For years, Jalen Rose and Chris Webber’s relationship was almost non-existent. The two former best friends and teammates on Michigan’s Fab Five team had seen their friendship splinter after Webber admitted to repaying nearly $40,000 in loans from former Michigan booster Ed Martin, with Webber refusing to participate in Rose’s 2011 documentary on the team, furthering their divide.
In recent years, though, the two have seemed to look to put their issues in the past, and on Sunday the two spoke together publicly for the first time in a long time. Webber, who just parted ways with TNT, joined Rose and Maria Taylor on ESPN’s NBA Countdown to celebrate the announcement that he would be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2021. It was a pretty incredible moment, as they two reminisced about their playing days going all the way back to when they were 13 years old, what Webber did for advancing the game of basketball as an early pioneer of the era of big men we see now who have such versatility and ability to handle the ball, and more.
Just a small clip of Jalen Rose and Chris Webber talking about Webber joining the Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2021. So happy to hear these two taking again, still so much love between them. This is the positivity I'm here for on a Sunday. #HallofFame2021 #NBACountdown pic.twitter.com/hYKsBVan5B
— Curtis Sheehan (@ChillinwitCurt) May 16, 2021
It’s a powerful moment that many have been hoping to see for a long time. You can tell how proud Rose is of Webber’s accomplishment, and Webber makes sure to thank Rose’s late mother for everything she did in helping Webber, showing how close the two were. The way everything went down between Webber and the Fab Five was unfortunate. It’s sad that such an important team in telling the story of basketball has gone so long without all coming back together to celebrate what they did, and hopefully this can lead to that moment finally coming.
