Chris Webber is headed to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, being inducted with the Class of 2021 on Saturday, Sept. 11.
For the first 12 seasons of his 15-year career, the No. 1 pick of the 1993 NBA Draft took winning with him and improved the situation of every franchise he played for - Golden State Warriors (1993-94), Washington Bullets/Wizards (1994-98) and Sacramento Kings (1998-2005).
Webber is a five-time All-Star, received five All-NBA selections (one First Team, three Second Team, one Third Team), all of which came as a member of the Kings.
In honour of the high-flying forward, our NBA.com Staff looks back on the best moments of Webber's career.
Yash Matange (@yashmatange2694): Webber was a problem in Sacramento. Multiple times, he came agonizingly close to breaking through the West.
However, a highlight that has always stood out to me and has been talked about is Webber's dunk on then reigning league MVP Charles Barkley.
Other than that, one thing that really stands out from Webber are his mean mugs. I always believed it was one of the best the NBA's ever seen.
Benyam Kidane (@BenyamKidane): Grabbing a block out of mid-air in his rookie season
Webber came into the NBA as the No.1 overall pick, boasting supreme athletic ability, and it didn't take long for him to start racking up the highlights.
While most of his best plays come of him posterising a defender with a monster dunk, this play from his rookie season always stood out.
Against the San Antonio Spurs, Webber pulled off the ridiculous block on Negele Knight, taking the elevator to another floor to pluck the shot attempt out of the air.
Why swat the shot into the stands when you can just haul it in?
Scott Rafferty (@crabdribbles): Webber's dunk over Barkley was the first thing that came to mind for me as well. The second was when he exploded for a career-best 51 points against the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 5, 2001.
It came in an overtime loss, but it was a truly ridiculous performance. Put it this way: Webber is one of only 22 players in NBA history to score 50 points or more on six or less free throw attempts. He got his 51 points by shooting 24-for-46 from the field, 0-for-1 from the 3-point line and 3-for-6 from the charity stripe.
Oh, Webber also pulled down a career-high 26 rebounds (16 defensive, 10 offensive) to go along with five assists, three steals and two blocks.
He did everything.
That came in Webber's best season in the NBA. In 2000-01, he averaged a career-high 27.1 points, 11.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.3 steals per game. He earned the fourth-most votes for MVP, his best finish for the award in his career.
Injuries cut Webber's prime short, but prime Webber was something else.
Gilbert McGregor (@GMcGregor21): When I think of Webber, I think of how cool it was that he was so skilled that he could do things out of the post that most bigs couldn't do.
In a very inconsequential regular season game between the Kings and New Orleans Hornets, I remember a really simple face-up move that Webber did, putting the ball between his legs to get a post bucket. While video of that isn't exactly readily available, it was the No. 3 play on his top 10 career plays that reminded me of that.
Not only does Webber lose his defender with the first post move, but he also has something up his sleeve for the weak side center that comes to help. Webber's ball fake is the type of move you use when a younger brother, sister or cousin tells you they can guard you.
And he did it in an NBA game!
Webber was such a skilled big man that things like this were kind of the norm. As Scott mentioned above, injuries put a damper on Webber's career, but at his best, he was a dominant scorer and rebounder with the skill to execute plays like the one above.
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