"I've never heard anyone say that in my life" - Chris Webber on the notion that he doesn't show up in big games

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Chris Webber was always a big-time player. Even after the timeout debacle in the 1993 NCAA men’s basketball title game, he was looked up to as one, and nothing changed once he got into the NBA. After an impressive rookie season in which he averaged 17.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, C-Webb had nine consecutive seasons in which he scored at least 20 points per contest.

But after his first big playoff experience in 1997, he was confronted with an unfamiliar criticism – that he doesn’t show up in big games.

“That’s one thing I’ve never heard before in my life,” Webber told SLAM Magazine. “I don’t remember a big game I played bad in except Chicago in the playoffs. But I’ve never heard anyone say that in my life. If anybody doubts me, just tell them to look in the books.”

One bad series

Webber immediately became Washington’s main man when he arrived there via trade during his second NBA season. In four years played at the Nation’s Capital, Webber averaged 20.9 points, 9.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game. So there was no question that CWebb was a big-time player when he was a Bullet/Wizard.

However, Webber didn’t play as well in the playoffs when the eighth-seeded Wizards were matched up against the defending champions and top-seeded Chicago Bulls. Chris went from being the team’s leading scorer to its fourth-best scorer as his team was swept in three games by MJ’s Bulls.

C-Webb was named to his first All-Star team during the 1996-97 season. During the regular season, he had the first double-double campaign of his career with 20.1 points and 10.3 rebounds. But during their first-round series against the Bulls, he only averaged 15.7 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, including a paltry eight-point performance in Game 1.

Building on the success in ’97

Whether that series was where the notion that he doesn’t show up in big games came from or not, Webber was looking forward to the following season to build on their success. Although they were swept, it was against the Bulls, and they lost the last two games by a combined margin of six points.

“My goal is to finish higher than fourth in the Eastern Conference,” added Chris. “I think it’s unacceptable for us to finish in the eighth spot. I think last year we did a great job by making the 8th spot. We learned a lot from that because we got to play the best team, but we won’t be happy with the 8th spot this year. We learned how to win, and now it’s time to build on that.”

With non-basketball issues piling up for Webber after the 1997-98 campaign, the Wizards gave up on him before he got them back to the playoffs. C-Webb got traded to the Sacramento Kings in the offseason and his stint there ended up being the best part of his career winning-wise.