Great article by Steve Francis in the Players' Tribune.
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/steve-francis-i-got-a-story-to-tell/Some of the most interesting aspects:
Early life:
My mother had passed away. My father was in a federal penitentiary. We had 18 people living in one apartment. I had dropped out of high school. No scholarships. No GED. No nothing.
This is ’95! I’m watching Allen Iverson killing it for Georgetown just up the road from me, and I’m standing on the corner all day building my little drug empire, just trying not to get robbed, and then at night I’m playing pickup ball in the basement of a firehouse
...
When I was 10 years old, I got my first job as a phone boy.
Y’all know what a phone boy is?
It was easy. I’d wait outside the Chinese spot and sit on the curb by the pay phone, looking all innocent, and whenever the phone would ring, I’d answer. It was always people looking for drugs, looking for girls, looking for whatever. I’d tell them where to meet the dealers, and that was it. All day, all night. It would be 50 drugs dealers standing outside on one corner, and 50 drug dealers standing on another corner. And then Lil Steve, posted up by the pay phone.
Played 2(!) high school games:
I show up to basketball tryouts on the first day of high school, thinking I’m the man, and they cut my ass. They wanted me to play JV because I was so short. That crushed me. I walked off the court and I never played high school ball again, except for two games.
Two games, in my entire high school career. Can you believe that? I played a little bit for an AAU team, and I played pickup, and that was it. I guess I probably should’ve just kept my head down and worked hard, but you gotta understand how complicated everything is when you’re growing up in poverty. We were constantly moving. I went to six different high schools. I had no stability. I felt like I was growing up inside a popcorn machine.
Playing Shawn Marion in JUCO:
But my grandma convinced me that it’s what my mother wanted for me, and I just gave in. I got my GED, and my grandma gave me $400 and a plane ticket to Houston. The San Jacinto coaches picked me up at the same airport where the coaches from Houston had picked up Dream when he came over from Nigeria. And honestly, I was probably just as shell-shocked as he was. It was 30,000 white people and your boy Steve. Total culture shock. But I finally had some stability. I had a bed. I had a roster spot. And with that in the bag, I’m telling you, I went out there and killed it.
Ask Shawn Marion. Go ahead and ask him. He was playing for Vincennes University at the time, and he was a juco All-American. He was supposed to be the guy. And we went up there to Indiana and I murdered him. I got a quadruple double on his ass. I remember when we both got to the NBA, we were laughing about it during some shootaround, and he told me that he’s actually got the VHS tape of the game somewhere at his house. The tape exists. For 20 years I’ve been asking Shawn where the hell that tape is, and he’s been ducking me.
John Thompson post-Iverson, lol
I was just destroying people. But still, it was community college. My dream at that point — and this is going to sound funny to some people — but my dream was to be on a real college campus with my backpack on, walking to class. I would picture myself at Georgetown or Maryland, just on campus, chilling, walking to class. It was that simple. That was what I dreamed about.
A year later, I had Gary Williams and John Thompson calling about me. Oklahoma and Clemson were coming hard after me, too, but I’d grown up watching Len Bias and Patrick Ewing. For me, it was either Maryland or Georgetown, period.
And it was almost Georgetown. But I’ll never forget the conversation I had with John Thompson. He said, “Steve, we like you. We do. But I just had Allen Iverson. I can’t have you right after Allen. I just can’t have it, Steve. I’ll have a heart attack.”
Respect for Hakeem
Come on, man. Canada? Me? Up there? It just wouldn’t have worked. Houston was the perfect spot for me. People probably won’t believe this, but Hakeem was one of the biggest influences on my game when I was a kid. I used to watch his footwork, and I’d imitate him. My crossover? That’s not MJ. That’s not Iverson. That’s Hakeem. Look at my footwork and you’ll see Dream.
...
Then he gives me a look. You know how Dream is. He’ll just look at you — super wise, super calm. Every word that comes out of the man’s mouth is like it’s coming straight from God Almighty.
I’m like, “What’s up, Dream?”
Dream says, “Steve.”
I’m like, “Yeah, Dream?”
“Steve, you walk around dressed like a bus driver.”
“Come on, Dream.”
“What are these construction shoes you have on?”
“These are Timberlands, man. Come on.”
“Steve, let me help you. Come to my tailor with me, and we’ll get you 10 suits. Custom-made. Cashmere.”
Rel. with Yao
I think it’s because of the energy in the city when me and Yao were together. That was my guy. When he came to Houston, we were some Odd Couple motherf*****s, man. A dude from China and a dude from D.C., and it wasn’t even the language that was the problem. That was just a part of it. I’m partially deaf in my left ear, and Yao is partially deaf in his right ear, and we’re trying to speak to one another in basic English.
He’s turning his head, Huh?
I’m turning my head, What? Huh?
It was ridiculous. But that was my man. He was the kindest, most respectful, smartest teammate I ever had. This dude had to do 15 interviews before shootaround, and then 15 interviews after shootaround. Cameras following him everywhere he went on the road … it was crazy. And he would ask us, “Are you guys O.K. with the cameras? Does it bother you?”
That’s the kind of person he was. He was my favorite teammate ever, hands down. He was such a good player, too. I still think about what could have been if Yao hadn’t rushed back from his injuries too soon, and if they’d have just kept us together. It still haunts me. We’d have gone on some runs. Everybody in Houston knows it.
But what did they do? They traded my ass to Orlando for Tracy McGrady.
Thought it was an interesting read. He was a great talent. Crazy to think about what he overcome to reach his goals. Must've been a persistent, driven dude.
Topic: Steve Francis: I Got a Story to Tell (Read 809 times)