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Inside the NBA
Posted: Tuesday January 25, 2000 04:09 PM Sacramento's Chris Webber is finally letting his play do all the talking By Jackie MacMullan
Kings power forward Chris Webber knew the tide was turning early this season when opposing coaches began walking past him after games and delivering the universal signal of goodwill: a pat on the butt. "Nobody ever did that before," Webber says. "No matter how well I played. They stayed clear of me. But now there's a level of ... of ... respect. Yes. That's it. Respect."
In the past if you wanted to stop Webber, you hacked away and forced him to earn his points at the line. Last season Webber hit just 45.4% of his free throws, lowering his career mark to 54.1%. Over the summer he worked, as he always has, with shooting guru Buzz Braman. He also got vital advice from his brother David, a sophomore guard at Central Michigan who loves to break down film. David sat Chris in a chair and ran some video footage of him at the line. "What he showed me was that there's a proper posture for shooting free throws," Webber says. "You can practice all day long, but it's not going to matter if you're doing it wrong." By making sure not to lift the ball too high on his release, Webber had improved his accuracy at the line to a career-high 76.4% at week's end. That's only one aspect of his overall improvement. Kings coach Rick Adelman, who holds the unique distinction of having received ringing endorsements from bad boys Latrell Sprewell, Isaiah Rider and Rod Strickland, praises Webber as "the rock that holds us together." Says Adelman of the change he's seen in Webber, "It's called maturity." Humility has been a factor, too. Picked No. 1 in the 1993 draft, Webber never averaged fewer than 17.5 points and 7.6 rebounds in his first six seasons, yet he made most of his headlines off the court -- a dispute with his coach, a marijuana possession charge for which he was later cleared, a disappearing act after being traded from Washington to Sacramento in May 1998. All the derogatory descriptions of the NBA's young stars seemed to fit him: selfish, immature, insincere. Complaining that he was misunderstood always backfired. So did his calculated attempt to cultivate an air of sophistication. Halfway through last season, says Webber, "I decided to just shut up and play. I don't pat myself on the back. I don't worry about what people think of me. I don't dwell on the past." Webber knows he still has detractors. His contract dispute with Warriors coach and G.M. Don Nelson in 1994-95 became personal, which reflected poorly on both of them. "Two years ago I apologized to Nellie for about the fourth time," Webber says. "I stuck out my hand, and he shook it. A few days later he said something negative about me again. So he's the kind of guy I try not to think about anymore." Webber's superior numbers were not enough to persuade the U.S. Olympic selection committee to send him to Sydney, instead of, say, Tom Gugliotta or Vin Baker. "So maybe I'm not all the way there yet," he says. "I figure the Olympics will still be there in four years, and so will I. In the meantime, it gives me an incentive against all these other guys who got put on ahead of me." While Webber has enjoyed the country's fascination with the high-scoring Kings, who were 25-13 at week's end, he frets about what he sees as their many shortcomings. "We might be one of the most interesting teams in the league," he says, "but we're not one of the strongest. We're not the most athletic, or the most fundamentally sound, or the most mentally prepared. Coach Adelman says the difference between us and his great Portland teams was that they attacked every rebound. They jumped on every mistake. We're not there yet. We haven't proven we can bang you, break you down, come at you. I'm much more interested in us showing consistent play, not fancy play." To that end Webber has been spending extra time refining his moves on the right box. He has been trying to shoot a three on one possession, then take his defender off the dribble the next, so he is less predictable. Webber has also been mindful of how a big defensive stop can help kick-start Sacramento. The wiser Webber has become more of a mentor to the young Kings, offering tips in particular to flashy second-year point guard Jason Williams. Among them: Don't dwell on the labels that have been slapped on you. That's a lesson Webber learned the hard way. Issue date: January 31, 2000
For more Inside the NBA see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, January 26. Click here to subscribe to SI.
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