Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, and the Battle for the Legacy of the Fab Five
Webber was the star, but Jalen was always the leader. That hasn’t changed.
The Michigan Wolverines basketball team of 1991–1993 is my favorite sports team ever. Even more so than the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies or the 1992 Dream Team. Two decades before everyone wondered how John Calipari was going to manage the egos of a group of superstar freshmen, the members of the greatest recruiting class ever — Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson — not only managed to coexist, but thrive as a team. Michigan coach Steve Fisher was initially hesitant to start all five freshmen, but halfway through the year it became apparent that the youngsters were ready.
They changed the culture of basketball, wearing black socks, baggy shorts, and blue warm up t-shirts, questioning why the school and NCAA made millions off their likeness while they received no actual money — an issue that is still raging today. At a time when hip-hop was still being dismissed by the boomer generation and white kids who liked the music and the culture were branded as “wiggers,” the Fab Five were embraced by kids of all races and backgrounds. Meanwhile, old, white sportswriters decried that they were disrespecting the game, pointing instead to that bastion of…
