Chris Webber: His Most Underrated Season
When it comes to Chris Webber, it is only a matter of time before he is enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame. The man is a Sacramento Kings legend and has quite the impressive NBA resume. For his career, Webber went to five All-Star Games, is a former rebounding champion, a five-time All-NBA Team member, former Rookie of the Year in the 1993-94 season, and of course former All-Rookie Team member. With this in mind, it makes sense to resume our “Most Underrated Season,” series by taking a look at the former Sacramento power forward. Without further adieu, here is the most overlooked campaign of Chris Webber‘s career.
Chris Webber’s Most Overlooked Season
Chris Webber: His 2000-01 Season
Webber was the best player of the Sacramento Kings squad in the 2000-01 season. Webber was the leader of this high powered Kings squad consisting of Nick Anderson, Peja Stojakovic, and Jason Williams. The Kings would finish the regular season with a win-loss record of 55-27. That would be good enough for second place in the Pacific Division, behind the Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant led Los Angeles Lakers.
The Kings would come up one round shorter than they did the season before when they made the Western Conference Finals. They would make quick work of the Phoenix Suns in the first round winning three games to one, but eventually, fall to the Los Angeles Lakers in a sweep in the Western Conference Semifinals. A disappointing end to a promising season, especially losing again to the division rival, Lakers in the postseason. However, that did not take away from the great season that Chris Webber put together.
C-Webb’s Stats in the 2000-01 Campaign
Webber would make his third All-Star Game during the 2000-01 season. One look at his gaudy stats tells you why he made his third All-Star Game. During the campaign, Webber tallied 27.1 points, the highest point per game average of his career. On top of that, he also grabbed 11.1 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game. Not to mention, Chris Webber also averaged an effective field goal percentage of 48.1 percent and even got it done on the defensive end of the floor. How do 1.3 steals and 1.7 blocks per game sound?
Chris Webber’s advanced stats also jump off the charts. During this particular season, he tallied an offensive rating of 105 and a very impressive defensive rating of 97. Remember, the lower the defensive rating, the better. Webber also possessed a true shooting percentage of 51.6 percent to couple with a total rebounding percentage of 14.8 percent. He also had an assists percentage of 20.6 percent. As if all of that was not impressive enough, Webber also tallied a player efficiency rating of 24.7 and a win share total of 11.0.
With all of this in mind, it is surprising that the 2000-01 season of Chris Webber’s does not get more recognition. Sure, the Kings may have not made the Conference Finals, but the season was still arguably Chris Webber’s best of his impressive career. As alluded to already, it is only a matter of time before Webber is in the Hall of Fame.
Main Photo: Embed from Getty Images
