Steve Francis
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| Player information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Steve D'Shawn Francis | |
| Nickname | Stevie franchise | |
| birthday | 21st February 1977 (age 43) | |
| place of birth | Silver Spring , Maryland , United States | |
| size | 191 cm | |
| Weight | 95 kg | |
| position | Point guard | |
| college | Maryland | |
| NBA draft | 1999 , 2nd pick , Vancouver Grizzlies | |
| Clubs as active | ||
1999–2004 Houston Rockets 2004–2006 Orlando Magic 2006–2007 New York Knicks 2007–2008 Houston Rockets 2010 Beijing Ducks 
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Steve D'Shawn Francis (born February 21, 1977 in Silver Spring , Maryland ) is a retired American basketball player . With a height of 1.93 meters, he was mostly used as a point guard . Francis was selected second in the 1999 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets and was named NBA Rookie of the Year at the end of his debut season . During his time with the Rockets, Francis was voted NBA All-Star 3 times .
Career
College time in the USA
After attending junior colleges in Texas and Maryland , Steve Francis moved to the University of Maryland in 1998 . In the 1998/99 NCAA season, he and his team at the time broke some internal college records, including the one with the most wins. The team won 13 of the 16 games in the ACC division and only lost to favored teams such as Duke University or Wake Forest University . Maryland was eliminated in the semifinals of the ACC tournament against the University of North Carolina . Steve Francis was one of the top performers on his team.
After the season he also made it into the All ACC First Team and the All ACC Tournament Team . Francis finished the season with an average of 17 points, 4.5 assists and 2.8 steals per game. Although he said that he would return to Maryland for "99%", he decided, earlier than planned, to pursue a career in the NBA .
NBA Draft 1999
In the 1999 NBA Draft , Steve Francis was chosen as the second pick in the first round of the draft by the Vancouver Grizzlies . After being pulled by the Grizzlies, Francis commented that he didn't want to play for Vancouver. That same summer, Steve Francis was handed over to the Houston Rockets in a trade that involved three teams and eleven players .
Houston Rockets
His first season as an NBA pro was a complete success. He averaged 18 points per game, got 5.3 rebounds and gave 6.6 assists. In the same year Francis was a participant in the legendary Slam Dunk Contest 2000, which is still considered one of the best competitions of this kind in recent NBA history. There he just lost to Vince Carter in the final . Like Elton Brand , he won the Rookie of the Year award that year . With that, both players led the NBA All-Rookie First Team this year. With the Rockets, however, Francis did not make it into the NBA play-offs .
Steve Francis also played strongly in the 2000/01 season , but it was not enough for a place in the NBA All-Star Game . His team once again missed the finals.
In the 2001/02 season , the signs were good that the Houston Rockets would have a successful year. In first place in the 2002 NBA draft , the Rockets drew center talent Yao Ming . Together with Cuttino Mobley he formed one of the best attacking duos in the league this season. During the season, however, Steve Francis was injured and had to sit out 20 games due to injury. Although Steve Francis makes it into the all-star game of the NBA, the Rockets do not reach the playoffs again.
The 2002/03 season was actually very good for Francis personally. He played 81 games on the court and achieved good values for the statistics: He averaged 21 points per game, got 6 rebounds and gave as many assists. Also this year Francis was voted into the all-star game by the audience. The Houston Rockets, however, did not reach the playoffs again.
In the 2003/04 season , the Rockets Presidium announced that Jeff Van Gundy will be the new coach of the Houston Rockets. There was already trouble between Van Gundy and Francis after a few months when Francis attacked Jeff Van Gundy's training style. Although Francis' stats weakened, he also played in the 2004 NBA all-star game. In January 2004, he missed the team plane to Phoenix, because he wanted to watch the final of the NFL Super Bowl in Houston. Despite all this, he reached the NBA play-offs for the first time with his team. There you met the strong Los Angeles Lakers . The Houston Rockets were defeated by Kobe Bryant and his team 4-1.
After the season, Coach Van Gundy stated that his offensive system should be geared towards Center Yao Ming . So he requested a trade from Steve Francis. That came about with the Orlando Magic . Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato left the Rockets, but Tracy McGrady , Juwan Howard , Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines came to Houston.
Orlando Magic
For a long time Steve Francis could not make friends with the commitment in Florida , but after a while he accepted to play for Orlando. After his weakest career year in Houston, Orlando was back on the point guard. His stats for the 2004/05 season went from 16 points per game to 21. During the season, Francis suffered another setback: his best friend, Cuttino Mobley , moved from the Orlando Magic to the Sacramento Kings .
In the 2005-06 season, the league saw an inconsistent Steve Francis. When his teammates Jameer Nelson and Grant Hill played big, there was very little of Francis to be seen. When Hill was injured during the season, he was back playing at an all-star level. But as soon as the two played together again, Francis showed poor performance.
In January 2006, the Orlando Magic suspended him because Francis refused to go back to the field after being substituted.
New York Knicks
In late February 2006, Orlando Magic traded him for Penny Hardaway and Trevor Ariza at the New York Knicks . Originally, the Denver Nuggets wanted to get Francis on their team, but this trade never happened.
The trade of the Knicks was pretty ridiculed in the American press. With Steve Francis, New York brought in a point guard who acts just like Stephon Marbury . In addition, both players are known to be quite headstrong. It smelled of trouble around the New York Knicks, but Francis went into the 2006/07 season as a Knicks player .
During this season, Francis played only 44 times due to injuries. He achieved an average of 11.3 PpS, gave 3.9 ApS and got 3.6 RpS. It's the low point in Steve Francis' career.
Portland Trail Blazers
Almost eight years after Steve Francis came into the NBA, the draft caught up with him again. On the night of the 2007 NBA Draft , New York Knicks Steve Francis and Channing Frye traded for Zach Randolph , Dan Dickau and Fred Jones in the Portland Trail Blazers .
A few days after the trade, the Blazers announced that they wanted to buy Francis out of the current contract. After that happened Steve Francis was without a club.
Houston Rockets
Shortly thereafter, he signed a two-year contract with the Houston Rockets. He only played 10 games for Houston. On December 24, 2008, the Houston Rockets traded Steve Francis for a second round draft pick in 2011 to the Memphis Grizzlies . However, he was released shortly after the transfer by the Grizzlies, so he did not play a game for them. Interest in Francis remained low after the contract was terminated, so that he no longer received an NBA engagement.
Beijing Ducks
In November 2010, Francis returned to professional sports and signed a contract with the Beijing Ducks in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). After four games, however, he left the team and returned to the United States.
Trivia
- Francis is sometimes referred to as the "Stevie Franchise".
- He was on the cover of the video game NBA Live in 2002 .
- In 2007, his decisive 3-point throw in the last second against the Washington Wizards of NBA TV was named " Buzzer Beater of the Year".
- Francis has Menière's disease which causes vertigo , hearing loss and tinnitus .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Steve Francis leaves the Chinese team
- ^ The Legend of Stevie franchise. In: Basketball Network. July 2, 2018, Retrieved April 22, 2020 (American English).
- ↑ NBA Live Covers - NLSC Wiki. Retrieved April 22, 2020 .
Web links
- Steve Francis - player profile on NBA.com
- Steve Francis - player profile on basketball-reference.com
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Francis, Steve |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Francis, Steve D'Shawn |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American basketball player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 21, 1977 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Silver Spring , Maryland, USA |