David Aldridge Gives Steve Props AND Apologizes To Les

http://espn.go.com/nba/columns/aldridge_david/1461280.html


Francis sets his mind on leading Rockets

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By David Aldridge
Special to ESPN.com


Steve Francis internalizes a lot. And so he got to thinking this past summer.

"Just imagining," he recalls, "what it would be like ... to lead like a Michael Jordan, to lead like a Shaquille O'Neal, to lead like a Jason Kidd ... all those guys lead by example, and for me, I just went back to the basics, some of the things I did preparing myself for my rookie season. I was doing it in the summertime and in the fall. Once I came to training camp it was just a flow. You can't just lead by pointing and yelling and things."

What Steve Francis wants very badly, in his fourth NBA season, is to take the Houston Rockets someplace special. He says now that he knows it's not about the TV commercials, and he knows that the most important players on a team usually aren't the guys that get the ink. By "humbling himself," as Francis puts it, he thinks he might be on to something. He believes that this is required of him, now that he has signed a six-year extension with Houston that will ultimately pay him in excess of $80 million. It is the most money the Rockets have ever shelled out for anyone -- more than Olajuwon or Moses Malone or Rudy Tomjanovich ever got for suiting up. And Francis knows it.

All summer long, after workouts at the Westside Tennis Center, Francis would walk into general manager Carroll Dawson's office, or Rudy T's office. Just to talk.

"He would want to talk about one thing, and that was leadership," Dawson recalled. "He wanted to know about how you go about it, every phase of it and what you have to do, and talk about how you have to earn the respect and how you get it. And so I knew that this was going to be a little bit of a different year 'cause that was very impressive. And it wasn't once or twice. It was like 10, 12 times."

Tomjanovich took Francis aside after the Rockets took Yao Ming with the first pick and said the franchise needed him to put together "a bunch of todays" if he wanted to really be a leader. "Todays and tomorrows," Francis says. "Don't look to June. Look for the next day and put a lot of those together, and that's when you get results."

So Francis stayed in the weight room after offseason shoulder surgery, and he ran his lungs into submission, and now he's stronger and leaner. He and Cat Mobley are the leaders of this young team now, even though Francis is still just 25, and all Francis wants is a full season with his full squad, to see what happens. In Francis' rookie season, Olajuwon had life-threatening blood clots in his legs. His second season, Charles Barkley blew out his ACL and had to retire. And last season ... well, Mo Taylor was out all season with a knee injury, and Glen Rice played just 20 games, and Francis -- let's just say Francis suffered for his art.

He missed the first month of the season with plantar fasciitis, during which time the Rockets lost 15 straight. And then he began suffering debilitating headaches and vertigo that temporarily took 60 percent of the hearing from his right ear.

"I couldn't begin to describe it," he said. "Obviously, you don't want to do anything. The more you talk and the more you try to move around, the more it edges on ... we went through so many different things. We took every type of test we possibly could take. And just one day I went to the doctor and said, 'Man, my ear is hurting,' so they ran an ear exam. Out of all the things that they did, and that's what it was. The feeling is unbelievable, and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. I wouldn't want no one to feel like that."

"At first, it was like, 'We've got to figure this out so he can play,' " recalled Keith Jones, the Rockets' trainer and vice president of basketball operations. " 'Cause we don't know when he's going to play, and when he's not. And that part was frustrating. And then after a couple of weeks of that, and just looking at that look on his face, man, I was like, OK, I just want this kid to feel better, just feel normal. And so for me, it was stressful, because I didn't even care about him playing basketball. I just wanted him to feel good."

Jones would go visit Francis at home, only to find him laid out in bed or sprawled in the hallway, unable to walk to answer the door.

"I was worried," Jones said. "Steve's a high flier. And I said, if he misjudges the rim or something and hits his head ... Just a lot of things were going through my mind every day. And I think I was as nervous as he was being out there."

Francis missed seven games with the pain and dizziness, but when he played, he somehow continued to play pretty well.

"I would go back in the locker room before the game," Dawson said, "and he'd be laying there in the dark with ice on his head, he'd be hurting so bad. There was no way I thought he'd play, and yet he'd go out and get 25 points. And it was kind of amazing that he could play with that kind of pain."

Letters came from everywhere -- even, surprisingly, Vancouver, where Francis figured the locals would just as soon see his head come off entirely for forcing the Grizzlies to trade him. One guy suggested Francis dunk his head in water at five-minute intervals, like he was bobbing for a really big apple. Another offered the garlic-in-your-ears remedy. Another suggested putting mud on the neck. And lots of people called, including a certain center who now answers to the alias Brock Chamberneezy.

"The Big Fella, Shaquille, told me to acupuncture," Francis said. "He told me to go through some acupuncture. I did that. It calmed me, it really relaxed me, and I never thought I'd be able to have people just stick pins and stuff in. But ... it's been helpful."

Finally, Rockets doctors and physicians from the Mayo Clinic diagnosed Francis's condition as Meniere's Disease, an inner-ear infection. Francis is not cured -- Meniere's has no cure. But it is treatable with medication. And the mystery finally had a name, which meant there was something that Francis could do about it.

Francis has been on a treatment program for months that has dramatically improved his health. The hearing in his ear has returned. He takes one or two pills every day. He has learned how to sleep upright or with pillows propping him up on planes, so his head doesn't fall to one side or the other. Working with a therapist, Francis tries to deal with the stress that is one of the triggers of Meniere's. He keeps regular dialogue with Houston's doctors.


"When I come in they're like, 'Oh, here he comes,' because I'm asking a thousand questions a day," Francis said. "And I'm always on top of it because, like I said, I wouldn't want anybody else to feel this way. Right now, it's still not 100 percent gone, so I've been maintaining it throughout the summer, throughout training camp, and throughout the season so far, so I just want to continue to feel good."

Francis has also radically changed his diet. He hired a chef who prepares low-sodium meals. No more hot sauce and no more vinegar on the collards. Pizza is a once-a-month extravagance.

"Steve's a macaroni and cheese guy, by the pound," Jones said. "He knows he can taste it now, but he can't eat it like he used to. Some of his grandmother's cooking, when he goes home, he's got to be careful. He eats a lot of baked stuff. He and Cuttino (are) at Ruth's Chris every chance they get. I said, 'You guys would have been better off buying stock than going in and paying for it.' "

But it's working. Francis can feel when an attack may be coming on, so on those days, he doubles up on the medication. He knows that he initially hurt his shoulder trying to rise over a seven-footer, so he's trying to be a smarter player. His jumper isn't working like it should, so he's trying to score from other areas on the floor.

"He's one of the hardest workers anyway," Tomjanovich said. "But he's even doing more at night. He meets with the assistant coaches and does a lot of shooting, talks about the game. So he's putting in the extra effort. But a lot of it is just he's feeling better physically."

There was some question after the Rockets made their intention to take Yao known whether Francis and Mobley would be willing to wait for the 7-foot-6 rookie to adjust to a new country, a new language and a new game. It will likely take years, not months. But Francis has reached out to Yao where he can, taking him for rides in his Hummer.

"The only way that I can help him is to be there supportively, don't try to force things on him," Francis says, "but I really wish he would shoot the ball more. And just give him a sense of security, knowing that I'm with him no matter what he does."

They will probably be together a long time, and with Houston moving into its new building that is rising downtown, the franchise is on solid footing. Whether the Rockets can win in the West is another question. But there's no question about who's going to try and lead them.

"I think I've worked hard to put myself in the position to get the things that are coming to me," Francis said. "But I think you have to bring your team along with you, and how do you do that? It's by winning games, and that's what I'm about."

Speaking of the Rockets…
I'm a moron.

A few weeks ago, I was co-hosting PTI with Tony Kornheiser (or Wilbon, I can't remember), and there was an item about how enthusiastic the Rockets' owner, Leslie Alexander, was about his team. He called it "the greatest team ever assembled," or words to that effect. And being on PTI, I figured I should have something sassy to say about that comment. Of course, I forgot that a) I'm not especially funny, and b) that's not my style. So I go on TV and proceed to say some really silly things about Mr. Alexander, who has never done me any harm. And for that, I apologize to him and his family.

All I really know about the man is that he has built a first-rate organization, with solid people up and down in management and on the coaching staff. Tomjanovich continues to be one of the best tacticians and straight-shooters around, and Dawson is as decent a human being as you can know. Their personnel folks and their advance scouts and their trainer are all first-rate people. And the Rockets do have a young quartet of Francis, Mobley, Eddie Griffin and Yao that might soon be the nucleus of the next real challenger in the West. Unless Tim Duncan convinces Jason Kidd to join him in San Antonio next season.

The point is, I forgot one of my cardinal rules, which is you can be critical without getting personal. What I said was stupid and mean-spirited. There are plenty of other people who do that in my business. I'll try real hard in the future not to emulate them again.



ALDRIDGE'S RANKINGS
THE TOP 10
1. Dallas
2. Indiana
3. Detroit
4. New Jersey
5. New Orleans
6. Boston
7. Sacramento
8. Seattle
9. San Antonio
10. L.A. Lakers

THE BOTTOM FIVE
25. New York
26. Miami
27. Golden State
28. Denver
29. Memphis


THE MIDDLE FOURTEEN
11. Orlando
12. Houston
13. Washington
14. Milwaukee
15. Philadelphia
16. Atlanta
17. Phoenix
18. Minnesota
19. L.A. Clippers
20. Portland
21. Toronto
22. Utah
23. Chicago
24. Cleveland