Wednesday, March 26, 2008

A not so Fab ending

It made for good headlines. Chris Webber was going back to Oakland and under Don Nelson no less. More proof that you can indeed go home again. Except that it's not the same anymore. After battling chronic pain in the last half decade, Chris Webber, he of those marvelous large hands who could do wondrous things on the basketball court, is set to hang up those sneakers of his tomorrow. He simply never recovered from the microfracture surgery.

Didn't you see him a brash young frosh with four other fabulous ones who helped revolutionize US college basketball by taking Michael Jordan's bald look to go with their hip hop talking, baggy shorts, high-fiving, and chest bumping high octane game? And I hate Duke even more for beating them.

He could have been a king. Well, he was with Sacramento but the Los Angeles Lakers ended the chances of the sweetest passing team since the 1996 Chicago Bulls.

Chris Mullin who also left Golden State for supposedly greener pastures did come back to play his final year with Golden State. But even then you knew he was finished as is Webber.

The Golden State Warriors are the one real team outside the Eastern Conference that I rooted for. My first ever NBA basketball jersey was a Warriors #17 -- Mullin. It was given to me by Melanie Jordin, the manager of jazz musician Jim Chappell. It's in tatters now, but it's still in my closet. The only other Mullin jersey that I have is his St. John's Redmen #20 that I got at Modell's. It may not be much but I have Chris Webber's rookie Skybox card. Chris and the Warriors -- Mullin, Webber, Latrell Sprewell, Avery Johnson, Billy Owens, and Chris Gatling -- were fun to watch.

Thanks for the hoops, Chris. Whoomp there it is.

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