As validation, holding me to a standard.
As I watched with great pride one of my favorite college player Chris Webber be enshrined in the Dr. James Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, I begin to relive the journey in my mind.
Watching Webber ‘s speech took me back to the infamous timeout and made me think wow. What an amazing story of redemption and triumph. Allow me to take you on an amazing journey of wins, losses , redemption and the reinvention of an icon all from the eyes of a fan. I am that fan.
Let me set the scene it’s 1993 and the National championship stage has been set. The beloved North Carolina Tar Heels were set to take on the villainous Fab 5 from the University of Michigan featuring the likes of Jalen Rose , Jimmy King, Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson and of course our protagonist Chris Webber. Let’s fast forward to the closing seconds of that game North Carolina’s Pat Sullivan was on the free throw line shooting 1 and 1. Sullivan an 80% free throw shooter for the season approached the line for his first free throws of the night. North Carolina who was up by one had a chance to seal it with both shots. Sullivan made the first basket putting the Heels up by one. Sullivan missed the next shot and that is where history began. With nineteen seconds on the clock our hero Chris Webber grabbed a huge defensive rebound, after the referee missed an apparent travel call Webber made his way down court. Now what happened next either solidified your opinions of Michigan’s Fab 5 or changed your opinion of Chris Webber. Webber dribbled into the corner near his bench and called timeout ( some say it was advised from the bench others say it was Chris’s doing) . Either way it seemed the mystique of the country’s best power forward was fading. The issue was Michigan no longer had any timeouts to call resulting in a technical foul giving North Carolina two free throws and the ball effectively sealing the fate of Michigan Wolverines losing 77-71. Now despite Webber’s amazing performance dropping 23 points and 11 rebounds ( no doubt the best player on the floor) that game went down in infamy as another Fab 5 tragedy. Unfortunately the tragedy was just starting.
Watching the coverage of Webber as he entered the tunnel after that game with his head held down fighting back the emotions of another finals loss, you had an eerie feeling that the worst was yet to come. Though he was drafted high by Golden State and not to mention other Fab 5 players moved on to the NBA, 9 years after that infamous game we as Fab 5 fans were delivered another blow regarding that team. One evening watching the 11pm EST. Sports Center in 2002 I heard that Chris Webber was indicted on five charges, including obstruction of justice and lying to a federal grand jury, for having misrepresented his relationship with Martin. Each charge was punishable by five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. As a fan of Chris Webber and the team that spoke to my youth I was crushed. This led to a ten year disassociation with Michigan and Chris Webber. Once the details were some what released ,Webber made his statement ,the wins were vacated and the banners were dropped I wondered what did he do wrong? Michigan made millions of dollars on the name of the Fab 5. Nike made millions off the things I and other fans wore to support that team. I felt like they too were the meager, the down trodden, the oppressed and that’s the reason they spoke to me. As I grew older and the years passed I watched Webber grow from an All- Star power forward to an All- Star broadcaster this made me further believe as he reinvented himself what he did ( as far as any money accepted from Martin) was not wrong.
Now in present day 2021 almost 30 years from the infamous timeout game redemption has been bestowed upon Chris Webber. Eight years after Michigan’s disassociation was over NCAA has now changed the rule that possibly would have avoided any further involvement from Ed Martin after Highschool for Webber and many others who shared a similar scenario. Here’s my take if the NCAA had allowed athletes to make money on NIL during that time with Fab 5 memorabilia being such a hot ticket I am sure they could have capitalized enough to live an above average life. So you can’t look at the situation as Webber disgraced an institution as much as he was a victim of an institution that was capitalizing off of his NIL.
So we look at the events from this week and celebrate the miraculous climb back to the top. As I watch Webber completes his enshrinement speech thanking his parents for instilling perseverance in him and his teacher seeing that elite greatness in him. Webber had grown far pass the brash outspoken teen we saw at Michigan. He is now an accountable, intriguing, dynamic broadcaster who can now add Hall of Famer to that resume. Maybe this was his validation, maybe this is the Chris Webber standard.
