#Chris webber jersey coa professional
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Certainly, race had something to do with it. At this point, Williams was one of the most recognizable and marketable players in the NBA.

Not content with their rise to Western Conference semifinalists, the Kings made the franchise-altering decision to trade Jason Williams – their starting point guard – in the 2001 offseason. This time they advanced to the second round of the playoffs, where they lost again to the Lakers. The Kings were now fast, more efficient than ever, and boasted a strong defense to boot.

These varied additions helped the 2000-2001 Kings to a 55-27 record. The league would continue to head in this direction over the next decade, with the Kings securing a place as an early adopter of looking abroad for talent. By drafting Turkoglu, the Kings added yet another foreign-born player to a roster that was heavily international for its time. Turkoglu’s acquisition in particular portended what the league was to become: a place where sweet-shooting, ball-handling, and playmaking big men would eventually revolutionize NBA offenses. They also added another international player to the roster, drafting Hedo Turkoglu out of Turkey with their first round pick.

#Chris webber jersey coa free

Bobby Jackson was brought in as a free agent, giving them a scoring guard off the bench to keep up the frenzied pace when Williams needed a breather. They traded for Doug Christie, a ferocious perimeter defender and one half of a very committed marriage. They made the playoffs with a 44-38 record, but lost to the dominant Shaq-and-Kobe Lakers in the first round.Īfter the 1999-2000 season, the Kings’ front office made significant upgrades to the roster’s depth. Their defense improved to 10th in the league, as measured by Defensive Rating, an advanced metric that adjusts for pace. The 1999-2000 team was superficially similar to the previous year’s team–they played fast, scored a lot of points, and allowed a lot of points–but underneath the surface, real improvement was happening.

The 1998-1999 Kings signified a shift in the team’s culture and identity they were going to play fast, team-oriented basketball, and lean on the passing skills of Williams, Webber, and Divac to do it. Interestingly, they would have been only the 23rd fastest team in the league today, an indicator of just how briskly the modern game moves. They led the league in scoring but also allowed the most points per game in the league, both a function of their pace. They played at by far the fastest pace in the league, with a huge gap between them and the next-fastest team, the Los Angeles Lakers. With Williams at the helm and an unselfish core of nifty passers, these Kings played a slightly unhinged, uptempo brand of basketball that was low on efficiency but high on entertainment and good vibes. They finished 27-23 in 1998-1999 and lost to the Utah Jazz in the first round of the playoffs. In Divac, Stojakovic, Williams, and Webber, the Kings had assembled a core that would open their competitive window. Their most significant move, however, was trading franchise cornerstone Mitch Richmond for Webber, who was entering his prime years as one of the league’s best all-around forwards. They drafted the talented-but-volatile Jason Williams with the seventh pick in the 1998 draft, hoping he could develop into their point guard of the future.

#Chris webber jersey coa professional

Fellow Serbian Peja Stojakovic, whom the Kings drafted in 1996, finally arrived from the Greek professional league and signed with the team, giving them a promising young scorer to develop. The Kings signed Vlade Divac, the slick-passing, veteran Serbian center who currently serves as the general manager of the team. They overhauled their roster of journeymen, past-their-prime stars, and talented but one-dimensional players. They hired coach Rick Adelman before the shortened 1998-1999 season. After 15 consecutive losing seasons, the Kings made significant changes. The Kings’ rise and fall began in the late 1990s. So how did they become, as Sports Illustrated put it in 2001, “The Greatest Show on Court”? The New York Knicks were my team, no doubt, but there was only so much Shandon Anderson and Othella Harrington a guy could take before needing to watch some quality ball. But I treasured this jersey because the Kings circa 2001 were an absolute sensation, a memorable blend of entertainment and effectiveness in an era of deliberate, sometimes stagnant basketball. I walked to the NBA Store on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue during a free period, pulled Chris Webber’s jersey off the rack, and handed over a silly amount of cash for the right to have it hang in my closet for the next 18 years.

This is a picture of an authentic Sacramento Kings jersey that I bought in middle school.