Remembering Stevie Franchise
Man, thinking about Steve Francis on the Rockets takes me way back. I remember getting into basketball more seriously around that time. It wasn’t like I planned it, you know?
I just started watching more games on TV. Flipping channels, landed on a Rockets game. And there was this guy, Francis, just electric. Number 3. You couldn’t miss him. He wasn’t the biggest dude, but he played with so much energy, so much… flair.
So, I started making it a point to catch Rockets games whenever they were on. Didn’t matter if I had other stuff to do, I tried to see what Stevie Franchise was gonna do that night. My buddies and I would talk about it the next day. Did you see that crossover? That dunk? It was always something.
- I’d sit right up close to the TV screen, really focused.
- Tried mimicking his moves out on the driveway court. Didn’t work out so well, obviously.
- Probably drove my family crazy talking about him all the time.
He just had this way of driving to the basket, absolutely fearless. Sometimes it looked a bit wild, maybe out of control, but then bang, he’d finish. Or he’d throw some crazy pass you didn’t see coming. You just never knew what was going to happen next, and that was the real fun part. He really made watching the Rockets exciting again, felt different after the championship years started feeling like ancient history.
Then, of course, Yao Ming showed up. Seeing Francis, Mobley, and Yao together – that felt like something potentially big was building. I really got caught up in it. Even went out and got myself a Francis jersey, one of those cool pinstripe ones. Wore that thing pretty often.
Looking back now, yeah, they didn’t end up winning it all with him running the show. And how his time there finished, with the trade and everything, that felt like a real downer at the time. But honestly, when I think back, my strongest memory isn’t really tied to the wins and losses tally. It’s just the pure buzz, the excitement of watching him play during those specific years. He was just flat-out fun to watch. Simple as that. That’s the main thing that pops into my head when someone mentions “Steve Francis Rockets”. Just that raw basketball energy he brought every night.
