48 Facts From Chris Webber’s Time With The Sixers

Chris Webber is entering the Hall of Fame as part of the 2021 class and while his time in Philadelphia wasn’t his best stretch, it certainly added to a storied career.

Let’s take a look at 48 facts from Webber’s time with the Sixers:

1. Webber came to the Sixers from the Kings along with Matt Barnes and Michael Bradley at the 2005 trade deadline. Philadelphia sent out Brian Skinner, Kenny Thomas, and Corliss Williamson as part of the trade.
   
2. Webber had five All-NBA Team inclusions under his belt when he arrived in Philadelphia, though none of them came after his 2003 knee surgery.
   
3. At-the-time Kings’ president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie said trading Webber was one of the “most difficult and emotional decisions” he’s been involved with.
   
4. The deal that brought Webber to Philadelphia would be the fourth and final time that the big man was traded—He had been dealt from Orlando to Golden State after being drafted in 1993; from Golden State to Washington in 1994, and from Washington to Sacramento in 1998.
   
5. LeBron James, who was in his second season at the time of the Webber-to-Philly deal, was among those who believed it was going to catapult the Sixers into contention. “They’re going to probably win the Atlantic now,” James said at the time (via ESPN). “[The Webber trade] is “going to make them one of the top four teams in the Eastern Conference. I know Iverson is very happy about it. I’m going to call him and tell him he got an early Christmas present.”
   
6. Webber’s debut for the Sixers: a narrow loss to the Kings, his former team. Webber scored 16 points on 7-of-20 shooting in the contest.
   
7. Including that contest, the Sixers would go 13-8 in games in which Webber played down the stretch of the 2004-05 season.
   
8. The Sixers made the playoffs as a seventh seed, losing in the first round to the eventual Eastern Conference champion Pistons.
   
9. Webber’s 19.0 points per game in the series were second on the team only behind Allen Iverson (31.2).
   
10. Webber recently spoke about how Iverson is the best player he’s ever played alongside. “He’s the best player I’ve ever played with. Period,” Webber told Shams Charania of The Athletic. “And I wish I could have got there before — I wish I could have got there with a good knee. Out of all the players that played with him, I averaged the most points. It made me feel good and it pissed me off because I think I could’ve given him seven or eight more points. It was an honor to play with him.”
    
11. The big man would only have the opportunity to play alongside Iverson for one full season: the 2005-06 campaign.
    
12. Philadelphia entered that season with an over-under of 42.5 wins and +2500 championship odds.
    
13. Among Eastern Conference teams, only Miami, Detroit, Indiana, and Cleveland had better odds than Philadelphia to win the title (the Spurs ended up winning the championship that season).
14. With about a month to go in the campaign, Philly was fighting for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
    
15. During that final stretch, Webber scored 34 points in a win over the Jalen Rose-led Knicks, which would be the most he scored in a Sixers uniform. He did it on 23 shots.
    
16. The Knicks and Sixers played again two nights later, though Rose would join Stephon Marbury on the bench because of plantar fasciitis of the left foot and a sore right knee (Rose would only play in one more contest for the Knicks the rest of the way). The Sixers would win again with Webber recording seven steals, his highest tally in a Philly uniform.
    
17. Philadelphia would then lose three straight games, starting with a 33-point loss to the Cavaliers in a game in which Cleveland clinched their first playoff berth in the LBJ-era.
    
18. Over the final seven games of the season, Webber missed four of them.
    
19. Philadelphia finished missed out on the eighth seed, owning a record of 38-44.
    
20. Webber and Iverson shared the floor for 67 contests (2409 minutes) during the 2005-06 campaign.
    
21. The duo was outscored by 1.6 points per 100 possessions.
    
22. As a whole, the Sixers were outscored by 2.1 points per 100 possessions, which ranked 21st in the league.
    
23. The 2005-06 Sixers were 9-0 on the season when they had three players score at least 20 points.
    
24. Webber was one of the three players in six of those contests.
    
25. Webber ranked 18th in the league in usage (27.7) during the 2005-06 campaign. Iverson was second (35.8), only behind Kobe Bryant (38.7).
    
26. The following season began with speculation that Webber would demand a trade, as he had been benched in several fourth quarters to start the year and his role had been greatly reduced. “I’m not going to keep playing like this,” Webber said following a game against the Sonics where he scored six points. “I don’t like this role.” While Webber spoke with at-the-time GM Billy King about his frustration, he never requested a trade.
    
27. Webber and Iverson would only get to play in 11 games together that season, as Webber missed a chunk of games early and Iverson, of course, was traded in December of 2006 to Denver along with Ivan McFarlin for Andre Miller, Joe Smith, and a pair of 2007 first-round draft picks (became Daequan Cook and Petteri Koponen).
    
28. Iverson’s last game during his historic first stint in Philly: a 27-point loss to the Ben Wallace-led Bulls in Chicago. Webber owns Iverson’s shoes and uniform from that contest, as he explained back in 2015. “And then I was sitting in the locker room and I’m like, that’s my boy Allen Iverson,” Webber said, reflecting on the Iverson trade (via Dime Magazine). “He’s one of the greatest players ever. I’m about to take everything out of his locker. I took everything out of his locker. I have about 20 pairs of shoes; I got his jersey, practice jersey, shorts, socks; I took the dirty clothes bag — no lie. Because I’m like, this is the greatest moment ever for — and I’m just like ‘ya’ll don’t want none of this? This is AI’s stuff?’ And at my house right now, I got the last shoes he played with in Philly, the last uniform.”
    
29. Webber and Iverson played in a total of 104 games as NBA teammates in Philadelphia, including the postseason.
    
30. Of those games, 99 were regular-season contests.
    
31. In those 99 games, the Sixers had a record of 48-51.
    
32. Including their only playoff series together, Webber and Iverson went 49-55 in games in which they both played.
    
33. Webber had played in just seven games for Philadelphia after Iverson was traded.
    
34. On January 11, 2007, the Sixers and Webber came to terms on a buyout agreement.
    
35. His last game with the Sixers? Just like his first: a loss to the Kings.
    
36. The Sixers would finish the 2006-07 campaign with a record of 35-47 and only the Grizzlies would finish behind the team in attendance.
    
37. In total, Webber played in 114 games for the Sixers (not including the five playoff contests).
    
38. During those 114 contests, he played 36.8 minutes per game.
    
39. That figure is ninth all-time in franchise history, sandwiched between Jeff Hornacek (36.8) and Hersey Hawkins (36.1).
    
40. He finished with a 16.9 player efficiency rating during his time as a South Philly professional (career 20.94).
    
41. Webber’s PER in Philadelphia is higher than several notable players during their entire careers, including Josh Howard (16.69), Rudy Gay (16.63), and Doc Rivers (16.61).
    
42. Webber averaged 9.3 rebounds per game as a member of the Sixers.
    
43. That’s good for 13th all-time in franchise history.
    
44. Webber’s most rebounds in a contest for Philadelphia: 21. He did in a home overtime win over the Kevin Garnett-led Timberwolves.
    
45. Webber averaged 17.9 points per game in Philadelphia.
    
46. That figure ranks him 20th in franchise history (Iverson ranks second with 27.61, behind only Wilt Chamberlain).
    
47. When asked which current-day NBA player’s game resembles his, Webber went with Joel Embiid. “Maybe Joel Embiid because he’s one of the few that can post up, take you off the dribble and shoot the 3. So his game,” the five-time All-Star told The Athletic. But besides that, it’s really hard to find someone that really dominates in the midrange as a big fella.”
    
48. Embiid (33.9) is one of three players in franchise history with a higher usage percentage than Webber (27.1). The other two are Allen Iverson and Tony Wroten.