Salt Lake City ? It was a weird Wednesday night at the Delta Center in the final regular-season game for the Sacramento Kings and Utah, won by the Jazz 95-86.
How else can you explain All-Star Chris Webber wearing street clothes and sitting behind the Kings’ bench while rookie guard Ryan Robertson made his NBA debut?
Robertson, a Kansas University product, sat in the locker room clutching the game ball that had been presented to him by Webber and Vlade Divac.
“These guys stuck by me all year long while I wasn’t playing,” said Robertson, who played 25 minutes and shook what he described as a case of the first-game nerves to score five points and supply decent defense on Utah’s Howard Eisley.
“I’ll bet everybody else in this locker room felt the same nervousness I did tonight in their first games. But I’ll cherish this ball.”
