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This Day In Sports…January 27, 2018:
James Webb III becomes only the fourth Boise State product ever to play in an NBA game when he debuts for the Brooklyn Nets in a 111-87 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Webb was scoreless with one assist in five minutes. The one-time All-Mountain West forward for the Broncos had declared early for the NBA Draft in 2016 but was not selected. He had been toiling for the Philadelphia 76ers’ G League team before signing a contract with Brooklyn.
Webb had actually signed with Brooklyn 12 days earlier but hadn’t gotten off the bench through his first six games on the roster. Finally, he tweeted, “Hey guys, my name is James Webb III and I’m bored!” He played 10 games that season, scoring 16 points and pulling down 24 rebounds. That was the extent of his NBA career. Since then, Webb has played in Germany, Iowa (G League), Greece, Spain, Israel, Turkey and China, where he just signed with the Liaoning Flying Leopards 2½ weeks ago.
Webb was one of the most exciting players of Boise State’s Leon Rice era, playing above the rim, beyond the arc and coast-to-coast on defense. He didn’t start until the sixth game of the 2014-15 season but ended up as Mountain West Newcomer of the Year and second-team All-Mountain West. Webb also earned a spot on the MW All-Defensive Team. He was first-team All-conference in his second season as a Bronco, averaging 15.8 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 55.2 percent from the field.
The last former Boise State player to appear in an NBA game had been Coby Karl with the Golden State Warriors in 2010. The first two to make it were Chris Child in 1995 and John Coker in 1996. Two more former Broncos have played in the NBA since Webb. Chandler Hutchison was a first-round draft pick of the Chicago Bulls in 2018 and played in 103 games for three teams through 2022. And RayJ Dennis signed a two-way contract with the Indiana Pacers on January 5 and has played 10 minutes in five games, scoring on a pair of free throws.
Dennis spent his first two college hoops seasons at Boise State before transferring to Toledo, where he was MAC Player of the Year, and ultimately to Baylor. Dennis will forever be remembered for spurring one of the most improbable and exciting comebacks in Boise State basketball history five years ago, as the Broncos rallied from 18 points down with just over four minutes to go to defeat Utah State 88-83 in overtime.
Dennis started the game but didn’t score until 3:36 remained in the second half. Then, he put up 19 points the rest of the way in regulation. With Boise State trailing 75-70, Dennis drained a three-pointer with four seconds left—then Justinian Jessup stole the Aggies’ inbound pass and laid it in to send it into OT. The Broncos took their first lead of the game early in the extra period and didn’t look back.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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