Chris Webber

In their first game of the season without Allen Iverson, the 76ers discovered that ball movement and the involvement of everyone on the floor in the offense provided an effective way to play basketball. How about that? With Iverson sitting out because of a sprained left ankle, the Sixers got 21 points from Chris Webber and an outstanding game from John Salmons last night to defeat the New York Knicks, 91-76, in front of a crowd of 20,108 at the Wachovia Center. The Sixers played some solid defense and established a season best for points allowed by an opponent against the Knicks, who shot 35.3 percent from the field in losing for the seventh time in their last eight games.

The amateur doctors in the Wachovia Center audience saw Chris Webber struggle with his surgically repaired left knee late last season, and predicted the knee would further deteriorate and prevent him from contributing much to the 76ers this season. But as Webber prepares to play his 70th game for the Sixers tonight when they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers, he has blown away all that nonprofessional analysis like so much talcum powder. Webber, 33, in his 13th NBA season, has missed only three games all season, none of them because of his knee.

Just a week ago, the 76ers were the object of a city's affection after president and general manager Billy King pulled off a six-player deal that brought them all-star Chris Webber. Last night, that same team was the target of the fans' dissatisfaction in its home arena, but it was hard to tell if they were aiming at Webber or the fact that the Sixers bumbled their way to a 99-93 loss to the New Jersey Nets at the Wachovia Center. If they were unhappy with Webber, Webber has news for them: He's unhappy with himself.

They said it was just another game. It had a number - 63 - but not an asterisk. So what if the 76ers' opponent last night held the best record in the NBA, a full game ahead of the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. Judge ourselves against these guys from Sacramento? the players incredulously said. No way. Even though the Sixers pooh-poohed their game with the Sacramento Kings last night as anything special, there was a playoff atmosphere inside the First Union Center.

The early consensus seems to be that the 76ers pulled one over on the Sacramento Kings by acquiring five-time all-star Chris Webber along with forwards Michael Bradley and Matt Barnes for Kenny Thomas, Corliss Williamson and Brian Skinner on Wednesday. The consensus also seems to be that the 76ers improved themselves with the addition of forward Rodney Rogers, who was acquired yesterday, along with Jamal Mashburn from the New Orleans Hornets for forward Glenn Robinson. Mashburn, sidelined by a knee injury, is never expected to play for the 76ers.

After meeting with Washington owner Abe Pollin this week, Golden State holdout Chris Webber said he would be interested in playing for the Bullets, the team's general manager said yesterday. But because Webber is a restricted free agent, league rules prohibit the Bullets from talking to the Warriors about obtaining him until Webber has signed a contract. Webber, who averaged 17.5 points and 9.3 rebounds last season with Golden State, hasn't re-signed with the Warriors after exercising an escape clause in his contract.

Michigan walked onto the Louisiana Superdome court, shirts out and hands up, and the crowd did the wave. Chris Webber performed a twirling slam dunk and the crowd bounced in its seats. Jalen Rose alley-ooped to Jimmy King and the crowd danced. Love 'em or hate 'em, you can't ignore this noisy, rambunctious Michigan Wolverines basketball team. "Chris Webber hasn't been having fun," Chris Webber said yesterday. "But Chris Webber is going to have fun. " The suspicion is that everyone will have fun tonight when Michigan (30-4)

Chris Webber will sign with the Detroit Pistons today, but he already has returned to the area where he starred in college and later was tarnished in a booster scandal. "Joining the Pistons will allow me the opportunity to play the game I love in my hometown of Detroit surrounded by my family," the former 76er and five-time All-Star said in a statement yesterday. Webber, who was waived by the Sixers on Thursday, watched the Pistons play the Minnesota Timberwolves with his father, Mayce, in front-row seats at The Palace and was greeted by a standing ovation late in the first quarter, a far cry from when he was booed following the booster scandal.

Chris Webber missed his first game with the Sixers last night due to peroneal neuropathy in his left leg, more commonly known as a compressed nerve. Neuropathy is a general term denoting functional disturbances and pathological changes in the nerves. The announcement came just minutes before game time. According to coach Jim O'Brien, Webber's status is unknown for the next game, Wednesday at the Wachovia Center against Detroit. "I knew he had discomfort in his Achilles when he woke up," O'Brien said after last night's 94-88 loss to the visiting Chicago Bulls.

This was from the heart. For all the right reasons. Maybe at the perfect time. This was Chris Webber, momentarily pushing aside the heat of the Sacramento Kings' stretch run, reaching out to someone who had suffered through an unspeakable experience. That is why Patrick Ireland and his family were Webber's guests for what became a 117-95 wipeout of the 76ers at Arco Arena. That is why Ireland was a Kings' ballboy for a day. Ireland was one of several students wounded April 20 of last year during a shooting rampage that left 14 students, including two teenage killers, and one teacher dead at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.

Los Angeles Clippers forward Elton Brand, who has missed the entire season recovering from a surgically repaired left Achilles' tendon, said yesterday he expects to rejoin the team in time to play the final six games. Those games will come against teams jockeying for spots in the tightly packed Western Conference playoff race so the Clippers may have a chance to play spoiler. "Hey, we got spoiled last season, so if we could do that, we'd love to," the two-time All-Star said yesterday.

Coach Don Nelson wants to bring free-agent forward Chris Webber back to Golden State, nearly 14 years after a feud ended their first stint together. "I hope that it happens to be quite honest with you," Nelson said yesterday before the Warriors beat the visiting New York Knicks, 106-104. "I think our team needs it. " Webber was acquired by the Warriors in a draft-day trade with Orlando in 1993 after becoming just the second sophomore ever to be the top pick in the NBA draft.

When the 76ers obtained Chris Webber before the 2004-05 trade deadline, coach Jim O'Brien was in favor. "That move enabled us to make the playoffs," O'Brien said yesterday at the Wachovia Center, where his Indiana Pacers defeated the Sixers. But O'Brien, dismissed by the Sixers after that one season, despite taking the team to the playoffs, quickly changed his mind about Webber. "It became very apparent he wasn't going to give the 76ers everything we had hoped for," O'Brien said.

Chris Webber pretty much disappeared off the 76ers' radar in his final two weeks with the team, then resurfaced as an important contributor to the star-studded Detroit Pistons. So what happened? "You should ask the coach, the coach that didn't allow me to play," Webber said last night before the Pistons faced his old team, the Sixers, at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Yes, but Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks didn't have him available for those final seven games because Webber, according to the team, had a bruise on his right foot.

He is ready now to admit what he wouldn't on national television, when he was still dreaming of playing for the Lakers, in the city he once said he would walk naked to in order to sign on the dotted line. "I had just gotten off the phone with Phil Jackson," Chris Webber said last week, explaining why he denied what had been accurately reported - that he would play the rest of this season with Detroit, his hometown team. That decision had been made almost as soon as he and the 76ers agreed on the terms of his buyout in mid-January - he would give back about $6.2 million of the remaining $43 million on his contract, the Sixers would get under the luxury tax, everyone would be happy.

Freed from the 76ers, Chris Webber wants this to be clear: He is happy playing basketball again now that he is with the Detroit Pistons. But the mere mention of his former team wiped the smile off his face as the forward prepared for last night's game with the Washington Wizards. He called his stay with the Sixers the most difficult part of his 14-year career. "It was probably the first time I didn't enjoy basketball," Webber said, standing by the locker room at the Verizon Center.

Chris Webber and Rasheed Wallace are blending in nicely in Detroit, even if Webber doesn't know all the plays. Webber scored 19 points and carried the Pistons through a sluggish first half, while Wallace scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter as visiting Detroit beat Charlotte last night, 103-92. Richard Hamilton scored 22 points for the Pistons, who shot 52 percent in winning their third straight game. It's what the Pistons envisioned when they signed Webber after he left the Sixers.

Chris Webber will sign with the Detroit Pistons today, but he already has returned to the area where he starred in college and later was tarnished in a booster scandal. "Joining the Pistons will allow me the opportunity to play the game I love in my hometown of Detroit surrounded by my family," the former 76er and five-time All-Star said in a statement yesterday. Webber, who was waived by the Sixers on Thursday, watched the Pistons play the Minnesota Timberwolves with his father, Mayce, in front-row seats at The Palace and was greeted by a standing ovation late in the first quarter, a far cry from when he was booed following the booster scandal.

Less than two years after acquiring Chris Webber as a scoring partner for Allen Iverson, the 76ers agreed with him on a buyout of the rest of his contract, president and general manager Billy King said last night. King said the buyout agreement had been sent to the NBA office, which signed off on it late last night. The Sixers are expected to place Webber on waivers this morning, and if he is not claimed within 48 hours, he will become a free agent. King would not reveal any terms of the buyout of the contract, which had the rest of this season at a $20,718,750 annual salary and next season at $22,312,500 remaining.

This isn't the way the 76ers wanted to start their longest road trip of the season, especially after going into it on what passes for a hot streak for them these days. The Sixers were outplayed for the second consecutive night, with ice-cold shooting in the first half and poor defense in the second last night adding up to a 101-76 defeat by Sacramento, in front of the Kings' 328th consecutive sellout crowd at Arco Arena. After winning their last two games before the start of their travels, the Sixers lost for the 14th time in their last 16 games.