Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be an NBA rookie getting ready for your first game?
The story of Sam Cassell taking Steve Francis to the club and giving him a night to remember is the closest most of us will ever get.
We traded 15 motherf****** to Vancouver for this!?
These are the famous words of former Houston Rockets head coach Rudy Tomjanovich after his heralded rookie point guard, nicknamed “The Franchise” went 4-13 from the field and had 35 points dropped on him by a veteran more known for his defense than offense, in his debut.
Steve Francis didn’t look like himself all night and he was admittedly so gassed by the end of the first quarter, that he thought he was going to pass out.
So what happened and why was a 22-year-old pro athlete sucking wind like a middle schooler with a retainer just a few minutes into his first real NBA game?
The answer is Sam Cassell happened.
B’more Dudes Get Busy
Sam Cassell was a scrappy guard from Baltimore who was a Swiss army knife on the court.
He once scored seven points in the final minute of game 3 of the 1994 NBA Finals…as a rookie! to help his Rockets go up 2-1 on the Knicks.
Get 20% OFF sitewide on the NBA Store this week only. Don’t sleep like Steve Francis before his first game.
Later in his career, Sam became a staunch defensive stopper, who helped lead the Clippers to their most successful pre-Chris Paul season in 2006 and their first playoff appearance since 1997.
Cassell is also cited as being an originator of the “Big Balls” celebration and somewhat of a trash-talking connoisseur.
So when he offered to do newly drafted guard Steve Francis a “favor” by helping him deal with his new-found fame and groupies, Stevie Franchise should have known something was up.
We Weren’t Even Partying
“It was all part of Sam’s elaborate scam” to keep me out till the morning, according to Francis’ recollection.
Sam was back in town with his new team the Milwaukee Bucks, which he had joined the prior season, to play the Rockets on opening night of the 1999-00 season.
Since Sam was only a few years removed from winning back-to-back championships in Houston, he knew all the local hot spots and offered to take the rookie out and give him some big bro advice before they faced each other the following night.
As the story goes, the two go out to some club and have table service, but they aren’t drinking or partying. Sam was pounding back iced teas per Francis and rambling on about what the youngster has to do to survive in the NBA.
He has his victim completely enthralled.
Whenever Francis tries to get up and leave because it’s getting late, Sam says “Nah, what you need to do is sit here and listen to me.”
Before Francis realizes as much, it’s 5 AM and he’s walking out of the club with the sun coming up looking like this…
Although not intoxicated, his ears are ringing and he feels like he’s been up for three straight days.
This is when it hits him that he has to be at the arena in like five hours for shootaround😳
Sam, realizing his plan worked to perfection, tells Steve “I’m gonna bust your sleepy ass tonight, rest up.”
After the game that night, which saw Sam Cassell drop 35 points in a Bucks win, while Steve Francis struggled in every aspect, Steve goes up to his club buddy from the previous night and says:
“You slick motherfucker.”
If you enjoyed this story, you may also like What Really Happened to John Brisker? Or The Story of Club 21: Money Laundering, Murder & Dominique Wilkins
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