Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images
Chris Webber was kind of a controversial figure at a much more conservative time in the NBA early on in his career. A braggadocious, game-changing member of the Fab Five at the University of Michigan, Webber was a household name prior to even getting to the NBA, though many fans did not like Webber’s, or his Michigan teammates’, antics.
Regardless, by the early 2000s, Webber was a star player for the Sacramento Kings and one of the best power forwards in the NBA. Webber should have been a USA Olympic Team member in either 2000 or 2004. However, his involvement in an ugly legal dispute involving Ed Martin, a former booster for Michigan basketball who was eventually convicted on counts of tax evasion and robbery, definitely took him out of the running.
Webber was charged with lying to a grand jury in 2002. He eventually pleaded guilty to criminal contempt for lying about his role in accepting illicit loans from Martin, receiving a minor punishment. In fact, Martin passing away in early 2003 might have actually prevented Webber from getting into even more trouble, as Martin was supposed to testify about what went on between himself and Webber financially at a sentencing hearing before his death.
Even so, veteran NBA scribe Marc Stein wrote about Webber wanting to play for Team USA at the 2004 Olympics but not being able to due to his legal trouble at the time:
Sacramento’s Chris Webber is back on the fringes of the MVP derby, in spite of the 15 games he lost to an ankle injury, but he’s not back on USA Basketball’s radar. Not yet. Ongoing uncertainty about Webber’s legal situation, as ESPN.com reported in December, has excluded him from Team USA consideration to date. …. Although Webber said in November that he wants to represent his country, the selection committee has been reluctant to even discuss the idea because of Webber’s perjury trial looming this summer. The trial is scheduled to begin July 8 in spite of the recent death of former University of Michigan booster Ed Martin, the prosecution’s star witness, at age 69. …. It remains to be seen if Webber’s legal cloud will lift in time for him to have a shot at making the national team, which is openly desperate for big men.
Another legendary NBA reporter, David Aldridge, likewise wrote about Webber’s Team USA history, saying that the Hall-of-Fame big man also missed out on the 2000 Olympics due to his Martin-related legal problems:
It’s obvious to me that if not for his involvement with Martin, Webber would have been on the 2000 U.S. Olympic team, which won the gold medal in Australia, as well – another potential feather in his cap that would bolster his Hall of Fame credentials.
Regardless, it’s obvious that Webber would have made a Team USA roster if not for his legal problems, especially in the early 2000s when USA Basketball was in a bit of a downturn and in need of elite talent. Lest we forget, the 2004 USA Basketball Team lost three games in the tournament and finished with a bronze medal.
Webber is no stranger to getting snubbed, though, as the big man often missed out on deserving All-Star and All-NBA spots in his prime, getting MVP votes in five separate seasons but only having five All-Star and five All-NBAs (just one of them a 1st Team) to show for it. Far lesser players have more All-Star nods than Webber despite his insane peak, which saw him average 23.1 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.7 blocks on 48.5 percent shooting over a seven-year stretch from 1996 to 2003.
All in all, Webber will go down as one of the best American players with zero senior-team USA Basketball nods.
