Webber: 2026 Michigan vs the 1989 Champs

Chris Webber came on the show to answer a question Michigan fans have been asking since the Wolverines started stringing together wins in 2026: is this the best Michigan basketball team of all time? Webber's answer was precise and generous. You can only have that conversation with two teams. The 1989 national championship team, and this one.

The 1989 squad came first. They were the first team ever to cut down the nets in Ann Arbor. No fancy resources, no coaches' support staff like today, just a group that figured it out together. Webber said this current group wouldn't be here without that team setting the standard. He also noted that the Fab Five, his own era, sits outside that conversation because they never raised a banner.

Rather than rank himself against current Wolverines, Webber took the hooper's position. When you're the man, you don't compare yourself to others. You did what you were supposed to do. The program is the best. The individual teams are instruments of the program moving forward. That's why programs with more championships, the Alabamas and others, can't have this conversation at all. Too many teams to rank. Michigan's problem is a good one. Only two candidates.

Webber gave major credit to head coach Dusty May. He pointed to what May is building and how he honored the Fab Five legacy by bringing them in, sitting them down, and asking them to be part of the current program's identity. Webber wore his Jumpman gear on air, pointed to the M on the other side of the logo, and said the Jumpman plus the M is the OG swag status that tells a recruit like McCoy exactly what Michigan is.

He made a joke about NIL that landed. If NIL had existed for the Fab Five, they would have been paid to play and paid to sell product. They were selling Huaraches and socks without making a cent off it. The rules caught up late, but the blueprint was theirs.

Would the Fab Five have beaten this team? Webber's answer was the most honest version available. Yeah, we would have beat them. They would have beat us. He would have fouled them. They would have fouled him. Great game either way.

The close was about joy. Watching Jaelen Smith come back from a turned ankle and keep playing reminded Webber of his own journey and the work it takes to get to this stage. He said he'd rather brag on the golf course about these young boys than be the only team anyone ever talks about. The program won.