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How Chris Webber’s Mother Inspired Greatness
Ask a pro and they’ll tell you, the key to a hall of fame career is consistency. To be great over a season or two is impressive. But to become a legend, it takes consistent greatness year after year. For Chris Webber, consistency was modeled to him every day by his mother, Doris Webber. Doris Webber, a mother of five, former inner-city high school teacher and avid music lover, inspired the greatness that helped Chris throughout his childhood, college, professional basketball career, and beyond.
Chris’ lessons in consistency started early when Doris gave piano lessons to the neighborhood girls. It was Chris’ job to be the metronome, keeping time so the girls could practice their tempo. Naturally, young Chris jumped at the chance. What better way to hang around cute girls? And yet, as Chris tapped on the upright piano, little did he know he was doing more than just keeping a steady beat, he was learning the fundamentals of success.
In his new memoir By God’s Grace, Webber details his entire childhood and career, including the dramatic impact his mother had on his life. These piano lessons became a microcosm of Chris’ childhood, one where the consistency he learned from his mother prepared him not only for a Hall of Fame career, but to be a man of character as well.
“I’m a mama’s boy,” Webber, the eldest, says proudly. “Growing up, I felt nurtured by my mother.”
Doris was and continues to be both a disciplinarian and a sweetheart, a source of toughness and accountability, but overall joyful, nurturing, and—most importantly—consistent.
“Consistency leads to confidence,” Webber says. “Consistency is the toughest attribute to have and all great mothers have it.”
Like many sons with exemplary mothers, Chris strived to make his mother proud. But he learned from a young age that his accomplishments weren’t what Doris was most proud of—it was character. To Doris, a devout Christian, if your character reflected Godliness and the golden rule, then you were acting righteously. Webber took this lesson to heart and it follows him even today.
“I want to think I say thank you to my mom often,” Webber says, “but I think we can always say it more.”
Consistency leads to confidence. Consistency is the toughest attribute to have and all great mothers have it.”
Webber’s childhood was a panoply of activity. From music to sports to books, Doris was always encouraging her kids to be engaged with the world around them while working hard and doing right by others.
“There was a simple rule in our house,” Webber recalls. “Get your work done first then you can play all you want.”
Chris credits the work ethic and time management skills Doris instilled in him as key factors to his later success on the court, especially in college when it would have been easy to procrastinate on his studies. Instead, when Chris went off to Michigan, he still heard her voice in his head—“Life is how you manage your time”—which drove him to put his work first.
Throughout his early career, maintaining consistency through adversity emerged as a major theme. It was his mother’s council that helped Webber through some early challenges, including his infamous mistake in the NCAA championship game when calling a time out resulted in a technical foul that cost Michigan the title. Crushed, Webber took responsibility himself rather than blaming anyone else.
“I did what she would have done,” Webber says of owning up to the mistake.
After the loss, Webber was devastated and spent the summer at home in Detroit. To this day he calls it “one of the toughest times of my life.” But throughout this difficult period, Doris was by his side, encouraging him.
“She told me ‘We’re gonna show people we can bounce back from our worst moments’,” Webber recalls. “Putting a positive spin on a negative event without minimizing the loss—that really stuck with me.”
To no surprise, Doris was right. Despite the way his college career ended, Webber still went number 1 in the ’93 NBA draft and won Rookie of the Year in the 1993-94 season. As a father now, if he could only show one game to his children, Webber insists he’d show them the game he tried to call that timeout. To Webber, this game symbolizes the triumph of character over circumstance, the power of consistency over momentary struggles and how with the right guidance, you can become the best version of yourself.
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CHRIS WEBBER
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Doris’ outsized influence has continued in Webber’s post-playing career. As a child, Chris was encouraged by Doris in several areas, but two have stood out in retrospect. First was her love of books. As a teacher in inner city Detroit, Doris valued education and was a lover of storytelling, whether it was through books, documentaries, or merely discussing your day around the nightly dinner table. Imagination, to her, was something to be nourished and celebrated. And she passed that belief onto her children.
“No matter how much she put into her teaching, she always had enough energy to give to us when she got home,” Webber recalls. “That’s consistency.”
At some point during his childhood, Doris said, almost off-handedly, that someday, Chris should write a book. Even though she claims to not remember the moment, it stuck with Chris, who, upon the publication of his memoir By God’s Grace, fulfilling a dream instilled in him by his mother. When she learned about the memoir, Chris had to remind her of the challenge she’d given her son decades before.
Putting a positive spin on a negative event without minimizing the loss—that really stuck with me.”
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Lessons in Consistency:
“I was never going to write a book,” Doris laughed. “But I just thought people should. And I never guessed that you would!”
Webber’s career as a commentator also has its roots in his childhood. When he was a teenager, Doris challenged him to recite some of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches at church. To do so, Webber listened over and over to rare cassette recordings of Dr. King, methodically committing large portions of them to memory. When the time came, he gave the speeches to a rapt audience. Webber credits this experience as fueling his natural penchant for public speaking and commentating.
While several other facets of Webber’s relationship with Doris are covered in the memoir, in honor of Mother’s Day, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention one final tribute. If you ever played on a team with Chris, it's likely Doris cooked a meal for you. From high school to college, even in the NBA, Doris always had time to cook for her son’s teammates. Her meals became so popular that many of the foreign-born players began requesting specific dishes, some of which required Doris to prep for weeks in advance. Everyone loves a delicious meal, but it was the sense of home Doris generously provided to all she hosted that made meals with her unforgettable.
Putting a positive spin on a negative event without minimizing the loss—that really stuck with me.”
Considering her accomplishments, Doris seems almost mythical in her ability to care for an entire generation. From her 30-year career at Mumford High School in Detroit, to educating kids with special needs, to leading choir practice to feeding athletes from all over the world, Doris’ legacy extends far beyond Chris and his siblings. If there were a hall of fame for moms, surely Doris would be a first-ballot inductee.
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.
Consistency In Action
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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"
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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.
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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.
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Hover to read stories
01
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.
READ MORE
01
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.
READ MORE
03
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.
READ MORE
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