Did the Fab Five change the NBA forever? To start things off, these five players went to the Michigan college. The men that were apart of the Fab. Five groups would be Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, Ray Jackson, and Juwan Howard.
To be honest, when trends are starting up it should decline at some point. Right? Well, not in this case. These five men changed the entire landscape of the NBA, by clothing. Yes, you read it right. They weren’t changing the NBA/college because of their dominance, but rather their clothing.
How did this impact the NBA? Did the Fab Five change the NBA forever?
Who remembers the short-shorts of the ’80s? When we saw Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, ETC wearing these shorts. The impact of the Fabulous Five is significant as it affected the clothing line of today’s NBA stars too.
This all started in 1991, this led into the NBA. These five players wore long, baggy shorts and black socks as the new trend when playing basketball. Even though they never won a championship at NCAA, nobody cared as it was about their style. The new style of basketball.
In a way, their style was bigger than them winning championships. This new style gave newer generations ahead of them new ways of styling their clothing. Not doing the same old, same old. They originated new ideas and it worked.
How did people respond to these types of styles?
Even though this was the latest trend, the new era of clothing. Everybody was viewing them as bad boys (and not referring to the Bad Boy Pistons with the Jordan Rules).
People thought of them, wearing this new kind of style, was having an ego, and being disrespectful.
“I think people saw us that way,” says Rose. “We were the bad guys.” Some of that, he admits, came from their style: trash-talking, baggy shorts, black socks, a lot of playground swagger.”
David Hinckley on the controversy that was upon the Michigan freshmen.
How did the Fab. 5 embrace it?
The Fab. Five embraced by being true to their attitude, meaning, that their attitude reflected the clothing they were wearing. They also embraced their style by playing hip-hop music in the locker rooms.
Nobody before in NBA History did that before the Fab. Five, and they would keep doing that to embrace their nature even more. Another thing they did do to embrace their attitude and style, would be jumping on tables after winning a game.
How were they when they got to the NBA?
Sadly for the Fabulous Five, some of their teammates never gotten a chance to play in the NBA. All five of the men combined for some serious points, rebounds, and assists when trying to grab the gold. So what happened?
Chris Webber
Chris Webber, who mainly played for the Kings, and won several awards. Including Rookie of The Year, he also went to the All-Star five times. He averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. Even though he didn’t win a championship with any of the teams he was on, he still put on a impressive showing during his 831 games.
Jalen Rose
Jalen Rose, who mainly played for the Pacers, had a interesting career. He didn’t win any rings, but did win the Most Improved Player Award. He averaged 14 points per game in his career, and even though his stats weren’t that impressive; Rose was the perfect defensive/offensive player combined. He did play 13 season in the NBA.
Jimmy King
Jimmy King, who played for the Raptors, had a tough career. King never could have gotten anything going, how? Mainly because when he was with the Raptors King was only scoring 4 points a game. He never got a true opportunity in the NBA, since only playing 64 games. That is not even a full season.
Ray Jackson
Ray Jackson was the most disappointing out of them all, Jackson never got the chance to play in the NBA. Jackson spent a season with the CBA League before calling it a career.
Juwan Howard
Juwan Howard spent the majority of his career with the Washington Bullets/Wizards. He had great success too, as he won several titles. Howard was the only one out of the five players to win at least one title. Howard won two titles in back-to-back titles with the Heat.
He also won a few awards, plus featured in one All-Star game. Between Howard and Webber, they were the most successful out of the five.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Fab. Five made an impact on the style of the game. Which remains to be carried on by NBA Stars today, but when it comes to their abilities playing in the NBA. Some were good, some were not good.
I would say that they left their mark in sports entertainment, for their apparel, not their basketball skills. Like I said above, they had some good moments; but they’ll go down as the ones for that reconstructed the clothing of today’s athletes in the NBA.
The reunion of Jalen Rose and Juwan Howard:
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