Steve Francis Is Not Stephon Marbury

by Marcel Mutoni

What if I were to tell you that an aging point guard, one of the best in the League (at one point, anyway), an emotionally volatile cat, and a guy who played on a number of under-achieving squads, was recently relegated to the bench. You’d think I was talking about this guy, right? If so, you’d be wrong.

I’m talking about Steve Francis.

Unlike his former teammate Stephon Marbury, Francis is taking his benching well and making the best of his situation in Houston. From the Houston Chronicle:

“I anticipated (playing) at the beginning of the season,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to try to begin to try to anticipate anything.”

“Definitely, I’m different than I was,” Francis, 30, said. “Anybody would tell you that. Anybody who accomplished, quote-unquote, some of the things I have, who has been a good point (guard), would feel certain things. But I can’t do anything or say anything because it will reflect on them.”

That, friends, is called aging gracefully and accepting your fate.

It wouldn’t hurt a certain Knickerbocker to try it out.