Chris Webber has had one of the most interesting careers in the NBA. He is among those players that were proper superstars in their prime but don’t always get the love that they deserve from fans of the league. His time with the Sacramento Kings saw them get as close to winning the NBA championship as the franchise has ever been.
Webber was highly touted coming into the league though, his time as a part of Michigan’s Fab Five had made him a household name even before his days in the league. That fame came with additional scrutiny though, considering the controversy that surrounded that legendary team, and even before the money they received became common knowledge, Webber and his teammates were subjected to a lot of harsh criticism for their actions.
Speaking on All The Smoke with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Webber opened up on getting death threats for celebrating exuberantly while he was with the Michigan Wolverines. He also explained how his family’s background helped him deal with getting said threats.
Chris Webber: “Like I remember, we won a game, and we jumped up on the scorers table and did hip-hopper rain and had the whole crowd doing it. I’m just doing it because I love hip hop and I wanna feel like a rapper. I wanna know how y’all do it.
“And I remember, the criticism that came after, when I really think about it man, I was eighteen getting death threats dawg.”
Matt Barnes: “For having fun though, for being yourself.”
CW: “It was crazy, to the point where I’m worried and now I got my boys coming and sitting by my parents at games.”
MB: “It’s different now because of social media, where any coward has a voice, but back then they had to really get that sh*t. So this is like a handwritten letter or a phone call, it had meaning to it. There was more hate behind it.”
CW: “At that time, these are all good things. Because you can’t have courage without fear. So I’m not gonna act like nobody wasn’t scared at these times but I really have to thank our parents because we were built for it. How the hell am I gonna cry about this with what my father came from? We were built for it.”
Death threats have somehow become a common part of life for top athletes, it’s something Russell Westbrook’s wife also spoke about recently, but Webber’s perspective on it is unique. To have that sort of cognizance that other people have had it worse is rare in those moments and explains a lot in terms of how he was able to become as great as he ended up being.
