The Steve Francis Effect: Five NBA All-Stars who fell off

Spree is one of my favorite all time players. He was so fun to watch.

 

I thought Spree wasn't a dumb NBA player either.
He spoke eloquently and he had his own successful business outside the NBA.
I remember his Spreewell wheels being all the rage.

Also thought he was smart to not 'marry' his 'wife' so she couldn't get all his money

http://www.sportsfrog.com/2007/01/29/latrell-sprewell-sued-for-200-million-by-wife/

"“The lawsuit says that on Sept. 8, Sprewell broke his promise to share his life and fortune with Cabbil when he entered their Purchase, N.Y., home and announced they needed ‘to end this fake’ relationship."

But man. I can't believe he's broke.

 

So he's not feeding his family after all...

 

How is Penny Hardaway not on this list

 

I had no idea until just now that Jayson Williams beat the rap on that manslaughter charge. What a bunch of BS.

 

I can't either.

Despite his off-court issues, Spreewell in his time was considered one of the most versatile players in the league. He threw down some thunderous dunks and when he caught on fire from three, you needed to watch out.

Anybody remember game 5 of the 1999 finals against the Spurs? One of the best performances I've ever seen by a player.

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mEWtEzaVH8s&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mEWtEzaVH8s&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

 

Marbury needs to be on that list for sure. Iverson is getting close to it as well.

 

His basketball IQ may not have been bad, but his regular intelligence IQ obviously is below 100 if he's broke. His stupid remark about feeding his family doesn't speak well either.

 

Its all about context I suppose. You have to look at his actions in the context of where he's coming from. His 'tude started and ended his career. Overall I'd say he didnt do too bad. Yeah, I'm an eternal Sprewell fan.

 

I remember that. It's amazing for an 8th seed to get all the way to Finals like that. If only they had any decent big man could they actually compete with the Spurs. Ewing and LJ were well past their primes.

On the side note, JVG was the perfect coach for a madman like Sprewell.

 

I never really followed Latrell's career. After reading his wiki entry I gotta say he's a crazy mofo. Ron Artest seems like a saint compared to him.

 

Well he's now broke. Hell he's probably not just broke, he's probably in debt as well.

 

Weak list.

Sprewell had a very good career.

Chris Gatling? He only had that All-Star appearance because the West squad was so banged up. Shaq, Barkley, and Drexler were all supposed to be in the lineup but had to sit out (would have been in a great game).

Baker and Kemp fell off hard but had still had good numbers for a longer period than Francis.

Williams was the opposite of these guys, a late bloomer.

Guess the All-Star qualifier is limiting (J.R. Rider would fit here), but no excuse for leaving off Penny.

 

With the exception of Gatling, they were all (like Francis) guys who were top players and then quickly disappeared. I agree that Penny should be on the list.

 

Eh, I think Iverson has had a long enough career and maintained his All-Star game long enough for him to come no where close to being in the same category as Francis. Iverson was good before Francis and good after.

 

This article is old as dirt. Why is it called the Steve Francis Effect? From that list, seems more like the Shawn Kemp effect. I don't think Penny is on that list because injuries more than anything else is what killed his career.

 

Spreewell had nothing at all to do with the rims, just same name...

 

baron davis too. all these point guards had very similar styles of playing basketball too( dazis, marbury, francis, iverson), and yet, they all fell off. they were all like score first pointguards who could jump out of the gym.

 

Jayson Williams career ended with a broken leg, and he was #1.