Chris Webber on the Fab 5 Bond

Chris Webber sits down after the Fab Five alt-cast at the Arizona-Michigan game and the word he uses is prophetic. Being back with Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson on live television, he says, felt like being young guys in the dorm again. Each personality showed up unchanged. Juwan broke out X's and O's. Ray was still the youngest by a year and a half. Everyone found their lane.

The after-party ran until 6:30 in the morning. Webber admits, with a laugh, that he did not realize how soft he had gotten. Staying up that late used to be nothing. He is still paying for it. Jalen picked up the check at a restaurant whose owner hooked them up.

Rich pushes on the obvious question. Did this bond them closer? Webber says no, and then softens. Every moment together brings you closer. This group is already tight. Phone calls. Group hangs. Side meet-ups in different configurations. The difference now, he says, is maturity. They appreciate the moment more than they used to. Getting to this point after the road the Fab Five took, Webber and Rose getting tattoos in a garage with an ink pen at 18 years old, makes every reunion feel like a gift.

Then the conversation turns to legacy. Rich frames it cleanly. The Fab Five are the OGs now. A younger generation sees them as the touchpoint for Michigan basketball. The timing of the alt-cast, with Brandon McCoy announcing his commitment to Michigan from Sierra Canyon during the broadcast, made the moment circular. The OGs on the mic. The current team on the floor. The next wave committing to join the lineage.

Webber credits the program. He name-checks Glenn Rice, Rumeal Robinson, and Terry Mills, the team that cut down nets before the Fab Five arrived. He says the Fab Five would not have been the Fab Five without them. Great programs share their stories because basketball players are purists and want to know the game's history. When schools erase a piece of their legacy, it breaks the culture of the sport. Webber says that is what happened at Michigan.

He points to a parallel. If you are a Miami football player and you do not know Michael Irvin, you are not a purist. You cannot erase people out of the memories of fans.

He closes on the next generation. He has been working with Darius Acuff and his father for a long time. The Fab Five never left basketball. The fans are just finally seeing it. NIL is real, but it cannot replace great coaching and great culture. Dusty May, he says, has set his own tone at Michigan and done a wonderful job.

Great programs let everyone walk into the room with their own identity. Nobody has to take over. When you are the man, you can be the man without the debate.