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.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/f/francst01.html
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36 Comments
FPP day is another happy day
Steeeevieeeeee
I like Steve his game was like Westbrook high flyer high energy I wanna ask if you could do a video on Stat ( Amar’e Stoudmire) one of my favorite players to watch a dunking machine but he had so many injuries on his knees he had all star level of talent
Feels like you always drop your new vids as soon as I go on my lunch break lol love it
Houston had so many what ifs and great players early 2000s who can forget T-Mac, Yao Ming, Clarence Weatherspoon, Stevie Franchise
Stevie Franchise the goat 🐐
Stevie Franchise🏀🏀🏀
Thank you
Westbrook prototype
Rockets should've gave him and Yao more time together
As a Rockets fan, Steve Francis was very frustrating to watch. He had the handles, strength, insane athleticism, and a decent pull-up jumper from mid range. But he has the worst basketball IQ in terms of knowing what’s the most efficient thing to do at what time. He’d often pass up wide open shots and start dribbling until the defense catches on, and end up taking low percentage contested shots. His handles are impressive but it doesn’t get him anywhere. His athleticism is elite but he doesn’t attack the basket enough or in efficient ways. He basically has all of Westbrook’s bad qualities but very little of his strengths. Even without injuries, Steve Francis would still mostly just be a stat padder who looks amazing in highlights but contribute little to team success.
One of my favorite players!!!
He was promising in college and should’ve had played longer
Go Terps!!!!!!!!!
man I love your videos. You should have a million subs AT LEAST
As a rockets fan thank you so much for doing steve francis dude was one of the most explosive pgs to ever come in the league!!!
steve is my favorite player of all time. Thank you for this video
Big fan of Stevie Franchise. I had his Rockets jersey when I was a kid.
He would have had a better chance in Orlando if they didn't trade Mobley probably in Vancouver as well if it wasn't for that airport incident,grizzlies probably would have stayed in Vancouver,Canada is a nice country but too expensive but that's why i moved back although its expensive but it not a free for almost all like America is!
Francis got dat Westbrook engine
Appreciate you dropping consistent GREAT content all summer! 💯
Became a Steve Francis fan back when he played at Maryland
Great video Steve Francis was great
Good choice. Another high flyer from a little bit longer ago would be David Thompson. Still a hall of famer but would have easily been at least top 20 of all time and not mostly forgotten today if it wasn't for his nose candy problem
They know how to draft and find talent but not keep them and win a chip! Who am I talking about?
Knicks
Houston
Orlando
Philly
All the above
😅😅😅😅
My nigga dont get the credit. He was one of my favorite players and street ballers too. He use to go crazy at Rucker Park.
Steve Francis was my favourite poing guard of the early 00s. He could do it all be it a flashy dunk, a flashy assist, a deep three or a highlight dribble. Sure his game probably wasn't something that brought up too many wins but man was he fun to watch.
He did not want to move to Vancouver because that would have taken him far away from the only family he had left, his grandmother. He never had a father and he had also lost his mother so that was very understandable. If I remember correctly he had told to the Grizzlies not to draft him but they did it anyway.
I loved Stevie Franchise at Maryland and on to his time in Houston. I always wondered what happened to him, thanks for the vid!
PLEAAAASE do Brevin Knight. I know he was not a star but it intrigues me how nobody talks about him. He was a great defender for his size and could distribute the rock very well. The only bad thing was he didn’t had a nice outside shot off the drible
It's crazy how he wound up on the Grizzlies anyway
I was 8 his rookie year.abd loved.him we love him down here but that tmac trade DEFINITELY made sense. Now.tmac time in Houston that deserves a whole different story
RONY SEIKALY JEFF RULAND
So glad you showed love to Franchise! He was saucy AF!
Can you do a clip on Bonzi Wells?
Your fans would appreciate that 💯
Francis, JWill, Grant Hill, Penny, … these guys are proof that the top 75 all-time list dont really mean all that much… lol seriously. Top shelf skills and abilities aren't on the precious all-time list, and i'd take them easily over WB, Harden, and many more.
What a lame list that is, an eye-test destroys many of the top 75'ers
Stephon Marbury next!
I worked for Steve when he used to own a studio on Chimney Rock and he was solid guy..