Sacramento Kings: 30 greatest players in franchise history
The expectations placed on today’s big men are much higher than those of earlier years. On top of the usual rebounding and rim protection near seven-footers are supposed to provide, most can now handle the ball, defend the perimeter and shoot from outside.
Chris Webber may not have been the deadliest outside threat, but he possessed a skill-set far beyond his time which made him one of the best players in the game during his prime years.
He had this incredible blend of size and speed that made him so difficult to cover. He had a quick first step out of the low post, and even if the defense managed to stay in front, the five-time All-Star could bully them out of the way with his 245-pound frame.
On the defensive end, the former Fab 5 member was nimble enough to corral most perimeter players with the hand speed necessary to strip them clean. And despite a 6-foot-9 frame that wasn’t built for rim protection, Webber still got his hands on a good amount of shots, to the tune of 1.4 blocks for his career.
For whatever reason, Webber hasn’t been able to find his way into the Hall of Fame. He never won a championship, but he was a statistical marvel who could impact the game at both ends of the floor.
The obvious best player on the Kings, C-Webb was the driving force for their early century success who could do pretty much anything on the court. There’s no telling how Sacramento would fare without the skills of Webber.
He helped elevate a franchise to one of its best stretches in history while putting up numbers that certainly top some current Hall-of-Famers. Even if he’s never voted in, he’ll always have a place in Kings lore as possibly the best to ever don the uniform in the modern era.