The Road to Ann Arbor

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See How This NBA Hall of Famer Celebrates his Dad

It was a morning shortly before the 1993 NBA draft and future No. 1 pick Chris Webber’s house was buzzing. His father Mayce Webber had been out mowing the lawn since 6AM in preparation of the special day. Sure, his son and future NBA Hall of Famer, Chris Webber, was expected to go first overall, but what Mayce was truly excited about was the impending visit of Magic Johnson. Magic was coming over to the Webber house in Detroit talk with Mayce and his wife, Doris, about the ups and downs of the league and what to expect as parents. Understandably, Mayce was hotly anticipating the Lakers superstar’s arrival. Except it wasn’t true. Magic would not be showing up to Chris’ childhood home. “I just told my Dad that because I had a surprise for him later that day,” Chris Webber recalls, chuckling.

The ruse was this: Chris was buying his father a brand-new Cadillac. Mayce, a longtime factory worker at General Motors with five kids, had imparted a relentless work ethic and never-give-up attitude to his first-born son. Despite a lifetime building Cadillacs, Chris knew his father could never afford the luxury automobile he’d spent his adult life to building. Going first overall in the NBA draft gave Chris the means to honor his father in an unforgettable way. The only snag was figuring out a distraction so Chris could get to the dealership to pick up the car. “My father was known as the president of the house,” Chris writes in his new memoir By God’s Grace which explores the 5-time NBA All-Star’s childhood, legendary career, and how the example set by his parents led to his success. “He felt he knew everything and everyone’s business as it pertained to the United States of Webber. I made the real boss of the family, Mama, promise not to tell her man the secret plot. She obliged.” The scheme went exactly as planned; Chris sneaked out undetected. At the dealership, he was greeted warmly and given the keys to a fully loaded, black-on-black, four-door Fleetwood STS Cadillac. When Chris drove the Caddy home, he arrived in dramatic fashion, parking the car on his father’s perfectly manicured grass. Mayce emerged from the house furious. In his mind, Magic was due at the house any minute and here was some joker driving on his lawn! “It was a move that could’ve got me killed,” Chris acknowledges with a smile. Before his father could say anything else, Chris stepped out of the car and threw him the keys. “It’s yours, Pops,” he said. Webber calls the moment the second greatest of his life. Honoring a man whose blood, sweat and tears had provided Chris the opportunity to follow his dreams felt to Chris like an imperative. The Caddy was a physical manifestation of his gratitude for the discipline, strength, and love Mayce provided. Says Chris, “I was a mama’s boy, but I am my father’s son.”

I was a mama's boy, but I am my father's son."

With a new book out and Father’s Day just around the corner, the 51-year-old Detroit native is reflecting on how his father inspired him, not only on the court, where his father’s commitment to completing a task paved the way for Webber’s remarkable play, but in fatherhood, too. Teaching by example, Mayce showed Chris what being a father truly means. “My Pops has never been one to brag about what love is,” Chris says. “He always talks about what Bible says about love, how it doesn't keep score, how it doesn't burn in anger, doesn't boast. He was always a living example of that.” To understand Mayce’s influence on Chris, you have to know how Mayce came up. Mayce’s mother died when he was just eleven, thrusting the young boy into a caregiver position to his younger siblings. Living in Tunica, Mississippi during the height of Jim Crow, Mayce worked multiple jobs, did the laundry, even did his younger sisters’ hair until members of his church thankfully intervened. Fate eventually smiled on Mayce and his siblings. When an opportunity came to move to Detroit, Mayce took it, bringing his siblings with him.

In Detroit it wasn’t long before Mayce met Chris’ mother, Doris, whose own father, Charles, would become a surrogate father to Mayce. The influence of Charles on young Mayce cannot be overstated. Charles set an example that filtered down through Mayce informing Chris’ own childhood. And just as Charles was a father figure to Mayce, so too was he for Chris. “My grandfather was my hero,” Chris says. The influence these two men had on Chris continues to echo in his marriage and family life today. Charles, who suffered a stroke later in life, taught Chris the value of service, the power of dignity, and the beauty of humor in tough circumstances. Mayce, having been married to Chris’ mother Doris now for nearly 53 years, has taught Chris that you can be both a leader and a follower and that communication and respect are the keys to a solid partnership. His father’s people-first positivity continues to inspire. “I’m really proud of who my father is,” Chris says. “He grew up in literal hell but you would never suspect it because there’s no bitterness at all. He sees the best in everything. That’s his superpower.”

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CHRIS WEBBER

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These days, Mayce is a full-time grandpa, doting on Chris’s young kids and telling them stories from his childhood in the Deep South. “They love their Papa,” Chris confirms. “After they heard he grew up without a fridge—instead they just had a hole in the ground—the kids keep asking me when we’re gonna dig a hole and make a refrigerator.” Having children has given Chris a newfound appreciation for his parents. Their ability to always show him love and support, while pushing him to be consistent, trustworthy, and be a man of his word, has made him the father he is today. “I’ve learned that I want to be more like them.” That day Chris bought Mayce the Caddy, his father drove it once around the block before returning. Puzzled, Chris went out to see what was up. Mayce rolled down the window and asked, “What time does Magic get here?” “I laughed so hard I almost gagged,” Chris says. “I shouted, ‘It was a JOKE, MAN!’” Rather than being upset, Mayce just smiled, turned the car around, and drove into the sunset.

He grew up in literal hell but you would never suspect it because there’s no bitterness at all. He sees the best in everything. That’s his superpower.”

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He grew up in literal hell but you would never suspect it because there’s no bitterness at all. He sees the best in everything. That’s his superpower.”

Order Chris Webber’s highly-anticipated memoir today at chriswebber.com

Click here to order Webber's highly-anticipated memoir, By God's Grace.

Click here to order Chris Webber's highly-anticipated memoir, By God's Grace.

Webber's Kings were both highly effective on the court and highly entertaining to watch from the bleachers, earning their moniker as the Greatest Show on Court by Sports Illustrated.

Chris Webber on Sacramento: "By God's grace, I ended up right where I belonged"

Young Webber navigates manipulation, unfamiliar pressures on road to Ann Arbor

He was the most prized high school basketball player in America. Pressures ran high as Webber navigated the college recruitment process, and there were a few key moments (and guidance from an NBA legend) that tipped the ball in favor of the Michigan Wolverines.

Hall of Famer shares memories of the time out, the Fab Five, life lessons and more in memoir, By God's Grace

Before Michigan and before the NBA, Webber’s story begins in the cotton town of Tunica at a place once called the Abbey plantation.

Hover to read stories

Hall of Famer shares memories of the time out, the Fab Five, life lessons and more in memoir, By God's Grace

Before Michigan and before the NBA, Webber’s story begins in the cotton town of Tunica at a place once called the Abbey plantation.

Young Webber navigates manipulation, unfamiliar pressures on road to Ann Arbor

Chris Webber on Sacramento: "By God's grace, I ended up right where I belonged"

Webber's Kings were both highly effective on the court and highly entertaining to watch from the bleachers, earning their moniker as the Greatest Show on Court by Sports Illustrated.