With the Michigan Wolverines in NCAA Tournament final, fans and media have speculated about the possibility of a Fab Five reunion in Atlanta. And while Ray Jackson, Jimmy King, Jalen Rose and Juwan Howard have made plans to attend the game, fifth-member Chris Webber has been silent on the subject -- even ignoring the calls of his former teammates.
Michigan vs. Louisville: Will Chris Webber join Fab Five reunion at national title game?
While four of the Fab Five plan to watch Michigan play for a national title, Chris Webber has been silent on his plans.
Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE
“As far as I know, four out of the five are going to be here,” said Jimmy King, Webber’s teammate for two seasons in college. “I have not talked to Chris, none of the other guys have talked to Chris, we have all left messages, texted him, relayed, everything.”
After playing in two national championship games in the early ‘90s, Michigan’s Fab Five remain an intriguing but controversial part of college basketball’s history. A scandal involving Michigan booster Ed Martin and several Michigan players -- including Webber -- led Michigan to vacate a number of wins, including those leading up the title game appearances.
In addition to the scandal, Webber famously earned a technical foul late in the ‘93 championship game that helped seal the title for North Carolina. Jalen Rose, Webber’s teammate who now works for ESPN, spoke about how both of those incidents may contribute to Webber’s absence.
“While he (Webber) loves us like brothers and vice versa, there has been a communication separation that has basically taken place since we were all teammates,” Rose said. The 14-year NBA veteran added both the timeout and the Ed Martin scandal as possible reasons for that separation. “I think he wants to disassociate himself with that moment and with that school, in theory, with us to kind of rebuild his life mentally to say, ‘My career really started my rookie year in the NBA.’ But that’s not really how it works.”
Both former teammates publicly pleaded for Webber to be in attendance, with King saying they “deserve better” and Rose calling a potential Webber absence a “flagrant omission.”
Michigan's first Final Four since 1993, Trey Burke sweeping the college basketball awards season, and his four closest college teammates getting together should be enough to get Chris Webber to buy a planet ticket to Atla---- wait, CHRIS WEBBER LIVES IN ATLANTA! After spending 16 seasons in the NBA, Webber joined NBA TV's GameTime Live. The show is based in -- you guessed it -- Atlanta.
For a final comment, here’s Rose: “The whole world knows he’s going to be in Atlanta.”
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