Webber’s Brother Making a Name for Himself

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. —  The pressure has been too much for David Webber at times. There were days the younger brother of NBA All-Star Chris Webber didn’t even want to live.

“I can remember being in my house after another bad game during my junior year in high school, when I told God not to wake me up in the morning,” David said. “I was praying all night, for hours, saying, ‘God, please don’t wake me up.’

“I felt a lot of pressure and I didn’t feel like I could take it anymore.”

He can now.

David will never be able to shed the younger-brother label, but he is showing he’s more than just a sibling of the former Michigan star who will represent the Sacramento Kings in the All-Star game.

The Central Michigan shooting guard is leading the Mid-American Conference in scoring with 20.2 points a game. The 6-foot-2 junior is also among the conference leaders in assists, rebounds, field goal percentage, 3-point percentage and 3-pointers made.

Purdue coach Gene Keady didn’t even mention Chris Webber’s name when he was asked about David.

That’s because the younger Webber scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Chippewas to victory at Purdue this season.

“Our kids were not ready for him,” Keady said. “But they definitely respected him after the game for what he does for that team.”

David, 20, is the top player on a team that’s in the middle of one of the best turnarounds in college basketball.

The Chippewas (16-4, 9-1 MAC, going into the weekend) are on pace to go from last place to first, which has never happened in the conference. Last year, they were 6-23 overall and 2-16 in the MAC.

There hasn’t been this much excitement about Central Michigan since Dan Majerle took his leaping ability and shooting touch to the NBA in 1988.

It hasn’t been easy for David, who has become a prime target for fans.

“I don’t know how he does it,” teammate Tim Kisner said. “Wherever we go, fans are yelling stuff like, ‘You’ll never be as good as your brother.’

“He used to let a lot of things bother him, but he doesn’t now. I think that stuff only motivates him now.”

David and Chris, who grew up together in the Detroit area, have stayed close over the years. Chris, 27, often calls his little brother after Kings games to talk about basketball and life.

Before the 1999-00 NBA season, David even gave Chris some pointers on taking free throws, telling him to put his shooting hand behind the ball more. Chris improved from 45.4 percent from the line in 1998-99 to 75.1 percent the following season.

“I used to hate questions about Chris,” said David, who will attend the All-Star game with his family. “Now, I love those same questions.

“I’m glad that God let me live so I could see how good of a basketball player I could be and that I could make a name for myself.”

Central Michigan coach Jay Smith is very familiar with the Webber family.

As an assistant, he coached Chris at Michigan and he’s coached David and another older brother, Jason, at Central Michigan.

“David’s got that snarl like Chris,” Smith said of their fierce facial expressions on the court.