Editing Chris Webber (section)

=== Sacramento Kings (1998–2005) ===
{{BLP sources section|date=January 2024}}
On May 14, 1998, Webber was traded to the [[Sacramento Kings]] for [[Mitch Richmond]] and [[Otis Thorpe]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1998/05/15/webber-traded-to-sacramento/55b294a5-ed9a-41db-8dc0-0623453790ed/|title=Webber traded to Sacramento|last=Bucher|first=Ric|date=May 15, 1998|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=August 7, 2007}}</ref> Although Webber originally did not want to go to the Kings, as they were a perennially losing team, he had his best years in Sacramento and nearly took the team to the [[NBA Finals]].

When Webber arrived, the Kings also signed [[small forward]] [[Peja Stojaković]] and [[center (basketball)|center]] [[Vlade Divac]], and drafted [[point guard]] [[Jason Williams (basketball, born 1975)|Jason Williams]]. In his first year with the Kings (the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season), Webber won the rebounding title averaging a league high 13.0 rebounds per game, ending [[Dennis Rodman]]'s seven-year run as the NBA's rebound leader. Under the guidance of [[Rick Adelman]], the Kings team made it into the [[1999 NBA Playoffs|1999 Playoffs]], where they lost to the [[1998–99 Utah Jazz season|Utah Jazz]] led by future hall of famers [[Karl Malone]] and [[John Stockton]].

In years to come, Webber and the Kings became one of the league's top franchises, and NBA title contenders. He was named to the All-Star team again in [[1999–2000 NBA season|2000]] and [[2000–01 NBA season|2001]] while cementing his status as one of the premier power forwards in the NBA. For the [[1999–2000 NBA season|1999–2000 season]] Webber was the cover athlete on ''[[NBA Jam 2000]]''; that season, Webber led the Kings to 44 wins improving their win column from a year before, and into the first round of the [[2000 NBA Playoffs|2000 Playoffs]] where they faced the [[1999–2000 Los Angeles Lakers season|Los Angeles Lakers]]. After losing the first two games of the series in Los Angeles, the Kings won the next two in Sacramento, including 23 points, 14 rebounds, 7 blocks, 8 assists and 4 steals from Webber in game four, to send the series back to Los Angeles for a deciding game 5. The Kings lost Game 5 and the series to the Lakers who went on to win the championship that year.

Webber peaked in the [[2000–01 NBA season|2000–01 season]], when he averaged a career-high 27.1 points. He also averaged 11.1 rebounds and was fourth in MVP voting, while starting at forward for the Western Conference All-Star Team in the [[2001 NBA All-Star Game|2001 All-Star Game]] in Washington. In the [[2001 NBA Playoffs|2001 Playoffs]], Webber and the Kings defeated the [[2000–01 Phoenix Suns season|Phoenix Suns]] in four games of the first round to advance to the second round (first time of his career he advanced past the first round), where they faced the [[2000–01 Los Angeles Lakers season|Los Angeles Lakers]] for a second year in a row. The Kings lost in four games to the Lakers despite Webber's 21 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists in game four.

On July 27, 2001, Webber signed a seven-year, $127 million contract with the Kings. In the [[2001–02 NBA season|2001–02 season]], Webber played in 54 games leading the Kings to a Pacific division title and a franchise-record (and league-best) 61–21 season. He also made his fourth All-Star team and the All-NBA Second Team. In the [[2002 NBA Playoffs|2002 Playoffs]] the Kings defeated the [[2001–02 Utah Jazz season|Utah Jazz]] in four games and [[2001–02 Dallas Mavericks season|Dallas Mavericks]] in five games in the first two rounds en route to reaching the Western Conference Finals against their archrivals, the defending-champion [[2001–02 Los Angeles Lakers season|Los Angeles Lakers]] led by [[Kobe Bryant]] and [[Shaquille O'Neal]], a series that would prove to be one of the most memorable (and most controversial) in NBA History. 

The series was nip and tuck all the way as both teams traded wins in the first six games of the series as the Lakers won games one, four (highlighted by the game winner from [[Robert Horry]]) and six, a game which featured many controversial calls, including a late-game foul on [[Mike Bibby]] after he was bleeding from being elbowed in the nose by Bryant. All told, the Lakers shot 27 free throws in the fourth quarter. Former NBA referee [[Tim Donaghy]] filed in court papers in 2008 said that Game 6 was fixed by the NBA. NBA Commissioner [[David Stern]] denied Donaghy's allegations. Lawrence Pedowitz, who led a review of the league's officiating following the outbreak of the scandal, concluded that while Game 6 was poorly officiated, no concrete evidence existed of it having been fixed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/media/PedowitzReport.pdf|title=Report to the Board of Governors of the National Basketball Association|website=[[NBA.com]]}}</ref> 

The Kings won games two, three and five, including 29 points, 13 rebounds and 3 assists from Webber plus the game-winner from teammate [[Mike Bibby]] in game five, heading into the deciding seventh game back at the [[ARCO Arena]] in Sacramento, a game which would prove to be most memorable of the series. The game was nip and tuck all the way with Webber recording 20 points, 11 assists, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 steal and Bryant and O'Neal recording 30 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals, with 35 points, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 assists, respectively, as the game went into overtime with missed shots from teammates Stojakovic and [[Doug Christie (basketball)|Doug Christie]], boiling to the last minutes of the game with Webber fouling O'Neal with 1:27 left in overtime causing O'Neal to make both free throws and the Kings would go on to lose Game 7 of the series at home. It was the closest that Webber ever got to a championship.

In the [[2002–03 NBA season|next season]], Webber averaged 23 points and 11 rebounds per game. He was cited as a possible MVP candidate, and made his fifth consecutive All-Star team. In a bad sign of what was to come, Webber missed the All Star game with a sprained ankle. Nevertheless, he returned and the Kings were among the favorites to win the NBA Championship. In the second game of the [[2003 NBA Playoffs|2003]] Western Conference Semifinals against the [[2002–03 Dallas Mavericks season|Dallas Mavericks]], Webber suffered a career-threatening knee injury while making a back-cut, forcing him to miss nearly a year of action. This shattered the Kings' 2003 title hopes and they lost the series in seven games.

After [[microfracture surgery]], he returned for the final 24 games of the [[2003–04 NBA season|2003–04 season]], in which he led the Kings (who went 55–27 that season) into the [[2004 NBA Playoffs|2004 Playoffs]] where they faced their archrivals the [[2003–04 Dallas Mavericks season|Dallas Mavericks]] for the third year in a row, the Kings defeated the Mavericks in five games in the first round en route to reaching the Western Conference Semifinals against the top-seeded [[2003–04 Minnesota Timberwolves season|Minnesota Timberwolves]] led by league MVP [[Kevin Garnett]], a series that would prove to be one of the most memorable in NBA history. Each game was neck and neck with both teams trading wins in the first six games of the series as the Timberwolves won games two, three and five, while the Kings won games one, four and six, including 28 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals and 1 block from Webber in game four, heading into the deciding seventh game back at the [[Target Center]] in Minnesota, a game which would prove to be the most memorable of the series. 

The game was indecisively close throughout the first three quarters, with Webber recording 16 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal, and Garnett on the other hand recording 32 points, 21 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals and 5 blocks. The game boiled down to the last play of the game with the Kings trailing the Timberwolves by 3 with 2.5 seconds left in the game. After receiving an inbounds pass Webber pump-faked Garnett in the air and got a clean look as Garnett avoided contact for a three-point shot that rimmed out as the final buzzer sounded and the Kings lost Game 7 and the series, marking the third year in a row that the Kings lost a deciding game 7. It turned out to be the last chance the Webber-led Kings had to win a championship and he was traded the following season, thus resulting in the team being dismantled the following season.