Steve Francis had all the odds stacked against him, he grew up in poverty without a father and then lost his mother at 18 years old, he bounced around high schools throughout his teens and only played in two high school games in his life, but luckily he was spotted in an AAU tournament, and an offer to play for San Jacinto Community College would change his life. He would spend a year there before moving onto Allegany College of Maryland before eventually finding himself at the University of Maryland, playing for the terrapins. He put together a great Junior season and cemented his name in the conversation for #1 pick in the 1999 NBA draft. Elton Brand would eventually get that honour, but Francis was selected #2 by the Vancouver Grizzlies; but he refused to play there for a couple of reasons and was eventually traded to the Houston Rockets who were at the end of their Hakeem Olajuwon era. In Houston he would team with shooting guard Cuttino Mobley and eventually Yao Ming and helped lead Houston to their first playoff appearance in 5 years in 2004. But then after the season, he would be traded to Orlando for Tracy McGrady. His stint in Orlando would be brief, but during that time he played with another young superstar in Dwight Howard and also was part of a one year duo with Grant Hill. Mobley had followed him to Orlando, but once he was traded, Francis was upset and his attitude quickly declined as he clashed with head coach Brian Hill until he would be traded to the New York Knicks in 2006. He would again clash with his coach, this time it would be Larry Brown, yet he would become close with Knicks star guard Stephon Marbury. Unfortunately injuries and and a lack of opportunity would define Francis’ time in New York and him and Marbury were not able to find any success. He would be a free agent after the 2007 season and return to Houston, but after a knee injury ended his season prematurely he never appeared on an NBA court again. But during his career, Stevie Franchise was one of the most exciting and athletic guards the league had ever seen and his streetball handles wowed fans for years. He struggled with efficiency and turnovers, but appeal he brought and his constant threat to make a highlight play was hard to resist as he would become one of the league’s most popular players during his prime, and when you consider all the obstacles he had to get through to make it to the league, you can’t help but root for Steve Francis.
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26 сен 2024
