Anthony Castellano/The Gazette Former NBA all-star and University of Maryland basketball player Steve Francis and his son Steve Jr. watch over participants Saturday in the Steve Francis Basketball Clinic at the Comcast Center.

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Anthony Castellano/The Gazette Former NBA all-star and University of Maryland basketball player Steve Francis and his son Steve Jr. watch over participants Saturday in the Steve Francis Basketball Clinic at the Comcast Center.

Anthony Castellano/The Gazette Former NBA all-star and University of Maryland basketball player Steve Francis and his son Steve Jr. watch over participants Saturday in the Steve Francis Basketball Clinic at the Comcast Center.

 

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He dunked, dribbled and dazzled his way from Montgomery County playgrounds to NBA All-Star Games. Now 33, Steve Francis is looking at how he can make an impact off the court now that it appears his playing days are over, even if his hopes of another chance remain.

“It would be a long shot,” Francis said last month from his home in Houston of another opportunity with a NBA team.

His latest comeback bid, with the Chinese Basketball Association’s Beijing Ducks in December, ended in short order: He played in four games in two weeks.

“Going to China didn’t really work out too good,” Francis said. “But the most important thing is staying a dad to my kids [daughter Shailyn and son Steven]. Being on the road in the NBA is tough but now I’ve got more time to watch them grow.”

These days, Francis is dreaming for himself and others. Numerous philanthropic endeavors speak volumes: The Takoma Park native said he is grateful to be where he is in life.

Half a lifetime ago, it didn’t seem possible.

“It seemed like that was a long time ago,” Francis said, reflecting back on life before the NBA.

It was the mid-1990s when Francis was headed nowhere fast, a student shuffling between Montgomery Blair and Kennedy high schools with no basketball pedigree. Academics prevented him from playing after his sophomore year of high school and he was well short of 6-feet tall through his junior year.

And then, seemingly overnight, he became a sensation. His AAU basketball reputation (and a growth spurt) took him to San Jacinto Community College in Texas in 1996. By the end of 1998, after transferring to Allegany Community College, he had earned junior college All-America honors, with gaudy averages (25.3 points) prompting the school’s coach, Bob Kirk, to call him the “best point guard we’ve ever had at Allegany and potentially the best player ever here.”

The rest has become local folklore. He only needed the 1998-99 season at the University of Maryland to prove his mettle, leading the Terrapins to 28 wins, averaging more than 17 points per game and earning a spot on the NCAA All-America second team. The Vancouver Grizzlies drafted him with the second pick in the 1999 NBA Draft, and “Stevie Franchise” became one of the league’s most accomplished players: He split the Rookie of the Year Award, was selected to three All-Star games, played 10 seasons with the Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic and New York Knicks, and joined Magic Johnson, Grant Hill and Oscar Robertson as the only players ever to average at least 15 points, five rebounds and five assists in each of their first six seasons. LeBron James has added his name to that list since coming to the league in 2003.

“They are the type of memories that I’ll never forget,” Francis said. “Getting ready for the NBA Draft, growing up in the NBA as a man and as a person by being around a lot of older guys; it was definitely a process.”

It’s also the past, which he readily admits. The present is in Montgomery County; he returned from his home in Houston to participate in the 122nd annual Independence Day Celebration in Takoma Park. Continuing an annual tradition, he also played host to a Fourth of July community barbecue. Then he was off to College Park to host a charity basketball camp.

Through the Steve Francis Foundation, he has made charity a part of his daily life. He said he has a lot of pride in the Brenda Wilson Scholarship Program, which was named after his mother and created in 2004.

“It was real important [to start the scholarship],” Francis said. “We already had the foundation in place and I had seen a lot of kids who should go to college, not just in sports, who had to have an extra push to get over the hump.”

Francis’ agent, Carrie Potter, said the foundation has doled out $350,000 to 35 students since the program’s inception. She added that Francis “modeled the program around his experience” dealing with boys and girls clubs he played in as a youth, and that he felt compelled to “give back to the community.”

Among its many other endeavors are the Holiday Extravaganza, a Christmas party for youth in Houston; Christmas in February, the donation of more than 5,000 non-perishable items to 700 needy families at a Houston Food Bank Food Fair; Turkey & Trimmings, a distribution of Thanksgiving meals each year since 2005; and funding the D.C. Warriors, an Amateur Athletic Union club basketball team located in Takoma Park.

Francis launched a new music label, Maserati Music, last summer that features local musicians. He made his debut with a Washington, D.C. listening party.

It’s been more than six months since he played on an organized basketball team, the longest layoff he has had since he was a teenager.

“It was hard, especially watching the [NBA] Finals,” Francis said. “I use to play with these guys and those guys I played against, I fared pretty well. ... It was super fun.”

Francis said he doesn’t need basketball like he used to. Now, he simply hopes for it on his own terms.

“It depends on the situation,” Francis said. “Right now, I’m pretty content.”

jpeters@gazette.net