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Steve Francis: Local boy
makes great!
Takoma Park/Silver Spring
native—a shooting star in the NBA—enjoys a special
night at the MCI Center
BY GARY A. WEINSTEIN
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Photo: Julie Wiatt
The huge overhead monitor at the
MCI center showed Rockets' star Steve Francis.
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A dozen years ago, Steve
Francis was a star football and basketball player for the
Takoma Park Boys & Girls Club. Some of his coaches thought
football was his best sport. But hoops was Steve's first true
love. Now Steve plays in the NBA, and he's one of the best
basketball players in the world. In a brief chat with a Voice
reporter in January, Steve said: "Baseball is the greatest."
There was no prodding by the Voice reporter. No leading question.
Honest.
At noon on January 13, Steve and his Houston Rockets teammates
were getting dressed in the visitor's locker room at MCI Center,
preparing for a mid-day one-hour shoot-around and a game that
night against the Washington Wizards. As they dressed, television
and print reporters peppered players with questions. The Voice
reporter showed Steve a copy of the paper's recent coverage
of the many successes of the Boys & Girls Club. Steve
politely asked for a copy of the issue, and immediately read
the story and smiled at the photos, which included his boyhood
buddies and his mentor, Tony Langley, the head of the club.
"There'll be a bunch of kids from the club here tonight,"
Steve said. "We arranged that months ago."
In the locker room, Steve sat next to his buddy, Yao Ming,
the 7' 6" megastar from China. There they sat, at three
adjoining locker stalls, Yao, Steve, and the Voice reporter,
in descending order of height. As Steve and the Voice reporter
began a whispered conversation, four big TV lenses and mikes
appeared, inches from their faces.
Off camera, Steve said, "baseball is the greatest,"
and added that it's "a hard sport to play well. Even
in charity softball games, that little ball moves so fast;
it's not an easy game to play."
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Steve Francis fans Novie and Kelly
Craven enjoyed the Rockets-Wizards game. Steve's mentor
Tony Langley was there too, with about 100 kids from
the Takoma Park Boys & Girls Club.
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Steve is Yin and Yao is Yang
Steve then turned to Yao, to offer friendly encouragement
and to give him a break from the media horde. For the Rockets,
Steve is Yin and Yao is Yang. On almost every play, Steve
brings the ball up the court and makes a nice pass to Yao;
then the team's offense goes into gear. When the Rockets take
off, Steve and Yao are usually at the helm, leading the team
to a victory. (At press time, the Rockets were in fourth place
in their division.)
As Steve jogged onto the court that night, the first thing
he did, before joining his teammates in warmup drills, was
gently hug and kiss his grandma, who was sitting in the first
row at midcourt. Steve makes millions as an NBA player, but
he's rich in the most important ways: he loves his family,
his friends, his community, and what he's doing with his life.
Steve plays hoops–and lives life–with all
his heart and soul, a big warm smile, and an extra bounce
in his step.
The Rockets beat the Wiz that night. Steve had a solid game
(16 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds), but not a spectacular
one. It was still a special night–for Steve, and for
the hundreds of Takoma Park and Silver Spring people at MCI,
including those happy and proud club girls and boys, and dozens
of Steve's family members and friends.
Steve is loving life. Let's watch him fly—and enjoy
every minute of it, like he is.
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