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Steven D'Shawn Francis (born February 21, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. He was selected with the second overall pick of the 1999 NBA draft and was named co-NBA Rookie of the Year (along with Elton Brand) in his first season. He was a three-time NBA All-Star while playing for the Houston Rockets. Francis also played for the Orlando Magic and New York Knicks, finishing his career with the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association. He was known for his crossover dribble, driving ability, and flashy dunks. He was given the nickname Stevie Franchise.
Francis began working for drug dealers at ten years old and began selling crack cocaine on the street as a teenager during the American crack epidemic. He attended six high schools and played in a total of two high school basketball games. He dropped out of school at 18 years old after his mother died. Francis completed his GED after receiving an offer to play college basketball for San Jacinto College, whose coaches had noticed him at an Amateur Athletic Union tournament.
Francis attended San Jacinto College in 1996β97, and the Allegany College of Maryland in 1997β98. Francis became the first player to take two unbeaten teams into the National Junior College Tournament. In a game for Allegany, Francis recorded a quadruple double against Shawn Marion and Vincennes University.
The Terrapins finished second in the ACC and Francis was named to the All-ACC first team and the All ACC Tournament team. The Terrapins were a number 2 seed in the NCAA tournament but were defeated by St. John's in the Sweet 16. Under Francis's leadership, Maryland finished with a school record 28 wins and only 6 losses and were ranked #5 in the final Associated Press poll.
Francis finished the season averaging 17 points per game, 4.5 assists per game, and 2.8 steals per game. He was a consensus second-team All-American and was named a finalist for the Wooden Award and Naismith Player of the Year Awards. Although he stated he was "99% sure" he would return to Maryland for his senior season, he opted to enter the NBA draft.
While a member of the Terrapins, Francis met Idan Ravin, who at the time was coaching youth basketball. Francis soon began attending Ravin's workouts and recommended Ravin as trainer to fellow college players, including Elton Brand. Ravin subsequently became a well-known trainer for a number of NBA players.Ballard, Chris (2009) The Art of a Beautiful Game: The Thinking Fan's Tour of the NBA. New York: Simon and Schuster, pages 150β160
Francis got his wish, being traded before the 1999β2000 season began to the Houston Rockets in a three-team, 11-player deal that brought Michael Dickerson, Othella Harrington, Antoine Carr and Brent Price, plus first- and second-round picks to the Grizzlies. It was the largest trade in NBA history at that time (in terms of the number of players and picks involved).
Though Francis shared Rookie of the Year honors with Elton Brand and finished as runner-up to Vince Carter in the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest, the Rockets finished the season with a 34β48 record.
The next season, the Rockets improved to 45β37 but still missed the playoffs. In his third season, Francis was chosen by fans to start the 2002 NBA All-Star Game, but ended up playing only 55 games due to a foot injury and recurring MΓ©niΓ¨re's-induced migraines. As a result, the Rockets posted a dismal 28β54 record, landing them into the lottery, where they selected 7'6" Chinese center Yao Ming with the first pick in the 2002 NBA Draft. Francis and Yao gelled their first season together, and were selected as 2003 NBA All-Star Game starters. Francis scored a career-high 44 points in a nationally televised home win against the Los Angeles Lakers on January 17, 2003. The team went 43β39, again missing the playoffs.
Rockets head coach Rudy Tomjanovich stepped down in 2003, and the team selected ex-New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy as his successor. Van Gundy's coaching style did not fit Francis's style of play. Even though Francis made the All-Star game for a third straight year his stats declined in 2003β04, dropping from 21.0 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 6.2 APG to 16.6 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 6.2 APG. The Rockets, however, made the playoffs for the first time since 1999, which would be Francis's only postseason experience. Despite his averaging 19.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg, and 7.6 apg, the Rockets lost to the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers in five games.
As Francis's relationship with Van Gundy deteriorated it was apparent that the Rockets wanted to go in a different direction. While the coach sought to focus the team's offense on Yao Ming, the Rockets ended up trading Francis, along with his best friend on the team, Cuttino Mobley, as well as Kelvin Cato, for Tracy McGrady, Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue, and Reece Gaines.
During Francis's first tenure in Houston, he averaged 19.3 points, 6.4 assists, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.63 steals in 374 games (372 starts).
The following season, in January 2006, N.B.A. ROUNDUP; Suspension Over, Francis Delivers the Magic a disgruntled Francis was suspended by the Magic for two games for conduct detrimental to the team. On February 5, 2006, there were rumors that he could be traded to the Denver Nuggets for Earl Watson but General manager Otis Smith publicly announced that he would not trade Francis. Still, rumors persisted that Francis would be traded to the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets or even back to his former team the Houston Rockets.
On 2007 draft night, June 28, the Knicks traded Francis and Channing Frye to the Portland Trail Blazers for Zach Randolph, Dan Dickau, and Fred Jones; Portland then bought out the remaining two years of Francis's contract for a reported $30 million, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Francis used his contract option to come back to the Houston Rockets for the 2008β09 NBA season. He lost 15 pounds for training camp, but was not able to play in the beginning of the season due to the recovery period of his injury.
On December 24, 2008, the Houston Rockets traded Francis back to the team that had originally drafted him, the Grizzlies, except now the team was in Memphis. This trade was for a 2011 conditional draft pick. The move allowed the Rockets to drop under the luxury tax threshold. On January 27, 2009, it was reported that Francis was waived by the Grizzlies, without having appeared in a game for them. No other NBA teams expressed an interest in Francis.
On February 17, 2002, Francis's #23 jersey was honored by Maryland in a ceremony preceding the game against the #1 ranked Duke Blue Devils. Francis sat on the team's bench during the game and cheered as the Terrapins upset the Blue Devils 87β73. On election day 2008, Francis supported presidential candidate Barack Obama by wearing a red velvet sports jacket with "Barack Obama" spelled on the back in sequins. Francis said he had followed the presidential race closely. "It's important that there is an African-American candidate running", Francis said. "I never thought I'd see the day that would happen. Right now, we're at a pivotal point. It's a great feeling for me."
Francis has suffered from Ménière's disease, which causes episodes of vertigo, tinnitus, and aural fullness. Down-shifting: with encouragement from the anxious Rockets, Steve Francis is restricting his high-flying game to reduce the risk of a crash landing, findarticles.com; accessed March 3, 2015.
Francis has ventured into several entrepreneurial projects, including a construction company, boxing promotions, a barbershop and clothing line (We R One), as well as a hip-hop record label, Mazerati Music. ONLINE Article "What the hell happened to Steve Francis?", slamonline.com; accessed March 3, 2014.
After Francis left professional basketball and his stepfather committed suicide, he began drinking heavily. In November 2016, Francis was arrested in Houston for driving under the influence and a felony charge of threatening a public servant. In December 2016, he turned himself into Manatee County, Florida police who issued a warrant for his arrest on burglary charges following an incident in which he allegedly broke into a woman's car. In March 2017, he was granted a conditional discharge and sentenced to 50 hours of community service plus a fine of $7,300.
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