting center for the 2002 All-Star Game in Philadelphia. Link
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 "Talk to the claw." "They're getting 15, 16 assists some games. I dream about getting 15 assists. It's just not possible with the team I'm on." - Devin Harris about top-notch point guards and him playing with the Mavs "For me, it’s like a kid in a candy store." - Jason Kidd on playing with the Mavs |
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03-25-2008, 06:29 PM
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#2 |
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 4,855
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Biggest waste of talent. Attitude got the best of him, Hall of Fame skills, doghouse attitude, realized it too late.
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03-25-2008, 06:59 PM
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#3 |
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Golden Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,715
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Nellie gets the last laugh. Again.
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03-25-2008, 07:17 PM
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Guru
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: California
Posts: 16,670
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It's a shame. He played pretty well for them in limited minutes. He was better than I thought he would be. At least he knows to hang it up.
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03-25-2008, 07:29 PM
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Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 295
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he should've hung it up at the end of last season. good riddance
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03-25-2008, 09:00 PM
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#6 |
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,674
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really.....G.S. made the stupid trade!!
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03-25-2008, 09:21 PM
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Arlington, VA
Posts: 7,031
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Quote:
ugh...what? |
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03-25-2008, 09:34 PM
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,674
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Quote:
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03-25-2008, 10:07 PM
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#9 |
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Guru
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Cowboys Country
Posts: 23,336
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That last exchange cracked me up.
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03-25-2008, 10:12 PM
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Platinum Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Dallas, Tx
Posts: 2,329
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Quote:
Horse for poster of the year!
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03-25-2008, 10:17 PM
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Guru
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Cowboys Country
Posts: 23,336
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Quote:
Back on topic here...I wonder how many of our good board members were in front of a television when Chris Webber called the timeout that Michigan didn't have in the championship game. I'm pretty sure that many of you were still being dressed by your mothers at the time. |
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03-26-2008, 03:10 AM
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#12 |
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Guru
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 23,046
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Glad we never signed him.
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"Cream of the crop gon' rise to the top." -Jaden Hardy 
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03-26-2008, 11:52 AM
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Arlington, VA
Posts: 7,031
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Quote:
what?????????~~~~~~~~ |
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03-26-2008, 12:35 PM
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Miami, FL
Posts: 6,653
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Quote:
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Let's go Mavs! |
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03-26-2008, 01:26 PM
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#15 |
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Golden Member
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: TX
Posts: 1,868
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03-26-2008, 11:58 PM
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#16 |
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 9,189
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He shouldn't have even tried the comeback in the first place.
__________________
 "He's as valuable as anyone. The most unusual thing is that they lose last year's MVP and still get better. It's unheard of." "For a team as good as the Mavs, the regular season is just 82 practice games until the real season begins." -G-Man "We wanted this for Dirk because of his heart, his class, his work ethic, his humility, his sense of humor, his respect for the game, and his respect for people." |
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03-27-2008, 12:27 AM
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#17 |
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Hudson, WI
Posts: 3,938
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Honestly, I've always had a guilty pleasure type of respect for C-Webb's game... offensively, he was every bit the player Garnett was at his prime. It's a shame he blew out his knee in that series against us and never really got back to 75% afterward.
Those were some fun series (particularly 02-03) weren't they? That's the C-Webb I think I'd like to remember -- up until the injury, that is. |
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