The person under Grantland.com's scribe Zach Lowe’s microscope is Chris Webber. The former Mr. Basketball, Fab Five star, No. 1 overall pick and ex-Piston (again, briefly) was -- and still is -- a divisive character. In fact, Lowe alludes to this, but mostly crunches the numbers to say C-Webb is a Hall of Famer.
Here is the total list of players who piled up at least 17,000 points and 8,000 rebounds, while averaging at least four assists per game with a career PER (player efficiency rating) above 20: Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Bird and Webber. There's some unfair cherry-picking there, since Webber barely exceeds all those thresholds. But cutting the criteria still produces a ridiculously elite list of just 11 guys, all current or future Hall of Famers — plus Webber.Lowe goes on to concede that Webber’s shortcomings include his lack of a world championship — though he was the best player on those early-2000s Sacramento Kings teams that nearly knocked off the Los Angeles Lakers. And he mentioned -- more in passing -- his short, yet dazzling, culturally impacting and tainted college career as a Wolverine.
Also presented in Webber’s case file was the fact that his numbers tended to decline a bit in the playoffs. But much of Lowe’s argument hinges on Webber’s talent level, especially as a passer.
If you haven’t yet, read Lowe’s analysis here and his 17 stray thoughts, mostly on Webber's NBA career. And no, none of his half-season in 2007 with the Pistons, where he averaged 11.3 points and 6.7 assists on a bad knee, factor into this Hall of Fame equation.
This article was written by Chris Edwards. Follow him on Twitter here and read more of his work here.
