Drab Five
Jalen Rose (photo. Stephen Hill)This year’s March Madness will mark the 15th anniversary of the last time the famous/infamous “Fab Five” played together. It was in the ‘93 national championship game that North Carolina beat a Michigan team led by sophomore stars Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson, one of the best and most-hyped recruiting classes ever. Webber went pro that summer, Rose and Howard left the following year, and the Wolverines’ potential dynasty was done.
Fifteen years later, the respective NBA careers of C-Webb, Jalen and Juwan are coming to — or have already come to — an inauspicious finish in front of at least one generation of fans who doesn’t even remember what they did on the NCAA scene.
Just two years ago, Webber was averaging 20 points and 9.9 rebounds a night for the Sixers. Today he’s slogging through what has been an almost embarrassing stint with the Warriors, who signed C-Webb mid-season and haven’t gotten much return on their (albeit small) investment. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Golden State cut C-Webb any day now as opposed to just burying him on the bench.
Meanwhile, Juwan Howard is being buried in Dallas. Four years ago the former All-Star averaged 17 points and 7 rebounds while playing with Orlando. Just last season he was a valuable contributor for the Rockets (9.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg). Today he’s an afterthought. Sunday’s Mavericks/Lakers game was one of the best games of the season, and no one even noticed that Juwan didn’t log a single minute. When the Jason Kidd trade saw the Mavs give up backup center DeSagana Diop, the fact that a 6-foot-9 guy who was putting up double-doubles last year was never brought up when the team went looking for ways to shore up its front-court. Instead, the also-declining Jamaal Magloire was brought in for help.
Then there’s Jalen Rose, who has been watching his ex-teammates’ take their last few NBA steps from the ESPN studio. If it seems like Jalen’s been on TV holding a microphone more often than a basketball for the last couple years, it’s because that has been the case. Although, in theory at least, he did play for the Suns last year. And that was just two seasons after Rose had been dropping 18.5 points a night with the Raptors.
So as it stands, the three signature members of the Fab Five likely end their careers like this:
Rose (PHX): 8.5 minutes, 3.7 points, 0.6 assists per game.
Howard (DAL): 7.3 minutes, 0.9 points, 1.6 rebounds per game.
Webber (GS): 14.0 minutes, 3.9 points, 3.6 rebounds per game.
March 3rd, 2008 at 3:45 pm
h says:
Juwan Howard once signed a 7-year, $105 million dollar contract. I don’t know how these things happen
March 3rd, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Brown says:
The Fab Five is what made me a fan of college ball, and their impact on the game (baggy shorts) is monumental. I think the biggest reason they never won a championship was because they split up in the NBA. The Bullets should have brought Rose to Washington (and maybe Jimmy King even though he only lasted a couple years in the L). They had a level of chemistry that I’ve yet to see in a core group of players on any level of basketball. They could have filled out that roster and gone for it together (remember they had Sheed as well). They all chased money which made it impossible for one team to afford them all, and for that they’ve all gone chip-less through their careers. I always figured at one point they would form like Voltron, but it never happened.
March 3rd, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Kobeef says:
Really C-Webb was the only big disappointment.
Jalen and Howard were above-average players but nothing ground-breaking. They were certainly paid above their skill set.
Webber, on the other hand, entered the league as the future of the Power Forward. Webber was super-athletic, a super-playmaker and had super-ballhandling skills and all this in a Karl Malone x Shawn Kemp hybrid frame. He was a legit superstar and basketball freak. There really hasn’t been a player like him come along since…think about it:
Al Jefferson? not the playmaker or ballhandler.
Dwight? doesn’t have the offensive game
Amare? Might be the closest thing to Webber we’ve seen but doesn’t pass like he did.
Then his knees blew-up.
People could say it was partly his attitude but they are just seeing the post-surgery C-Webb who is having trouble accepting his decline (most players do). In Sac-Town C-Webb was loved by fans and team-mates.
March 3rd, 2008 at 4:24 pm
myrie says:
FAB FIVE is also the reason I started to watch college bball heavily. They revolutionized the attitude. Big ups to their coach; I forget his name, but dude had balls to start 5 freshman for a tournament game and he let them ball the way they did on the court. That is a coach isn’t afraid.
Michigan had to erase their 2yr run due to scandal off the books; but we all know better.
Chris Webber was the go to guy. Jalen Rose was the leader. Juwan “We ‘gon shock the world” Howard was the hardest worker. Jimmy King was the best defender and Ray Jackson was the best athlete…
LONG LIVE THE FAB FIVE!!!
March 3rd, 2008 at 4:27 pm
myrie says:
@ DIME/Ausitn…
Have yall seen the ‘Beyond the Glory’ (foxsports series) about the Fab Five?
Touching. Was aired about 2yrs ago.
Do\id any of you in the Dime office see it?
March 3rd, 2008 at 4:31 pm
GEE... Cold on em! says:
Fa sho! Fab Five will always be legendary. Nothing beats the story about them challenging the upperclassmen as soon as they arrived at Michigan! That’s swagger!
March 3rd, 2008 at 4:43 pm
K-Dizzle says:
Myrie
1st game together was during the season against Notre Dame when the kids put the wood to the Irish. Steve Fisher was the coach, think dude is as San Diego State or something.
Solid pro careers, but Webber had the only real chance to mke an impact but injuries robbed him of what coulda been. That and a Robert Horry dagger. Howard just got caught up in a free agency biddin war when Riley offered that 100 mil contract and I think Washington hadda match.
This is kinda the situation at Michigan where you thought guys would be better pros. Even the class after ( the so-called Fab 5 II) had Tractor Traylor, Louis Bullock, Mo Taylor, Maceo Baston and Jerod Ward never did anything as pros. Obviously, the program’s a disaster nowadays.
Just a waste of what coulda been, but Jalen’s alway been right when he says they changed the whole culture of college b-ball, from the bald heads to the low cut black socks to the baggy shorts. Fab Five Forever!
March 3rd, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Wags says:
Myrie:
Steve Fisher was the coach of the Fab 5. He’s coaching at SDSU now.
March 3rd, 2008 at 4:53 pm
myrie says:
Yup; Steve Fischer. Thanks fellas.
The players deserve all the credit for the FAB FIVE, but I sure do I have a lot of respect for coach Fisher. And he deserves much credit for their success and mark on college bball history and Michigan sports history.
again….LONG LIVE THE FAB FIVE!!
March 3rd, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Austin Burton says:
The Fab Five “Beyond the Glory” was one of the better ones. My personal favorite was the Mike Tyson double episode, but then Tyson is my favorite athlete of all-time.
March 3rd, 2008 at 7:43 pm
ML says:
Lennox Lewis im Coming for. Haha Classic Mike
March 4th, 2008 at 1:03 am
Vignesh says:
when c-webb and j-will were workin in tandom.. sacto were awesome to watch.. the crowd were always anticipating j-will to pull out an elbow pass to c-webb who inturn would do a behind the back pass to either a trailing vlade or peja…how things have changed till then…
March 4th, 2008 at 6:32 am
YOUNGFED says:
Gotta agree with Austin on this one other than the ear bitting thing that was kinda sad and a sissy move.
March 4th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Juanito says:
I used to work for Michigan hoops during the Fab Five era, doing stats and delivering box scores…that was a magical time in Ann Arbor, and it’s nice to see the true passing of an era recognized, sad as it may be. 15 years….wow
March 4th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Sacto J says:
C-Webb Ripped my heart out twice now. I went to HS in MI, with dreams of going to U of M. I watched the debacle that was “the Time Out” Live in my living room in utter disbelief. I moved to Sacto in ‘96, became a Kings fan, and was elated when the brought C-Webb in, but my elation was tempered by the knowledge that #4 has a built in propensity for ALMOST getting it done. Of course, fast forward to 2001 - 2004, and there the Kings were, poised to take the whole thing for several years in a row, and the man just couldn’t get the job done. I’ll always love the game he had, but disappointed he could never seem to get over that hump. I’m also pissed he left the Kings in a sad state with his inflated salary and meager return from the sixers (Kenny Thomas - bencher 4 life….)
MI 2 CA, the saga continues……..
March 4th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Dave says:
I’ll never forget watching the Fab Five’s first nationally-televised game against Duke. Watching young Chris Webber go against Christian Laettner was truly special. As I recall, Duke won the game but all of the freshmen got rave reviews.
Its a shame what happened to Michigan in the aftermath, with all of the scandals, rescinded records, etc. But nobody can deny the huge impact they had. There will never be another freshman class which reached the finals twice. What an amazing run.