Webber has his version of feud with O'Brien

OAKLAND, Calif. — As it turns out, the Chris Webber/Jim O'Brien Chronicles have a longer shelf life than most reality shows.

After the Golden State Warriors' shootaround yesterday, Webber wrote the latest fascinating installment, referring to O'Brien's Jan.21 comments as "a total lie."

To review: Webber played roughly half a season for O'Brien's Sixers after being acquired from Sacramento in February 2005. To say that they did not mesh would understate the situation.

O'Brien, now coaching Indiana, said that when Webber arrived, he said, 'Coach, I don't do the low-post thing anymore.' We made a major trade to bring in a 6-11 guy. I said, 'Yes, you do.'"

O'Brien also said: "We wanted to blitz [trap] the pick-and-roll, and it became apparent he couldn't do that."

And: "Webber didn't practice at all that year prior to coming to us. I think he was at the point where he didn't necessarily feel where he was in need of practice, or could practice, or couldn't practice and play at the same time."

Even though the Sixers reached the playoffs, O'Brien was fired after completing just the first of three guaranteed seasons, replaced by current coach Maurice Cheeks. Webber averaged 20.2 points and 9.9 rebounds in '05-06, and was bought out in the midst of '06-07, finishing last season with Detroit. He signed Jan.29 with the Warriors, the team with which he began his NBA career in 1993-94.

When asked his feelings about playing against the Sixers last night, Webber said, "I don't even think about that."

But when asked about O'Brien...

"I've been in the league longer than Jim O'Brien," Webber said. "I think he's trying to justify why he got fired, or why the players didn't like him. It's funny, because I was the baby sitter that year for him, to make people like him.

"He's talking about practice? With me? OK, I was the one practicing. [There are] a lot of people I could get involved in this conversation that would love to say something. He won. Who cares? People either love me or hate me anyway. He's probably looking for someone to like him."

Webber called the premise that he did not practice "a total lie."

"Ask the doctors about whether I practiced, or whether they told me not to, and whether I still kept practicing," he said. "It was the first year off my [knee] injury. Ask them if I had to ice before the game to try to bring the swelling down. I think that's well documented.

"I don't know why he would do all that. Like one GM told me, that's just who he is. Ask those guys if they liked him."

Webber was added to the Warriors more for depth than impact. He had appeared in seven games, making six starts, and had been on the inactive list four games. He was averaging 3.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 14.3 minutes.

"He's an older player that I think I have to be more careful with in his matchups and give him a better chance to succeed," Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "When he struggled and...getting the blame for a lot of things, he's not always the reason.

"He's been playing with his brain certainly more than his brawn, and we understand that. When he's in the game, our energy level has to pick up. We have to support him more, I think. Otherwise, it's just not going to work." *