Webber is not just an NBA star at home

By LARRY LAGE
AP Sports Writer

CHICAGO (AP) Chris Webber of the Sacramento Kings is regarded purely as an NBA superstar on one of the best teams in the league everywhere but his home state.

The former Michigan and Detroit Country Day star is known back home as the man who allegedly received $280,000 from booster Ed Martin, tarnished his school's image and is scheduled for a July trial on charges of obstruction of justice and lying to a federal grand jury.

``It's very sad,'' said Kurt Keener, Webber's high school coach at Detroit Country Day. ``I think back to when he was younger and was idolized throughout this state. It's sad how the tables have turned.''

Webber was allowed to just be a basketball player on Saturday when the Kings played the Chicago Bulls. For the most part, Webber was able to concentrate solely on his quest to win a championship.

He knows Sunday will be different.

When Sacramento plays the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills, Webber will likely be mobbed by the media and booed by the fans like he was last year before he even faced federal charges.

``I really don't care about that,'' Webber said Saturday with an even tone and expressionless face on the court at the United Center. ``I'll always love coming home because it's special to me. I love Detroit and real Detroiters at places like Six and Seven Mile, and Outer Drive. Being in the suburbs and playing at The Palace is a different story.

``But I quit trying to impress people that don't know me. The people that know me, know what I'm all about. The people who don't, I don't care what they think.''

What some think of Webber changed when his alleged ties to Martin were exposed by the federal government, which led to what Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman called a ``day of great shame'' when she announced self-imposed sanctions for the basketball program in November.

Martin, who died last month, pleaded guilty last May to conspiracy to launder money, admitting he took gambling money, combined it with other funds and lent it to several players while they were still amateurs.

The retired autoworker said he loaned $616,000 to Webber and three other Wolverines players Maurice Taylor, Robert Traylor and Louis Bullock while they were amateurs. Martin said he gave Webber and his family $280,000 from 1988-93, a period extending from his freshman year in high school through his sophomore season at Michigan.

Webber told the grand jury in August 2000 he took money from Martin in high school, but could not remember if he took money in college.

Webber along with his father Mayce Webber Jr., and his aunt Charlene Johnson, were indicted last fall on perjury charges. The government announced a new nine-count indictment in January against the family. The maximum penalty on each charge is five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Despite the death Martin, the government still plans to go to trial.

``When Ed Martin passed away, discussions and meetings were held and the prosecutors decided to proceed,'' said Gina Balaya, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney office in Detroit.

Two months ago, Webber's attorney, Steve Fishman said: ``The superseding indictment is nothing more than a transparent and somewhat pathetic attempt by the government to make chicken salad out of chicken droppings.''

Webber said he could not comment on the upcoming trial, but said his side of the story will get out.

``I'll write a book after the trial,'' Webber said. ``And everything that should be said, will be said at that point.''

Michigan athletic director Bill Martin, current Wolverines coach Tommy Amaker, Pistons president Joe Dumars, who attempted to woo Webber back to Detroit when he was a free agent two years ago, and Webber's father declined to comment for this story.

On the court, a lot is going well for the 30-year-old Webber.

The 6-foot-10 forward and Minnesota's Kevin Garnett are the only players in the NBA averaging over 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists a game. As the leader of the Pacific Division-leading Kings, he is a most valuable player candidate.

Webber is in the second season of his seven-year, $123 million contract the second-largest deal in NBA history when he signed it in the summer of 2001.

Even without the drama involving Webber off the court, he would receive some attention during his annual trips to The Palace. But because of the upcoming trial, he will probably be surrounded by the local media.

``I think it's time for the media to get a life,'' said Fishman, a former Michigan basketball player. ``After all, Chris is just a professional basketball player. He's not the president.''

Keener said the media in Michigan has created a negative perception of Webber.

``He has done a lot of great, charitable things in Detroit and throughout the state,'' Keener said. ``Chris doesn't flaunt it when he gives money to high schools and recreation centers because he does those things genuinely, not for the press. Last spring, he flew some of his former coaches and their families to Sacramento and Los Angeles for the entire Western Conference series. He paid for everything and did it all in a first-class manner. People don't hear those stories about Chris.''

What does Keener think about the allegations that Webber receiving large sums of money, beginning when he coached him?

``It would shock me if he received that amount of money,'' Keener said. ``Do I think Ed Martin gave him pocket money and shoes? Yeah, I do. But Ed Martin did that for all the top players in the area probably from about 1988 to 2000. But if Chris got the kind of money they're talking about, I would think I would've noticed it. He never wore the latest fashions and he didn't have a car of his own until he was a senior. Then he drove a 10-year-old Cavalier.

``I think it was very easy to make Chris the scapegoat of this whole process.''

Keener doesn't think the truth will ever be made public because of Martin's death.

``I don't think it will even go to trial because the star witness is dead,'' Keener said. ``I was hoping it would go to trial so that Chris would be vindicated. But now, if it doesn't go to trial, people will think Chris got lucky because he was guilty and this controversy will live on.''

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)