Francis Reportedly Kicks a Photographer (UPDATE: Steve suspended without pay)

Players run into camera men, courtside fans, or even power dancers, almost every game. Most of them are cordial to whoever they run over or fall on, say sorry, and get back up and into the game.

Steve falls on a camera man and decides to kick the guy because he is frustrated and out of control and it's the camera man's fault?

The photographer's job is to be on the sideline and take pictures, it's risky. I'm sure he didn't want to have someone fall on him, nor did he want to get kicked. Why should he apologize?

 

Just saw the video on ESPN News. Not a good camara angle as Stevie blew the layup so action was headed the other way. Couldn't see much if anything. This will be good for Stevie since it won't get played over and over on the news.

 

It looks to me like that ref witnessed it. I doubt the NBA would have come down on Francis so quickly if they didn't have evidence to back it up.

 

"Paparazzi'?

The guy who Francis kicked is a photog for the NBA. He's paid by the NBA. He has every right to be there or he wouldn't be there. It's not as if he's stalking Francis at his house.

If Francis kicked a fan sitting courtside would that have been ok?

Now I've heard it all.

 

So the next time I trip over a towel in the locker room or nearly get clocked from behind by an athlete blindly lumbering his way toward his locker, dropping and breaking the digital recorder I (admittedly, needlessly) spent a hundred bucks on -- I'm allowed to kick the guy who got in my way?

PSJ, you are way, WAY off on this one. Stop with that "be a man" bullshyte. In fact, just stop posting on this subject altogether. To paraphrase a male prostitute, you are clearly "divorced from reality."

 

His Rockets?

 

what steve did was wrong, but i kinda feel for him alittle.
first he gets traded from a team that is now a legit contender with a future great big man Like Yao to one of the worst teams in the east. then his girl..... i mean freind Cat gets traded and he didnt make the all star team.

 

SF is still in denial. If the videotape makes it plain like this article says it does, he deserves whatever he gets.

 

I'm glad we traded Steve, but this still makes me a little sad. He's always been emotional. That's what drives him -- when he does well and when makes mistakes, ironically. He needs to get better control of himself. But if he does that, I'm not sure he'd be even as effective as he is now. For better or worse, he's just an emotional person, and I bet his emotions just got the best of him at that moment. He may deserve whatever he gets, but it still makes me sad.

 

I wouldn't overinterpret this incident. Still ... does anyone out there doubt we traded Steve at his market high? For Tracy Freaking McGrady? I feel like Mark Cuban parachuting out of NASDAQ right before the crash.

 

Orlando could always trade Francis for Jalen Rose+others.

 

You're probably right, but the league says it won't be reviewing videotape until Monday. So they suspended Steve before seeing any definitive evidence. That's my hope now: that the tape will exonerate Steve. It's a pretty slim hope, I agree.

Whoa. Looks like a lot of players on the Magic are cracking from the strain this season. Maybe Weisbrod has cranked the pressure on that team to intolerable levels. If true, that would be another sign of Weisbrod's mismanagement.

 

LOL! Ya, something like that.

 

Stevenson, Augmon, and now Stevie.

Weisbrod wanted fighters on his team. He got what he deserved.

 

Asked if he wanted a chance to tell his side of the story, Francis said, "It don't make a difference. The perception's out there, so it ain't going to make a difference what I say."

What a fool.

You're damn right the "perception's out there". I guess by "perception" he means "video". According to the article it shows him kicking "hard" for all to see. Even the fans saw it right away.

How sweet is it that it was Rashard who blocked his ****??!!!

 

Will someone pleeeeeease post the video sometime tonight?

 

Just saw it on Sportcenter...just as another member alluded to, it's almost similar to Rodman's kicking incident. Guilty as charged.

 

I don't think Steve is a big guy; just frustrated & very lacking in the IQ dept, he's always been dumb.

 

And this says it all right here. There is the problem. Lets just ignore the fact that the photographers undercut the players in every game and nearly every quarter. How can you possibly believe that they are not to blame. And where there is blame, trust me, there should be an apology. It's not about whether or not they have the right to be there. It's about the problem. And everybody knows there is a problem.

His apology should go like this.

"I am sorry that I undercut francis. Even though we have the right to be under the basket, maybe we shouldn't be, and I say that because I get in the way of ball players every game. I am suprised more players don't get upset. He shouldn't have kicked me. But I understand why he did it. It's self defense. He's frustrated because every night he has a gash on his leg from a camera. Eventually the players are going to get mad. If we keep undercutting them, one day it's going to really blow up. Francis could have been hurt badly today. So could i. So I apologize. I mean I could have used the in floor camera to get that shot, or I could have used a zoom lens, or I could have used any one of the 10 cameras built into the backboard and that encircle the floor. But I didn't. I'm going to be a man and walk away from this because it's partly my fault. I'm not blind to that. There are better places for me to sit and still get a photograph. I kept knocking him down. Eventually he was going to blow up. I am very sorry about that. "

bring it on

 

I don't know about others, but Steve does crack under pressure, he is very emotional and rather fragile.

I wish him the best in his career, but he is going down a road that is rather dangerous and turns off some of his fans, whom have been loyal to him through the thick and thin.

He definitely needs sometime off, or "find Jesus" with a little help from his friend Cuttino, who is also emotional (but in a positive way) and carries himself with much more professionalism than Francis does.

I would be very interested to hear what Cuttino or Yao would have to say about this, if anything at all.