Philadelphia 76ers: Top 10 Sixers busts since 2000
By Uriah Young
Chris Webber: Top 10 Sixers busts since 2000
One of the most celebrated college players in the early 1990s, Chris Webber entered the NBA as the top prospect of his class. Drafted number one out of the University of Michigan, Webber had an immediate impact on the Golden State Warriors. His career truly launched in Washington after being traded from the Warriors to the Bullets in 1994.
Then, he went on to have his most playoff success with Sacramento from 1998 to 2005. Once the Kings’ realized they could not advance in an ultra-competitive Western Conference in the early 2000s, they pulled the trigger and traded him to Philadelphia for Brian Skinner, Kenny Thomas, and Corliss Williamson.
His fit with Allen Iverson seemed complementary and injected hope into the Sixers fan base. Yet, the tandem never quite meshed to generate any kind of true success.
Statistically, he put up decent numbers in his only full year with the team during the 2005-2006 season. Although he averaged 20 PPG that year, he shot an abysmal 43 percent from the field. Not ideal for your starting power forward alongside Iverson.
Chris Webber came to Philadelphia near the end of his career around the same time that Allen Iverson’s window with the Sixers was closing. The two infamously did not make a public appearance for Fan Appreciation Night near the end of the 2006 season, and it was pretty much the end of Webber’s stint with the Sixers.
Webber was brought to Philly with hopes of helping the team advance further in the playoffs. In the end, he became just another aging star whose “good enough” was not even close to what the team needed. The Sixers failed to qualify for the playoffs that season despite Webber making the most he’d ever earn in his 15-year career. Even though he made over $20 million in his only full year in a Sixers uniform, Philadelphia waived Webber in January 2007.