Chris Webber will finally hobble off into the NBA sunset today, and fittingly it leaves us with mixed feelings about a superstar talent with a star-crossed career before his 15th season ever really began.

He leaves the NBA having averaged 20.7 points, 9.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists – joining Elgin Baylor, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Kevin Garnett and Billy Cunningham as the only players in history to average at least 20, 9.0 and 4.0 for a career.

He was the most famous member of the illustrious Fab Five at Michigan, leading the group that made it to the NCAA championship game in both of his seasons. But the Detroit native won’t be remembered for that as much as for the timeout he called in the final minute that virtually cost them the title to North Carolina in 1993.

He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1993 NBA draft but was dealt by Orlando to Golden State for Penny Hardaway and three No. 1 draft choices. He soon found it impossible to get along with Warriors coach Don Nelson, and was dealt to Washington the first month of his second season.

That Nellie was the guy who wanted him back for this season – only to watch him struggle miserably with that bum left knee limiting him to just 3.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 9 games – was a fittingly ironic end to Webber’s career. Undoubtedly at his retirement press conference you will see Webber impeccably dressed with that million-dollar smile glowing from baseline to baseline. Maybe even a tear will roll down his cheek during his well-articulated diatribe. But this bizarre exit also will be filled with the same double-talk Webber has always provided – the last boast being how much he would help either the Pistons, Lakers or Warriors win a championship this season.

The only thing we’ve ever known for sure about Webber is that he is an assorted bag of tricks. Indeed, his commitment at Michigan helped gain the Wolverines Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson as the most publicized group to ever join one college team. Years later, Webber ended up being the heart of the NCAA investigation regarding illegal money-laundering scandal involving booster Ed Martin. Webber lied to the grand jury and nearly went to prison for perjury – apology accepted.

After being dealt to Washington by Golden State, he played with Howard to form an amazingly talented frontcourt, although it ended with just one 3-game trip to the playoffs in his four years. Predictably, when he was sent to Sacramento in 1998 for washed up Mitch Richmond and Otis Thorpe, he whined and stomped his feet as if he were sentenced to Siberia.

But it was there that he resurrected his standing among superstar talents, and led the renaissance of a nomadic franchise that had been a bottom-feeder since moving there from Kansas City in 1985. They made it to the playoffs all six of his seasons there, including a heartbreaking Game 7 defeat to the Lakers in the 2002 conference finals in a mass of missed free throws by the Kings in Arco Arena. It was crushing physically and mentally.

Predictably, Webber and the Kings began to erode from there, with Webber beginning to call out his teammates. Meanwhile, his left knee was getting worse and he had microfracture surgery the next season. And when Webber returned he could no longer run or jump. He still had those great hands and timing to rebound. His soft touch from around the key, the elbow and hooks in the lane still worked from experience. Arguably the best passing power forward in the history of the game, he could still find his teammates at will.

But he no longer could perform at the level that his psyche or mouth believed, and Kings president Geoff Petrie finally shipped Webber and his monstrous contract to Philadelphia. That he went with Michael Bradley and Matt Barnes for Kenny Thomas, Corliss Williamson and Brian Skinner in a 2005 deal better characterized Webber’s fall from grace than anything else.

Sure, it was fun for about 15 minutes to hypothesize how Webber and Allen Iverson would get along and drive the Sixers to great heights. But it was destined to fail. They reached the playoffs the first season and lasted five games, and didn’t even get out of the lottery in 2006. At that point, Webber had the look of somebody playing on eggshells the way he often staggered around the court.

Before the next season even hit the All-Star break, Iverson was dealt to Denver and Webber’s contract was bought out by the Sixers. Four days after his release, his hometown Pistons signed him. Sure, he added a passing dimension from the post, some rebounds and was a perimeter threat. But his limitations reflected theirs as the playoffs unfolded in their upset loss to Cleveland in the conference finals … and Webber’s minutes fell accordingly.

That brings us to this marvelously competitive NBA season, with him making noise about how he wanted to help somebody win a championship. There's no telling why Nellie bought his bill of goods and actually thought he could fit in with a lightning-fast team when he could barely jog. Even while cobbling out 61 games last season, he was limited at best.  After not playing until signed on Jan. 29, the Warriors squeezed 9 games out of him – starting 8 in a failed attempt to jump-start what was left in five weeks.

And he was finished.

Somehow it figured to end this way for Webber – nothing but empty promises, just at varying levels. Even so, he played in four All-Star games and his career numbers are special. But he was never destined to win the biggest prize, not on the collegiate level, nor in the NBA.

It’s never appropriate to pin the failings of a team on an individual as so many have done with Webber, whether it was his mouth, passing up big shots or missing big shots. He was a superstar, one of the best power forwards the game has ever seen. But what you saw or heard from him wasn’t always what you got. Insteadin a “C-Webb” of empty assurances - it always caused issues.

In the end, that may very well prove to be his legacy, and that is sad for such a talented athlete to be remembered that way.