“It made me enjoy really playing basketball again” – Jim Jackson on how fun it was playing with C-Webb and the Kings in 2002 originally appeared on Basketball Network.
Trades are an integral part of an NBA player’s career, but they should never be treated lightly. Former NBA veteran Jim Jackson knew this too well as he played for 12 teams in his 14-year career in the pros. After starting his career with the Dallas Mavericks with the fourth pick in the 1992 NBA Draft, Jimmy went from one team to another, eventually playing for the Sacramento Kings during the 2002-03 season.
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Jackson shared that his stint in Sac-Town reignited his love for the game of basketball. In an interview with Paul George, he expressed that the camaraderie the team shared and the unselfishness with which they played helped rekindle the fire that was diminishing due to constant trades and changes in his career.
A team that did everything together
Professional teams do things differently from college or high school squads. With veterans and family men on the team, players often do their work in the gym and afterward, go about their separate ways. However, with the Kings, it was different. Jackson recalls how they had team dinners, movie nights and generally just spent a lot of time together, not because they had to but because they genuinely enjoyed one another’s company.
“It’s rare that you get a team where you do everything together. We kicked it. We on Mateen Cleaves, Damon Jones was on the squad with us. We would kick it,” Jimmy shared. “I mean, go to a city, all of us go out to eat, or we’ll connect, and Chris (Webber) was a big part of that because Chris was the superstar, but he wasn’t the egomaniac superstar. He was inclusive.”
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As star-studded as that Kings team was with the likes of All-Stars Peja Stojakovic and Vlade Divac and Sixth Man of the Year winner Bobby Jackson, Jim emphasized that it all began with Webber’s unselfish approach.
Webber was the man, but never acted like one
While Chris did a lot of damage to opposing defenses, averaging 23.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.3 blocks per game, he was more than willing to share the shine with his teammates. Jimmy even laments how the former Fab Five member often gets overlooked in conversations regarding the best power forwards of all time.
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“He gets overlooked when you talk about power forwards, because of Timmy, because of I think Karl Malone, a lot of times, KG, right? Because those are the three you kind of talk about a lot and you forget about Chris,” Jackson noted. “The beautiful thing about Chris is his IQ of the game. Just knowing how to pass it, how to get it to you, when to shoot it. I mean, just the little nuances of the game of basketball. I don’t think he gets the credit for, right?”
Although Webber was no longer the athletic freak he once was when he entered the NBA in 1993, he more than made up for it with his high basketball IQ and versatility on the court. C-Webb was a skilled passer, an excellent rebounder, and had a smooth jump shot that made him a lethal scorer from anywhere on the court.
“At the time, he was having some knee issues. You know, he wasn’t the same Chris that he was in Washington athletic-wise, but up here, man, it made me enjoy really playing basketball again,” Jim recalled. “I mean, just from a pure joy perspective, that team made me do that.”
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The Kings were considered the favorites to win it all that season, but a knee injury Webber suffered in Game 2 of their second-round showdown against the Dallas Mavericks doomed their chances and changed the trajectory of the franchise forever.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 9, 2025, where it first appeared.