Sweet Assist

Almost before Webber picked out his jersey number 84, he was formulating plans to buy 25 tickets to most remaining Pistons home game this season for distribution to non-profit organizations throughout the Detroit area.

Webber, a Detroit native, has a history of charitable efforts that dates to his rookie season when he established the Chris Webber Foundation, a participant in the ticket program called C-Webb’s Home Court. He’s one of the few players the NBA has cited twice as a recipient of its Community Assist award. Webber credits his parents, Mayce and Doris Webber, for growing up in an environment that did more than encourage responsibility to those around you but to practice it as well.

“My mother was really the impetus behind it,” Webber said. “My mother was the person in our neighborhood who had the vacation Bible school in the back yard. She had arts and crafts for the kids. My father used to take us to play football with all the kids. That turned into giving kids coats and that turned into giving kids food and that turned into kids spending the night at our house.

“They just really took care of a lot of children. Coming from a big family, my parents just always made it known that you have to help others, whether they’re less fortunate or in the same situation – just helping people that need help at the time.”

Webber realizes kids have greater needs, perhaps, than spending a night at a Pistons game. But he also remembers the impact it made on his life when as a 12-year-old he went with his younger brothers, Jason and David, to a Pistons game at the Silverdome.

“It was amazing,” he said. “Isiah (Thomas) had a clinic and he came out and talked to us before the game. I never forgot that and my brothers never forget that, either. It’s just the impact it has on kids – just to make them smile and laugh. The impact is awesome. To just be able to brighten up somebody’s day for however much time it is and kind of forget about what’s going on.”

And for all those other things, Webber is also there to help. Under the umbrella of his foundation, he’s launched “Wee Readers,” which provides books to Detroit’s youth, and C-Webb’s Closet, which supplies toiletries, clothes and books to families in need. Webber is proudest of his foundation’s efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“So many people want to help but they don’t have ways to do it sometimes,” he said. “When Katrina hit, we opened ourselves up to the public and said we’ll take responsibility for shipping and we’ll match what you bring in – we need everything from diapers to formula to notebooks, pencils, books. I remember a story of a kid who heard us on the radio – they were on their way to get ice cream that was going to cost him a dollar twenty-five, and he brought that in and gave it to us. To me, that’s larger than what anyone else did. It was what he had and here’s a kid about to get ice cream. Just to be able to help people and to help raise awareness means a lot.”

“Chris’ reputation throughout the NBA as one of our most caring and giving players is widely acknowledged and well deserved,” Pistons and Palace president and CEO Tom Wilson said. “We knew when Joe Dumars made the move to acquire Chris that we were getting not just a great basketball player, but a tremendous ambassador for the game who truly cares about the places he plays – and no place more so than Detroit, his home town.”

Erika Bjork worked for the Sacramento Kings when Webber came to the team and she was so impressed with his community involvement that when he asked her to work for his foundation instead, she jumped at the chance and now is director of community development for the Webber Foundation.

“His commitment to the community and giving back, that’s just something he was raised to do,” she said. “It’s a part of life for him, like brushing his teeth. The great thing about Chris is that 99.9 percent of what he does, you’ll never hear about.”

Webber is the second Pistons player this season to donate season tickets to youth groups. Chauncey Billups also supplies 25 tickets a game, so “Chauncey’s Big Shots” and “C-Webb’s Home Court” groups can now compete against each other to see which can make more noise.

Again this summer, Webber’s foundation will hold its major fund-raiser in Las Vegas. Information on the event can be found at cwebbsbadabling.com. General information on Webber’s foundation, or to learn about his significant collection of African-American artifacts and documents – which will be shown at Detroit’s Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History June 28-Sept. 28 – can be found at chriswebber.com.