Once Upon a Time…
Photo by G. LandThree years ago, Steve Francis was giving the Kobe/Shaq Lakers triple-doubles in the playoffs and was probably one of the 15 or 20 best players in the entire League. Now he’s taking Chris Webber-ish “please just go away” buyouts and his free agency is less of a story than Darko being on the market. And it’s not like he’s ancient; Francis is 30 years old, younger than guards J-Kidd, A.I., Nash, Vince, Billups, Steph and Ray Allen … Steve is expected to go the C-Webb/Grant Hill route and sign a smaller contract while looking to play for a contender. The teams that reportedly have him on the radar include the Rockets, Mavs, Heat, Lakers and Clippers. (Although you can probably take the Lakers off that list after they reportedly agreed to ink Derek Fisher to a 3-year, $14 million deal yesterday.) Our collective gut says Steve ends up back with Cuttino in L.A., but how weird would it be for Francis to end up being a role player on the Rockets, when he was the guy they traded to get T-Mac? … Two guys whose prime years in the League were that long ago are Alonzo Mourning and Gary Payton. We’re still waiting to hear what ‘Zo and GP are gonna do as far as next year, and neither has said anything. Pat Riley told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, “I left [Zo] a message but he didn’t call me back. That’s usual with Zo.” As for Payton, the Miami Herald said Riley and agent Aaron Goodwin have been “unable to reach one another in recent weeks.” Recent weeks? With the way the Heat have been chasing Mo Williams and Steve Blake, it sounds like somebody might be screening somebody’s calls … As far as Mo Williams’ situation, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said Miami’s offer is 5 years, $31 million, while the Bucks’ offer is 5 years at $42 million. Which way would you go? We say Miami. Mo would have a better chance at winning right away and more visibility for endorsements, which could make up for some of the money he’d be walking away from with the Bucks. Plus, you know, he’d get to live in Miami as opposed to Milwaukee … From the New York Post: “(Jamaal) Magloire could become a prime target if the Nets lose Mikki Moore to free agency. They drafted Sean Williams for frontcourt insurance but he is, after all, a rookie, so the Nets seek a veteran athletic, offensive presence. The 6-foot-11, 265-pound Magloire, 29, could fit that need.” Really? Athletic, offensive presence? Gotta love it when people write things about players they’ve obviously never seen play before. Magloire averaged 6.5 points last year and was basically X’d out of Portland rotation as soon as LaMarcus Aldridge got healthy because he slows everything down … Also from the NY Post, Vince Carter’s personal court at his Florida crib is so nice, the Nets summer team uses it for practice during its time in the Orlando league … Some top summer league performers from Thursday: Nate Robinson (21 pts, 10 asts), Pooh Jeter (22 pts, 5 asts), Von Wafer (25 pts), Mike Conley (13 pts, 7 asts, 1 turnover), Jared Dudley (16 pts, 10 rebs), Daequan Cook (20 pts) and Shawne Williams (19 pts, 10 rebs) … The tallest man in the world, 7-foot-9 Bao Xishun of China, got married yesterday in front of hundreds of people — most of whom didn’t know the bride or groom and just wanted to see the spectacle. No, Bao doesn’t play ball; he’s 56 years old. His new wife is 29 and about as tall as Earl Boykins. So as a couple they look something like this. Here’s an actual picture of the newlyweds. You gotta wonder how many NBA teams would be interested in Bao, a herdsman by trade, if he were 30 years younger without even knowing if he could walk … We’re out like Steve’s better days …
July 13th, 2007 at 3:04 am
Keith says:
Looks like Houston is getting rights to Luis Scola for rights to Vassilis Spanoulis. Which is good for both teams since the Spurs were PF heavy and Houston was guard heavy. Hopefully they both play in the NBA this season. The only way SA could have signed Scola is if Horry or Brent Barry retired.
July 13th, 2007 at 3:09 am
Bron42 says:
stevie took the fall for yao. plain and simple. He got blaimed for the team not reachin expectations and early exits justt like tmac is now. Like you said he was killin back in the day. Remeber the dunk on jahidi white? Or him crossin up troy hudson? Or bustin up kalid el a mean in the rookie game? Or the over hyped yao vs shaq matchup for the first time that led to francis puttin 44 on kobe AND gettin the game winner? When is someone gonna step up and put yao on the spot. Instead we got two all stars both catchin heat while playin with him while they had steady stats and yaos is barely ever consistent. Give it a few more years when they trade tmac cuz he couldnt get them over the hump either for another star and yao lets guys like boozer put 50 on him and no one says a word. As ink aka stevie franchise fan, I’d rather him take some time to heal his knees and go to the heat. Won’t have to do crazy much and still the team would be exciting. Clippers are kinda slow paced jackers fir his game.
July 13th, 2007 at 3:42 am
benlikesmen says:
Even if Steve Francis wrongfully took the blame for Houston losing in the playoffs, it doesn’t change the fact that the dude plain sucks now. He couldn’t even find minutes in New York, and wasn’t much better when he played in Orlando (except for maybe his first 3 months or so). Comparing him to T-Mac is rediculous. It’s hard to picture T-mac getting bought out of a contract 4 years from now.
July 13th, 2007 at 5:04 am
Vinsanity says:
Stevee Franchise used to make me dream, but now he makes me sick…It looks like this game against the Lakers where he pu 44 and the game winner was like 10 years ago.He should never have been shopped to Orlando.
July 13th, 2007 at 6:43 am
kowtz says:
Hahahaha… ups for The Rocket’s GM pulling trade of Franchise for T-mac… that was a freaking steal…
That’s like drafting Shaq (year 2000) in the second round…
July 13th, 2007 at 7:02 am
Paul Keast says:
When Steve was young…
http://www.squidoo.com/SteveFrancis
July 13th, 2007 at 8:21 am
Celts Fan says:
Francis was over-rated even in his best years. Ya he got buckets and made TONS of highlights, and was very fun to watch, but the guy was a TO machine, which is a problem at point. It’s a shame he was never able to play w/ a J-Kidd type tall pg so he could play his more natural 2. Things could have been much different.. Though, from an attitude standpoint, he deserves what he got. His first minute in the league he was forcing a trade, effectively killed the NBA in Toronto and put a big dent in the sanctity of the draft. I hope Yi’s career follows the same track (only w/out any of the fanfare Franchise got his first few years…)
July 13th, 2007 at 8:22 am
Celts Fan says:
*in Vancouver
July 13th, 2007 at 9:05 am
bigdre says:
so much for all that attitude stevo brought. wherever he ends up, he’ll be nothing more than a role player.
i remember when magloire made the all star team and wouldve been the mvp had the east won. take a look at him now.
so much for sean williams bein a steal.
July 13th, 2007 at 9:22 am
Celts Fan says:
Magloire = Worst all star ever in any sport (other than baseball and their antiquated “one guy from every team has to make it” rule from about 14 expansion teams ago)
July 13th, 2007 at 10:46 am
Bron42 says:
um francis didn’t kill the vancover team, them draftin guys like micheal dickenson and brian big country reeves AFTER him killed it. I mean the team also let mike bibby go, so its not like francis did it himself. Plus hate to break it to you, vancover is not really a blk friendly area, i’ve been there a few times so while it might not have been right, its understandable for him not wanting to go. Besides, ur complaining like hes the first person to demand a trade while unlike yi, francis had proven game to back it up.
And i wasn’t comparing tmac and francis player wise, but just that they were both allstars, who caught the blame while playing with yao, meanwhile yao gets a get out of jail free card even though he has yet to step up himself. Tmac and steve both play different styles but both suddenly had the same downfall when teamed with yao, kinda ironic.
Also francis was still kinda nice in orlando but hes not gonna turn straw into gold. He was there dwights first year and pretty much everyone else on the squad was about as useful as a pile of leaves. Even on the knicks when he got burn he held his own till the tendenitis. I’d still take a healthy francis over a healthy marbury or crawford.
And how was tradin tmac for francis a steal when like i said, the rockets havn’t gotten any farther with tmac? If tmac and francis are tenchincally interchangable then, that means yao is the one who needs to improve if tmac is SOOOO much better than francis was but still can’t get the team over the hump himself along with battier and improved role players. Francis did it with jauwan howard gettin crazy minutes and yao gettin pushed all over the court his first 2 years.
July 13th, 2007 at 10:56 am
Austin Burton says:
Big Country was drafted before Francis — he was Vancover’s first pick as a franchise back in ‘95.
And for the record, I think the Grizzlies’ butt-ugly uniforms/court is what killed the franchise.
July 13th, 2007 at 11:32 am
SWAT says:
Bron42 I agree with you to a certain extent…being from houston I see everything first hand. Yao, before injury this last season, was puttin up 20 and 10 a night. But during the playoffs his tired repertoire was obvious to Boozer. But hopefully the training he has been doing with “The Dream” can help that. So yes I do believe the rockets need to work with him on more than just his conditioning…i will never understand why they put garbage ass Ewing to help him as an asst coach-probably just because of JVG. But Tmac and Francis ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE! True they have not advanced in the playoffs but just a lil background info on Francis for you guys. He missed games to go the superbowl they had here a while back, not to mention the games missed for migraine headaches-aka hangover. He was and always will be a selfish guy. Tmac came over and at least had the willingness to listen to try and be a better player. Look at how his assists have gone up and he has still kept his scoring around 20-30 a game…especially when Yao went out. Honestly, they need a lot more work but I think they will get farther with Tmac than they could have ever got with Francis.
July 13th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Celts Fan says:
Bron, I never said he worked alone in killing Vancouver ball, just that he was the biggest thing. And last I checked, they’re still pretty @$$ backwards w/ black people in the south, but college football players will still go there for free, so I don’t buy that… Fact of the matter is, just like w/ Yi, if you’re drafted by a team, just go and collect your massive checks. Francis wanted to dictate where he’d go but didn’t have the tenure yet to do so. That’s what unrestricted free agency is for, and you have to put in time to get that. Just like in any other job, you have to start out at the bottom and work your way up to gain luxuries like that. Also, I’d move to Antarctica for the next 3 years for 2nd overall pick $$$ in a heartbeat…
July 13th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Bron42 says:
yea austin, those like teal green uni’s with the big bear on the front weren’t really flyin off the footlocker shelves.
SWAT, yea your right, but this would have been yao’s first all star level year before he got hurt. his FIRST earned one. its not like he was abusing people often. And in the playoffs, even mehmet okur was sayin yao was soft and his moves were predicatable. So yao is so easy to defend, someone known for terrible defense like okur is callin him predicatable. As for them bein interchangeable, what i was saying is, both of them (francis and tmac) got the blame for the SAME EXACT THING,but no one ever points the finger at yao. If you remember, francis changed his game to involve yao too once JVG got there. Everything had to be run through yao, which completely slowed down the offense and at that point yao wasn’t doin jack crap. So francis took heat for it. Same thing with tmac now, tmac went from assist machine when yao was there, back to scoriing machine when yao got hurt. If you remember, tmach was only scoring like 13-17 ppg when yao was around but averaging like 9 assists. Francis wasn’t allowed to do that because everyone wanted EVERYTHING to go through yao who just wasn’t ready for that.
Celtics, francis def wasnt the biggest drop off for vancouver because they got something out of it. Mike Bibby. Who turned out to be a pretty good player and even he bounced, then they got jay williams who was the shit back then and he bounced. Brian reeves turned into oliver miller then he bounced. Dickenson got hurt and never became anything etc…the list goes on. Lol and college football is completely different, you dont have the power to really veto somethign if its your only real shot at going pro, trust me on that. IN high school u could of sent me to KKK university if I thought it would get me pro..Now would i wanna go there in the nba if i had a choice? HELL nah. In college u gotta make sacrifices, in the nba your already set so you can put ur foot down. Look at eli manning, hes a bum but he still made a trade happen. Same with Yi, francis proved he could ball in college, yi played in a much weaker league against weaker comp. So he doesn’t really have much say. But i understand where ur coming from. I’m just sayin u cant rip him when tons of people do that stuff and we spoil 90% of athletes (and i’m a athlete myself) so they have that ability.
July 13th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
MJAX says:
Steve was doomed from day one, when he refused to go to Vancouver! As far as I’m concerned, he’s reaped what he sowed. It’s a once in a lifetime oppurtunity to play in the L, and he came right out of Maryland making demands, and look where it’s landed him! He hasn’t helped one team he’s been a part of make any true noise, but constantly wants the ball and glory. When will he and players like him realize the L will go on without you….
July 13th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
Amar says:
I never respected Steve’s decision to punk the team that drafted him, it’s wrong on so many levels, making excuses for him based on demographics or whatever is weak. That’s a superficial reason to leave somewhere. You think Bill Russell had a lot of brothers around him living in Boston during the ‘60? He didn’t even give the place a shot.
You know, weed is legal in Vancouver. Don’t nba players like weed?
It’s also one of the few places in all of Canada that doesn’t get a ton of snow.
The franchise (the grizz) moved not because of just what francis did, but because they were poorly run. They always had bad coaches, and it was just “hey bibby, SAR, score a lot of points…”
July 13th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
Amar says:
also, the worst all-star was ty hill . . .
July 13th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
Celts Fan says:
Ty Hill was an all star? Jesus, must have blocked that from my memory. I like to remember the good times…
I understand what you’re saying too Bron, but my point is, pro stands for professional, as in act professionally and getting paid. If you don’t like Vancouver, stick it out, refuse a 2nd contract, and walk. If they try to resign you as a Restricted Free agent, take a 1 yr. deal, then bounce as an unrestricted FA. I know you’ve said you work in the nba, that’s about how that works, right? Not saying I’d want to go to Vancouver either (other than the legal tree) but to be a pro basketball player, I’d play anywhere, and an expansion team like the Grizzlies back then will give you the best chance to put up #s, thus driving up your value once you’re done w/ the locked-in rookie deal. At the very least, make that play behind the scenes, so maybe they can get good value for him and not feel like they have to take garbage. That would help facilitate something like that too.
July 13th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
kudabeen says:
How is Francis reaping what he sowed? He is still getting paid…He’ll get to choose where he wants to go and get a chance at redemption if his body and his game is ready…He is (or I should say He has been) too selfish to help a team win. He was tossed out of Orlando, because he rather sulk and exeggerate injuries than contribute to a team effort. Jameer outplayed him and took his spot and the franchise was being handed to Dwight.
He choose not to deliver on his admittedly considerable talents and sulk on the bench. He could have fit nicely with Orlando. We’ll see what he does with the next opportunity. Do you really think he is going to settle for a veteran minimum contract to help a team win? Only if it’s a 1 or 2 year contract on Miami…
He wasted his abilities (the scoring, rediculous handle, exposiveness) due to ego…Can he turn his career at this point? I’ve seen better things happen for wrost people.
July 13th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
William says:
1. weed ain’t legal in Vancouver, they’re just plentyful.
2. Steve didn’t kill Vancouver Grizz, it’s the murderous exchange rate at the time (lower income), heavy tax, and low attendance.
3. Mike Bibby was moved when they’re moving from vancouver to memphis, did too Shareef Abdur Rahim.
4. Michael Dickerson came to vancouver via trade (steve francis). He actually played pretty good and was often the top scorer/defender on the team until injuries.
5. Vancouver traded for Otis Thorpe(!!) (Detroit Pistons) with a draft pick which turned out to be Darko Milicic, which is being wooed by Memphis now.
But ultimately the Grizz is a franchise being run afoul by the one and only Stu Jackson.
Bryan Reeves ain’t a bad talent but he’s extremely lazy with his conditioning, and that’s what did him in.
We picked Shareef (3rd, 1996) which ain’t bad at the time, but fail to surround him with talent.
We picked future prototype PG Antonio Daniels in 1997, with Tracy still available, shipped him a year later, pick another PG Mike Bibby in 1998, with Vince et al still available, picked Steve Francis in 1999 with Bibby entrenched at PG. We picked three top PG for three straight years. And traded them all away.
Bibby looked like somebody stole his candy on NBA draft night 1998, and grew to not disliking Vancouver as much.
We had a chance to trade for local boy Steve Nash but didn’t.
Now David Stern is doing NBA franchises a service by employing Stu Jackson, so he doesn’t have the time to ruin NBA franchises anymore.
July 13th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
William says:
Think about this, we had the luxury of having the 6th, 3rd, 4th, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd and 6th, still can’t wield a winning team.
July 13th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
SWAT says:
Was I the only one offened by the comment “Don’t NBA players like weed?” Is that what you really think Amar? Tell me you were joking…or am I that DISILLUSIONED in saying that not ALL NBA PLAYERS are dopefiends? I refuse to believe that a professional athlete would base his career on being able to smoke or not? Well besides Ricky Williams….
July 13th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
SL says:
SWAT,
dude, you must be dreaming if you don’t think there’s potheads in all professional sports.
uh… how about this short list of
damon stoudamire
lamar odom
rasheed wallace
darius miles.
on and on…
July 13th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
Celts Fan says:
SWAT, no one said ALL players. It was a generalization, but there are enough that like it (I’d guess 20-30%) to rationalize it. By the way, that’s about par for the course with most offices I’d guess (even if they don’t still do it…)
July 13th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
Celts Fan says:
Exactly, my 2 favorite non-sports sports moments of all time came from those Jail Blazers. The infamous, “We done smoked it all up” incident and my personal favorite, Damon Stoudamire trying to sneak weed through an airport metal detector IN TIN FOIL! That one’s still untouchable. Man I miss the Jail Blazers…
July 13th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Bron42 says:
I kinda took offense to it too but hey, in a open forum like this your gonna get dumb comments. Like i said before, i love how people dwell on a few bad athletes and then ignore all the good stuff the good ones do like charities, scholarships, building new gyms etc…plus i kno TONS of non basketball players sitting in their dorms or at home smokin weed right now and most of them aren’t even black so lets not get into this topic.
Also, again, steve francis isn’t the first person to refuse to play some where…didn’t john elway do it? eli manning? yi doing it now? so lets not make it like he destroyed the sport of basketball by not wanting to go to a bad town. No offense to vancouver people
ALSO 98% of the guys in the nba white or black wouldnt have handled what bill russel and other black guys of his era went through so drop that idea.
Celtic, like i said, I’m not sayin him backing out of goin to vancouver was right…but it happened and didn’t really make his career because when he went to houston, he showed why he was drafted so high and could ball. He did his thing until the team wanted him to hand it over to yao who wasnt even ready for that torch and francis became the scape goat (just like tmac is now and why he was about to break down durin the press conference.) Everyone wants to point out how hes never been out the first round BUT neither has yao and hes supposedly the new most dominant big man in the nba while tmac playoffs stats were worlds better.
Was he wrong for demanding a trade? yae but it happens 24/7 even though tons of people would die to be in their position. when given the chance could francis ball? yes so lets not make it like he was a selfish bust who couldnt walk and chew gum at the same time. You said he wasted his talent? ummm he was like top 10 in the nba for a while and a stat stuff as a 6′3 guard who could score, rebound, steal, play D etc… not really kwame brown-itis
July 14th, 2007 at 2:00 am
Amar says:
first of all, when i type “nba players” this isn’t a race issue, i didn’t say “just the black folk”, i’m pretty sure Yi likes to smoke up a bit too.
secondly, i’m going on charles oakley’s statement that about 60% of the nba uses weed recreationally. that doesn’t mean they are ALWAYS doing it, but it means that they aren’t going to ‘not-inhale’ if they get a chance.
I’m not in the nba. you are not in the nba. i’m going by what an out-spoken more than 10 year vet of the nba has said.
if you’re offended by me suggesting that the nba holds similar ratios of people who smoke up to the rest of the world (ie. people do it, nba players aren’t all angels, ever hear of the gold club?), then i don’t know what to offer you guys.
maybe you all should mellow out yourselves. it’s not like i said “all black nba players love the crack”, i said that nba players don’t necessairly have a bias against weed.
i didn’t make it a race thing, you though i did. i didn’t make it a hard drug thing, or a problem, because weed is less harmful to people than smoking and drinking and voting republican . . .
July 14th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Bron42 says:
no one said it was a race thing..but if your gonna base how players pick their teams on “hey dont nba guys like weed” its a dumb statement, plain and simple.
July 14th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Amar says:
yeah, it’s as dumb a statement as any on the web. but not all nba players are dwight howards . . . he is in the vast minority out there in the world, let alone in the world of sports.