This article originally appeared on March 28, 2008

Chris Webber announced his retirement after 15 NBA seasons on Wednesday.  Webber finished with career averages of 20.7 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 4.2 assists, becoming one of six players to average at least 20 points, nine rebounds, and four assists.  Four of those players (Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Billy Cunningham, and Elgin Baylor) are in the Hall of Fame.  One of them (Kevin Garnett), will surely be inducted once he decides to call it quits.
 

Will Chris Webber join that hallowed list of Hall of Famers?
 

Webber?s numbers are borderline Hall of Fame worthy.  Yet, his career averages are very similar to Hall of Fame power forwards Dave DeBusschere (16.1 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 2.9 apg), Elvin Hayes (21.0 ppg, 12.5 rpg, 1.8 apg), and Jerry Lucas (17.0 ppg, 15.6 rpg, 3.3 apg).
 

DeBusschere?s numbers are inferior to Webber?s, but he won two rings as a member of the New York Knicks.


Hayes helped defeat a UCLA team led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to win an NCAA championship, ending their 47-game winning streak.  


Elvin also played in three NBA Finals, winning an NBA championship in 1978.  


Lucas led his Ohio State Buckeyes to three straight NCAA championship games, winning the championship in 1960.  Jerry would win one NBA championship when he teamed with DeBusschere in 1973.
 

Chris Webber never won an NCAA championship, but he led the Michigan Wolverines to two straight NCAA championship games.  Webber never won an NBA championship, but he came within one game of defeating the eventual NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in 1999-2000 and 2001-2002, the same Laker team that won three straight NBA championships to begin the decade.
 

Think Webber?s accomplishments compared to DeBusschere, Hayes, and Lucas aren?t enough to get him in the Hall because he never won an NCAA or NBA championship?  


Okay, let?s compare him to a couple of modern day power forwards ? Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Garnett,  neither of whom have an NBA championship, yet each is on nearly every ?experts'? list of the top ten power forwards of all-time.  
 

Dirk has revolutionized the the power forward position.  He is the best shooting big man of all-time.  Nowitzki has led the Mavericks to seven 50 win seasons, winning the MVP in 2006-2007 before being dispatched in the first round by the Golden State Warriors.  Nowitzki?s career numbers are 22.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 2.7 assists.
 

KG is one of the greatest two-way power forwards of all-time.  Garnet has led his teams to five 50 win seasons, winning the MVP in 2003-2004 when he led the Timberwolves to 58 wins before being defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.  Garnett?s sports career averages of 20.4 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game.
 

Chris Webber is the best passing big man of all-time.  Webber led the Kings to five 50 win seasons,  highlighted by a Western Conference best 61 wins in 2001-2002.  The Kings would lose to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals that year 4-3, but not before giving the Lakers all they could handle.  The Kings were only seconds away from taking a 3-1 series lead in Game 4 in Los Angeles before Vlade Divac tipped out a defensive rebound that somehow found its way to Robert Horry.  Horry picked it up and drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer that tied the series 2-2.  The Lakers would win Game 7 in overtime and go on to win the last of their 3 consecutive NBA championships.
 

The MVP award would go to Tim Duncan that season, but Webber?s numbers were very comparable to KG's and Dirk?s in their MVP seasons.  KG put up 24.2 points, 13.9 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in his MVP campaign.  Dirk put up 24.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists in winning the MVP last season.  Webber put up 24.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 4.8  assists in 2001-2002.
 

Yes, Webber?s career was cut short by injury but so was Bill Walton?s.  Yes, he came up short a few times in the clutch but so have Garnett and Nowitzki.
 

Webber?s NBA resume speaks for itself.  The man is a legend - one of the greatest power forwards of all-time.  But to truly appreciate the impact he?s had on the game of basketball, we have to go back to where it all started ? the Fab Five.  The NBA Hall of Fame is about excellence on the court, but it also recognizes people who have ?made significant contributions to the game of basketball.?
 

The Fab Five won 56 games and reached the NCAA finals in each of their two seasons together.  Becoming the first NCAA basketball team with five freshman starters to advance to the NCAA tournament championship is a feat that will NEVER be duplicated.  Despite failing to win an NCAA championship, that team had as much effect on the game of basketball as any team, pro or collegiate, ever.  Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Ray Jackson, and Jimmy King brought long-baggy shorts, black shoes, black socks, and trash-talking to the forefront of the game.  
 

They were the trend setters that ushered in the hip-hop era of basketball which is an era that continues today.  And at the center of it all was Chris Webber - the kid with the million dollar smile, the NBA skills, and the rock-star charisma.  
 

Despite their overwhelming influence, traditionalists of the game weren?t appreciative of the Fab Five.  They were anti-establishment, playing opposite of the John Wooden mantra of respecting one?s opponents and remaining humble in victory.  The Fab Five was unabashedly cocky, playing with a swagger that until that time had been reserved for the playgrounds.  They knew they were good, and they let everyone know it.   Every young basketball fan wanted to be like Chris Webber and company.  Annual athletic royalties at the University of Michigan more than tripled from $2 million in the pre-Fab Five year of 1990-91 to $6.2 million in '93-94.  
 

Unfortunately, not all of the notoriety the Fab Five brought to Michigan turned out to be positive.  There was the grand jury investigation into Michigan booster Ed Martin that resulted in Webber?s conviction of criminal contempt for lying about accepting $280,000 in loans from Martin, beginning when he was in 8th grade.  Michigan forfeited its victory in the 1992 Final Four over Cincinnati as well as its runner-up status in the 1992 tourney. Michigan also forfeited the entire 1992-93 season, removed the 1992 and 1993 Final Four banners from the Crisler Arena rafters, and deleted Webber's records from its books.
 

Chris Webber made a mistake when he was a kid.  He made an even bigger mistake by attempting to cover it up as an adult.  But those blemishes shouldn?t be enough to deny him a place in the Hall.
 

As the leader of the Fab Five, he changed the culture of basketball forever.  As a pro, he came within one game, twice, of winning two NBA championships  He is one of six players to average at least 20 points, nine rebounds, and four assists.  The other five are in or will be in the Hall of Fame.
 

You may not like him because of his role in the Michigan booster scandal.  You can hold the infamous timeout against him, but Michigan was down by two.  His career was cut short by injury, but so was Bill Walton?s.  Take away your personal feelings for C-Webb and compare his career and contributions to the game of basketball to that of Elvin Hayes, Dave DeBusschere, Jerry Lucas, Kevin Garnett, and Dirk Nowitzki, and you should see that Chris Webber belongs in the Hall of Fame.
 

- Please feel free to contact Brandon Hoffman via e-mail (ballerblogger@yahoo.com) with comments or questions