Webber’s Ghost

Just nine underwhelming games into his magical, heal-all-wounds comeback tour, Webber is calling it quits. Citing his chronic knee problems, C-Webb officially announced his retirement today. While refusing to rule out another go at playing in the future, he did make it clear that he will not be attempting to rehab and finish out this season.

The reunion of Webber and Nelson as Warriors was a headline grabber, but ultimately a relatively low cost gamble. Once he was out of the rotation he was out of most of our minds.

There are too many exciting things going on right now to really pine after creaky Chris bricking baby hooks.

As Adam puts it so well on his blog, So Long Chris (and Thanks for the Distraction):

DJ Mbenga didn’t get a goodbye post when the Warriors cut him.  Arguably, Chris Webber doesn’t deserve one either.

From ESPN:

The 35-year-old will exit as one of the sport’s most polarizing personalities but also as one of just six players in history — along with Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Larry Bird and Billy Cunningham and the still active Kevin Garnett — to average at least 20 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

Janny Hu:

“I think it was a good gamble that didn’t work out,” Nelson said. “It didn’t cost us very much and we needed another big guy. We were looking for something like him.”

The Warriors will end up paying Webber just less than $600,000 for his time, and may leave his roster spot open with only 12 games left in the regular season.

Fox Sports:

That Nellie was the guy who wanted him back for this season – only to watch him struggle miserably with that bum left knee limiting him to just 3.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 9 games – was a fittingly ironic end to Webber’s career. 

A personal reflection from the SimonOnSports blog:

I’m 25 so I’m not exactly a child anymore anyway, but today marks the end of my sports adolescence. If you ask me the question of whom was your favorite baseball player or football player as a kid chances are you would get a different answer depending on the day. But if you asked me who was your favorite basketball player or favorite athlete in general, the answer is simple and immediate. The answer is Chris Webber.