In light of the intense Francis-bashing that goes on in the Rockets section of the BBS, I'm wondering what other NBA players regularly incur the wrath of what are ostensibly their own fans. I don't frequent any other team boards so I'm not sure if the Francis-bashing is behavior specific to Houston fans. I live in NY, and in the latter years of the Ewing era, there was definitely a lot of Pat-hating on sports radio. But that was nowhere close to the level of hate that Steve gets (though Pat obviously has a long history in New York). What other players get hated on by their own fans?
You know, I have never seen this kind of hate for one player by their own team's fans. Some of it is deserved, some of it isn't, but it really is strange eh? I would imagine that Antoine Walker in his Celtic days got a lot of flack I think as he would jack up shots while their best player in Paul Pierce would just watch at times. But I don't know if it reached the intensity of hate that we Rockets fans have for Francis.
yeah... i live in boston. walker was good for a while. remember "i'm antoine walker, i make BASKETS"? then he sucked, it was the whole juwan howard situation, but then he sort of got some respect when pierce hit his prime, then he proceeded to shoot 2% from the three point line and the team went downhill so he got lots of hate. i'm not sure he really deserved all of it, but his personality didn't help.
Juwan Howard is actually a good example. I was in the DC area in those dog years after Webber was traded and the Wiz were bound to Howard and his ludicrous contract. Allan Houston gets some of the same flack for his $100M deal in New York.
One of the truest thing I've heard about an NBA team and its fans: When things don't go well, it's your coach's fault; then it's your best player's fault; after that it must have been your GM's fault. Fire 'em all.
Quite a few fans cannot stand certain players on their own team, but they couldn't stand to part. I know most of my fellow Bulls fans have wanted to burn Eddy Curry and Jamal Crawford in effigy so far this year, or write innappropriate haikus that incorporate phrases like "fat-ass" or "pimply p!ssy" -- but we wouldn't trade those two in a million years. All the Kwames and Amares and Vince Carters can chafe, but their respective fans wouldn't trade 'em for Shaq and a #1 pick.
My cousin is a Kings fan and he HATED Jim Jackson last year. He was happy to get rid of him for nothing.
When I went to the Dallas Rockets game, I noticed everyone moaning and groaning when Shawn Bradley entered, and then complaining every time he did something wrong. I think the Mavs fans think Bradley sucks bad. Which is true, but damn, they were really treating him like their unwanted b*stard child or something.
A couple of years ago Cato was hated by Houston fans as much as anyone in the league, I think (by their own fans). Ditto for Moochie last year and this until he was traded. I'm sure Rasheed Wallace gets his fair share of own-city hate.
dude, where were you when Scott Pippen was playing for the Rocks? Francis gets treated with kid gloves, frankly...he has only recently received any real outspoken criticism in the mainstream media...and, no...this BBS is not the mainstream media.
Please...Pippen wasn't hated until after he left. The Rockets would have missed the playoffs that season without Pippen. Steve is definitely the most hated player in franchise history now...
Everyone gets criticized, even Kevin Garnett who does and has been doing everything for his team to succeed gets heat from fans and the media and he puts up SICK numbers. Francis is getting alot of heat mostly b/c the Rox haven't made the playoffs in 4 yrs. I think if the team had been making the playoffs, Francis wouldn't be getting as much criticism as he is now. What bugs me is the fact that Rox fans complain about his shooting %, that he doesn't pass enough, that he went to the super bowl and missed the team flight, that he isn't a pure point guard and then they want to trade him for A.I. who is the poster boy for all these complaints they have....that just doesn't make any sense to me. A.I. has great heart and is a winner but he is not a good fit for this team. Yao would get even less shots than he does now. Peace.
Francis started to receive a lot of criticism last year by the national media when they finally realized that Yao wasn't a bust, and they constantly asked why he and Mobley don't pass to Yao. Other than that, when should he have desereved criticism form the mainstream media, when he was a rookie?, when they won 45 games his second year?, when he had migranes. He even received criticisim in Houston during the migrane episodes because people felt he wasn't taking the right advice in getting rid of them.
If my memory serves me correct, Pippen enjoyed a favorable reltaionship until after he basically called out the entire team and demanded a trade. Second, I don't know if you've read any of Fran Blinebury or John Lopez' columns this year, or any of Chad Ford's stuff or listened to various TNT and ESPN commentators, but if you don't think Francis has been critiiczed by the media, you must not have been paying attention to the same stuff as me. I think that this has been going on since last year.
i'm confused...i said he has received criticism recently...meaning this year..from the national press. but in years past, i think he's virtually flown under the radar. oh...and callers to talk shows don't amount to mainstream media, either. maybe i don't pay enough attention. as for pippen...i seem to remember the fans turning on him during the playoffs that year...he was still a rocket and people freaking hated him...i don't remember anyone standing up saying, "hey we really should keep pippen." that's very different from francis, who rockets fans seem to be divided on. in fact...in the chronicle's poll recently, steve was listed as houston's favorite local athlete. i certainly think the criticism of him HERE on this board is high....and I think the national media guys are being more and more critical of him. but there is no consensus out there that the rockets would be better of without him...with pippen there was no question of that. how do you think he'd be treated in NY if he was there and the Knicks hadn't made the playoffs in 4 years? come on...kid gloves in comparison to what he'd get elsewhere.
I recall Francis being criticized roundly in the offseason by various national (primarily online) and local columnists for not passing the ball to Yao enough, (resulting in JVG's comment after doing a film study: "They did pass the ball to him. I know it's been written a lot, but that doesn't make it true") I don't know what you're getting at with Pippen; I remeber that he called out hte Rockets in a sportscentury interview and demanded a trade, basically out of nowhere, one week and was gone to Portland by the next week. The NY comparison isn't really fair. Every player who plays there is under intense scrutiny; of course it would be worse there for him, and worse for Yao, and will be worse for A-Rod, etc.
I think saying Francis is treated with kid gloves is an exxageration. He has not gotten treated as badly as Norris or Cato (a couple years ago) or any Knick (who would want to play for those fans?), but he's been taking quite a beating for awhile now. That he's a well-liked athlete says little about media treatment and says more about the loyalty of the so-called fair-weather fan. In any case, we're talking about fans more than media anyway. It seems to me most of the abuse Francis endures is from the 'serious' fans here while the more casual fan is happy he's a Rocket. As for Pippen, he did start catching some heat in the playoffs, but pretty much deserved every ounce of it. He was a loser.
