Chris Webber -- Take Your Ball & Go Home

Now, here at the Sports Fanatic I try not to judge people based on their personal decisions and focus mostly on their on-field/court performances. But with Chris Webber the two are intertwined. I understand that it's hard for some of the great one's to call it quits. We've seen it happen over and over again with the likes of Hakeem, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen, Penny Hardaway and even Michael Jordan. But at what point do you go from being "less effective" to an embarrassment? Over the years I've been one of the few to stand up for Webber and give him the credit I feel he so deserves. That being said, he really shouldn't be playing anymore; plain and simple. He's not old, but he's way past his prime and falling apart piece by piece, minute by minute.

I've watched most of his first three games with the Warriors and I understand that they are trying to ease him back in while he's learning the "offense" and playing himself into shape. But a great player like that shouldn't have much trouble acclimating to an offense that is based solely on cutting, passing and shooting with only a handful of actual called plays. He’s made it known that he is no longer a post player and only wants to take jump shots so he should fit in perfectly, right? Look at this numbers through 3 games:

Chris Webber, #4-FC - PPG 2.7 REB 3.3 ASST 1.7 FG% 33.3 MIN 13.7

His very first play in his second stint as a Warrior was a fast break lay-up, which he missed horribly. Last night the Warriors only played 8 players and Webber still only managed 14 minutes despite the fact that he was the starting Power Forward. I know they are trying to “ease him in” but his MPG resemble that of a 10th man. It seems like they keep him in the starting lineup just for his ego's sake and/or the fact that once he sits down it takes 4 players to lift his tired behind and creaky knees of the bench. So, once he's up and running you have to keep him that way as long as you can. Obviously, it’s his choice and the Warriors are only paying him the league minimum but it just seems like a poor fit to me. Did they watch him in the playoffs last year? Watching him play defense was just painful. He refused to body up anyone, was constantly late on his defensive rotations and was too often slapping at opposing players trying to get a steal, which resulted in him being in foul trouble and largely ineffective for most of the playoffs. The only use I see Chris Webber having on this team is being a Point Forward from the high post. He still has some of the softest hands in the league and can still thread the needle when need be, otherwise he’s pretty much lost all ability to be effective.

We’ve seen this happen in the past with the players I previously mentioned. Only one of the those players, Michael Jordan, was able to come close to the player he was before and even his “Airness” couldn’t guide a struggling Washington team to an 8th seed in what was a very weak Eastern Conference. I hate to break it to you Chris, but you aren’t MJ and you aren’t even a shadow of your former self, so just take your ball and go home.