Philly Never Liked Chris Webber

I will be the first to tell you, I am not a big NBA guy. Sure I like to look at the daily transactions and see the box scores, but sitting down watching a game, forget about it. I have always been a huge College Basketball fan. In High School, I would play sick so I could come home and watch the first round of the NCAA tournament. I think the college game is so much more exciting than anything the NBA has to offer.

One of my most vivid college basketball memories happened in the 1993 NCAA Tournament. It was Late March and the field of 64 was dwindled down to 8. John Chaney's Temple Owls were playing Chris Webber and the Fab 5 in NCAA Western Regional Final in Seattle Everyone knew about the Michigan's Fab 5 - Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson, they were the next coming of a College Hoops Dynasty. Temple countered with Aaron McKie, Eddie Jones, Rick Brunson, Derrick Battie and William Cunningham.

Late in the game, Michigan was winning, but it was close relatively close. After a missed shot, Chris Webber and William Cunningham both went up for the Rebound, Cunningham not only came down with it, but he put Webber on his rear. Webber had a look on his face, who was that freight train. Cunningham had a smile, knowing he just knocked down a future NBA First Round Pick like it was nothing.

Unfortunately, Michigan won the game, denying Temple their first Final 4 appearence. Michigan would make it to the National Championship game, losing to North Carolina when Chris Webber called a timeout with no timeouts available. Altough, Webber becomes a goat because of this, I will contest it was Point Guard, Jalen Roses' fault for not grabbing the ball out of Webber's hands after the ball was in bounded.

Later that spring, Webber entered the NBA draft, was drafted No.1 by Orlando, traded to Golden State for the Rights to Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway and some draft picks. Webber would than play for Golden State, Washington, Sacremento and most recently the 76ers. We was bought out and became a Free Agent by the Sixers. Webber never lived up to the hype. He was a solid Basketball player, but not spectacular. He was a power forward who would rather take jump shots than use his body to work inside. He never won a Championship and for that matter, I don't think he ever won a meaningful game. We was a guy who built his reputation on his name and not his Basketball accomplishments. He was definitely not the guy Philadelphia would ever rally around.

By the way, I am not really sure whatever became of William Cunningham. He was a 6'11 brute who played a little for the New Jersey Nets. He had a lot of potential, but not the will or desire to improve. He seemed like a nice enough guy and from what others told me, he was quite likeable. He would have made a great Pro Wrestler.

Jalen Rose and Juwan Howard moved on to the NBA a year after Webber. They both had solid, but not spectacular, NBA Careers. Jimmy King and Ray Jackson never made it big, one or both might have made an NBA roster for a few years, but eventually disappeared.

Eddie Jones and Aaron McKie were 2 of the Greatest College Hoops Stars in Philadelphia Basketball history. They were classy guys, who worked hard and Temple loved them. They both, along with Rick Brunson, played over 10 years in the NBA. Eddie Jones always gets criticized for not "stepping it up" when he got to the NBA, however, he is a solid player, a tremedous complimentry player, who was both selfless and tough. His tenacious Defense and lack of turnovers are skills that go unnoticed in the NBA today.