The most notable player from Michigan’s heralded “Fab Five” is not too happy with the “30 for 30” documentary that told the group’s story.
Chris Webber did an interview with “The Dan Patrick Show” Wednesday and talked about the film, which was put together by Fab Five member Jalen Rose, who is now an analyst for ESPN. The subject came up in the interview when Webber said he actually has embraced his timeout blunder rather than be embarrassed by it.
Webber notably did not participate in the documentary, and he says that is because he was insulted that they only approached him at the last minute when they were almost done filming.
“The reason why I didn’t do the documentary is because I got a call. There were negotiations going on in different places. I guess someone promised that I could be in the doc. Because they knew I probably wouldn’t, they called and said, ‘hey, we want you to be in the doc.’ I said, ‘heck yeah I’ll be in the doc. What’s going on?’ He says, ‘we’re wrapping up next week, we need to get you.’ I’m like, I’m not saying I was John Lennon, but my story’s pretty big in there.”
Webber says he has been working on a book for five years that will tell his story and said, “I hope that I can give full context to my story.
“I wasn’t too thrilled with [the documentary]. I’m a big fan of 30 for 30s. I can’t complain or be upset about it.”
Though Webber says he was only approached a week before filming wrapped, fellow Fab Five member Jimmy King disputes Webber’s recollection of events.
“That’s a flat-out lie,” King said. “There is no way we would have done this production — I’m going to tell you exactly how it went down. When it was proposed, it was sent out over email to all of us.”
The other members of the group were in the documentary, so maybe there is something to what King says.
Patrick came out and straight up asked C-Webb whether he liked the documentary.
“I love the guys, but I just think there was so much missed there,” Webber said. “I think it was OK, except … I think it was … it looked like … it looked like, you know, what happens, a lot of people, after they retire or when they’re looking for a job or when they want to be relevant, they go back in time and kind of make sure their importance is really known.
“My thing is it’s always been about us five. So when one guy has a million highlights of himself, as if he was the leading scorer and all the stories are like embellished, it’s just a little hard for me. But I think it was entertaining, there was a lot of truth in it. I think it was definitely good, it was OK. Yeah, it was good.”
Webber just seems to be upset that someone else (ahem, Rose) took the liberty of making a film about the group. Webber talked about a code they had with the Fab Five and seems to feel it was broken.
“I made an agreement when I joined the Fab Five not to be above the group. There was a chance to be above the group. I have stated consistently as a member nobody is above another. It’s just disheartening when you pay attention to those rules for 20-plus years and somebody wants to be ‘Hollywood’ and make it about them,” Webber told Patrick, seemingly taking a shot at Rose.
“To hear people now … just to be famous. No one ever loved the Fab Five. So why would you use us to tell stories to get that fake love now? Our whole heart was in not being loved. … I was disheartened by whatever someone is trying to create our legacy. Don’t try to go back and act like you were smart and a martyr, don’t do that. Just tell the story and let people have fun.”
The friction between Rose and Webber is palpable. Rose discussed it two years ago and said he thinks it’s due to the timeout and Webber’s punishment for the scandal. Rose says Webber disassociated himself with the group ever since then. He also said last year that he wanted Webber to apologize to the school.
It’s clear that the two men have different agendas despite being brothers who had great accomplishments together at Michigan. Webber is more of an outsider who still has yet to publish his book, while Rose is a go-getter who got most of the group together and made a film about them that told their story. Webber should stop treating himself like an outsider and work on ingratiating himself with the group, that way his story and opinions would be included.
