It can't be a David Robinson thing, because the San Antonio center is not a shock jock. It can't be a Mark Cuban thing, because the Dallas owner likes Chris Webber and likes many aspects of the Sacramento Kings, especially the ones that involve keggers.

So that settles it.

	“	I don't want to get emotional about it, but I just know I did the right thing coming back here. Watching just let me know the guys are exactly what I thought they were. ”
		— Chris Webber

It's a Texas thing.

Or, just maybe, it's a Webber thing.

The problems started when the Kings started without any problems. Webber, their All-NBA, All-Star, All-World Contract, power forward, was sidelined with a badly sprained ankle ... and they broke from the gate 15-5. They rebounded better than even they would have imagined. They scored by the hundreds, although that wasn't so tough to imagine. They beat the Spurs twice and the Lakers, Mavericks, Raptors, Nets and 76ers once. They beat the odds a lot.

Most of the Kings themselves conceded hitting the quarter pole with 15 victories was a great accomplishment given the circumstances. So no wonder people in high places and wide-open spaces -- tall Texans, powerful Texans -- began to publicly question whether Sacramento was better off without Webber. It was natural, it was expected, and it was not without the company of anonymous whispers.

But it was also wrong.

Webber is the best player on the second-best team in the league. He shoots from the post and the perimeter and he rebounds and passes and defends well enough in stretches that opposing coaches say he could move into territory to be considered for the All-Defense team. Even at less than full strength, and it will take him some time to reach that plateau since there is a difference between being ready to play and being in top game shape, he can make an impact.

Just ask the Heat. Webber debuted Sunday against Miami and, while lacking explosiveness, made seven of 16 shots, got six rebounds in 28 minutes with foul trouble and hit key jumpers that helped the 95-88 victory.

Just ask the Magic. He lasted 33 minutes Tuesday, going 11 of 22 from the field, scoring a team-high 24 points and grabbing nine rebounds. So now it must be a Florida thing.

That he would come back for those games, against teams that were also hurting, with Grant Hill out and half of Miami shuttling in and out of the trainer's office, was coincidence. He could have come back for the Lakers, but didn't have enough practice time to convince the Kings the ankle was sound. He could have come back for the Mavericks, but that was just one workout later.

Not that it wasn't tough to see the lure of both. Los Angeles is the Kings' biggest rival, after all. Just getting Webber back for a home game against the scourge from the south would have been an even greater adrenaline rush. Dallas, meanwhile, is the rivalry that should be. Think about it: Both teams play it fun and fast, both teams have a strong foreign influence on the roster, both have former Michigan Wolverines (Webber, Juwan Howard), both teams have owners (Cuban, Gavin and Joe Maloof) who are young and aggressive and willing to make major investments in contracts that fly in the face of the prevailing climate among their peers, both have veteran coaches, both were dead to the NBA world three years ago and all of the sudden are being talked of as legitimate threats to go deep into the playoffs.

The series lacks a playoff showdown or on-court incident, the moments that create real rivalries, but the teams are also evenly matched. They have split the season series six of the last eight years, with at least the winner scoring 100 points in each of the last 10 games. Nov. 29 in Dallas, the Kings were up by 20 points, had that cut to four, and then won when Peja Stojakovic hit tough jumpers. Great dramatics. Three nights later at Arco, the teams went overtime before the Mavericks won.

What we need is some venom.

"Are you trying to bait me?" Cuban said, smiling.

Well, as long as you asked.

"I can drink more than Gavin any day of the week," Cuban said. "He thinks he can out-drink me, but I will kick his butt. We will chug beers until the first guy drops."

In all seriousness, "I like those guys (the Maloofs) a lot. It's like the Lakers. Dr. (Jerry) Buss, I think the world of him. I've had a lot of great conversations with him. But they (the Lakers) are overly confident sometimes and I like to talk about it. From my perspective, it's easy to talk back. Phil Jackson made some comments last year and I'm not going to be afraid to respond. But you guys here all keep your mouth shut.

"I don't know. Maybe we'll get into a drinking contest some day. Maybe we'll play basketball some day and that'll lead to something. Somebody will throw an elbow. But I like those guys. I still want to kick their asses, but I like them.

"I'm trying to think on their team, what do they do that really pisses me off. Does Vlade still smoke cigarettes in the locker room? I could call him out for being a bad role model -- 'Bad, bad, Vlade.' I'm trying. I'm trying to think of things."

The comments about Webber probably won't help much in that regard since Cuban meant it as a compliment to the Kings as a whole and not a slam on C-Webb, a player he tried to recruit in the summer as a free agent. He thought the same things last season about Sacramento without its best player, so it's not about stoking fires.

"They move the ball better," Cuban said. "That's how Peja gets his shots. (With Webber), when they got in the low post, a lot of things stop."

Robinson said the same thing, a reference to Webber holding the ball and all the other Kings standing around as he plots his next move. None of the Kings buy into this notion, even privately. Webber gives them a low-post presence, better allowing the arsenal of shooters to fan out on the perimeter. He is unselfish, at a time when Divac has already been masterful in distributing the ball.

Yes, they are different without him.

No, they are not better without him.

"I don't want to get emotional about it," Webber said upon returning, "but I just know I did the right thing coming back here. Watching just let me know the guys are exactly what I thought they were."

That's a Webber thing.

Scott Howard-Cooper covers the NBA for the Sacramento Bee and is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.