Steve Francis didn’t quit the idea of an NBA return until February
It can sometimes be difficult for ex-NBA players to adjust to retired life. For everyone who seamlessly transitions into a job as a coach or executive, there are several who struggle to adapt to life without high-level basketball. The passion and competitiveness that carried them to the heights of the sport have no real outlet, and the end of the extravagant lifestyle can be rough.
Steve Francis has appeared to be one of those players. The three-time All-Star last played in the NBA in 2010 and has been in the public eye mostly as a curiosity or for negatives. An over-the-top rap video in 2012 wasn’t exactly a career highlight for Francis, and his being the victim of a chain-snatching at a Houston rap show in 2015 was flat-out depressing.
He is now back in the news after sitting down for an interview with Abe Schwadron of SLAM, who hails from the same Maryland neighborhood as Stevie Franchise. The back-and-forth is preceded by a frankly scary note on that chain-snatching incident — “‘Ask the people who touched me how they feel,’ is all he’ll say…” — but it gets more positive from there. Nevertheless, Francis seems to be a little restless.
For instance, he apparently didn’t give up on the idea of returning to the NBA until February (expletive elisions our own):
What do you remember about shooting your last SLAM cover, the summer you got traded to Orlando?
That right there was like, Man, this is my last run. This is the point where it’s going to make or break what happens to you the rest of your career. It was like, now you’re really a man. Your fairy tale career, from Vancouver to being the Franchise in Houston, it’s over. When you’re playing, it’s hard as s— to go back and try to look at what you did. After All-Star, when I went there and just said, Hey guys, I’m really not going to play. That was it, this past one in Toronto—
Wait, up until this year you were still thinking about playing again?
Yeah, All-Star Weekend. Looking at the people out there playing, I’m like, Damn, if I just really, really focused one year, one time for six months… I can probably still do it, but I won’t.
We often hear of players not easily letting their NBA dreams go, and Baron Davis’s D-League comeback this season suggests that such things are within the realm of possibility. Still, the idea of Francis returning to the league probably only dawned on him in the last three years, if not longer.
A great deal of the interview focuses on a non-basketball but very NBA topic — partying. According to Francis, he still has fun from time to time. But he’s not what he used to be.
So you’re done with the partying?
I ain’t saying done. Man, look, I’m not no Johnny Manziel, that’s who the f— y’all need to talk to. Ain’t none of that. So talk to Johnny Manziel about that. I ain’t no n—- getting in no fights or beating anyone up. But don’t get it twisted. If I want to get 10 boats, I’ma get 10 boats. I’m going to be Steve. I don’t care what nobody say. I told the NBA that, I’ll tell the public that way. Whatever I feel like doing, I’ma do. Do you, do your life. […]
What about in your playing days, how much partying did you do?
You come to Houston, every player know they better call me. But I didn’t really go out that much on the road, on days before games. Kelvin Cato, he wouldn’t let me. He followed me everywhere. Houston, Orlando, New York. I called every team I went to and I said I need him with me. He was the only person that could keep me sane, boy. And he a crazy motherf—–. Every team, every situation, that’s who I had to have. Nobody knows that.
The Cato story appears to check out — the two played together from Francis’ rookie year in 1999-2000 on through Cato’s final season in 2006-07. They played together for three teams with only a brief period apart in 2005-06 when Cato was traded from Orlando to the Detroit Pistons.
To be clear, this interview isn’t all about Francis’s wilder tendencies. He’s a father, too, and proud of it. In fact, he prefers his life now.
From the end of your playing days to now—
My life’s gotten better.
Why?
I’m more of a dad, I’m wiser. I’ve got two kids, I’m in the best place of my life. I lived my first dream. Tell me who can say they lived their first dream at 32? Who’s still alive and can come here to DC at 39 and do whatever he want, and his kids can do whatever they want. Who wouldn’t take that?
Indeed. It’s very nice to be able to live a full life after achieving so much at such a young age. In Francis’s eyes, he has not peaked. Still, what does he think of his playing career now that it’s over?
In your eyes, what’s your legacy?
S— —he came, he saw, he conquered.
OK then.
There’s a lot more in the interview, including what Francis classifies as a drug and details of his life as a baseball dad. It’s not all especially pleasant to read, but it’s certainly revealing.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
