“I just thank God I made it” - Chris Webber recalls his best friend getting murdered at 13 years old before his first AAU game

Chris Webber had a legendary career as an NBA basketball player. After being selected first overall in the 1993 NBA Draft, Webber went on to earn five All-Star and All-NBA honors apiece and eventually earned entry to the Hall of Fame.

Webber had been a highly touted basketball player since his youth, as he was always very dedicated to his craft. While there were many reasons for that, Webber recently revealed how the death of a close friend at the age of 13 helped him take the game more seriously.

Webber shares a tragic story from his childhood

Webber was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and quickly saw the lives many inner-city kids were subjected to. At a young age, it became clear to him that basketball offered him a potential path to avoid having to live a similar type of life.

That thought process was further reinforced right before Webber started playing AAU basketball. The former Sacramento Kings star shared that one of his best friends was murdered right before his first game, and looking back on his childhood, he was simply glad he made it out of Detroit.

“One crazy story, before my first AAU game, one of my closest friends was murdered, and he was 13,” Chris Webber said on The Dan Patrick Show . “ I just thank God I made it. The safety of a village, the safety of good people around you, and then wonderful discipline and rules is definitely what kept me safe.”

C-Web achieved his goal of using basketball as an outlet

There are many stories of players finding their way to the NBA despite coming from lower-class families in impoverished areas. That wasn’t necessarily the case for Webber, but it wasn’t like his family was rich, so he knew early on how vital his basketball skills were.

Having one of your best friends pass away is tough at any age, but for a 13-year-old who was starting to become serious about basketball, it was a pretty big wake-up call. That pushed Webber to work harder to avoid falling victim to a similar fate.

Sure enough, he turned that passion into a Hall of Fame career in the league. Webber obviously always had tremendous talent, but his drive helped him reach heights that very few players have ever reached.

Webber credits his support system for helping him make it to the NBA, and sometimes, that’s all you need to escape a potentially bad situation. It’s a shame Webber’s friend suffered such a horrific fate, but at least he managed to make something good come of a terrible loss.

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