Most NBA fans won’t remember him, except as the victim of what could be Vince Carter’s greatest poster slam ever, nicknamed “le dunk de la mort (the dunk of death).” But the 7-foot-2 Frenchman, Frédéric Weis, was drafted by the Knicks the year before those 2000 Olympics when Vinsanity reigned supreme, and it all seemed to spiral out of control from there, despite a somewhat successful international career.
After being selected with the No. 15 overall pick, Weis was called in a Paris hotel room and started celebrating. But as Sam Borden documents at the New York Times, Weis’ jubilance was soon stunted by the realization Knicks fans didn’t want the lumbering seven footer, and even the coach, Jeff Van Gundy, was blasé about Weis’ future in New York.
Knicks officials alerted Weis to the discontent in a short, somewhat awkward meeting. According to Weis’s wife, Celia, Weis was told, “You’re not really the guy we were supposed to draft,” and he was informed that “some fans might not be so happy.”
Nonetheless, Ed Tapscott, the team’s interim general manager, who had drafted Weis, told him the Knicks were excited to have him and looked forward to seeing him play in the summer league.
Weis was excited, too. But his exuberance was quickly tempered after a few choppy interactions with Van Gundy, who did not seem pleased with Weis having been the team’s draft choice. During phone calls with Celia, Weis described Van Gundy as having been “cold” to him and showing little interest in him. He told her a story about how Van Gundy had seen him wearing his watch just before practice — Weis was always a stickler for being on time — and berated him about whether he planned to wear it once workouts began.
Van Gundy later said he didn’t really remember many interactions with New York’s top draft pick that year (since it was more than 15 years ago), but that he did add that Weis was “an incredibly nice and sweet guy.”
Weis played for New York’s summer league team, but when it was time to sign a rookie contract, his agent, Didier Rose, didn’t have his best interests in mind. He wanted Weis to return to his French club, which Rose had an ownership stake in. It would have made a lot more sense for Weis to make the New York move and work with the Knicks full-time to develop his blossoming game. Alas, Rose was later imprisoned for unscrupulous financial dealings and conflicts of interest just like the one that entangled Weis.
Despite the setback and the miscommunication that ultimately derailed any time in the NBA, Weis had a solid European career. Frédéric played well in the 2000 Olympics when France captured the silver medal. True, Vince viciously dunked on him in those games, but he was elected to four consecutive French league All-Star games between 1997-2000.
After Carter’s detonation in the summer of 2000, Weis continued to play in Europe, but it was the birth of his son, Enzo, that led to much bigger problems than the disappointment he encountered after being drafted by the Knicks.
Enzo was later diagnosed as autistic, and it led the normally gentle Weis to start drinking and partying more on the road, since his family life was such a struggle. Issues with his floundering basketball career and a son he was unable to understand or share things with led Weis to eventually attempt suicide.
Weis struggled to balance his emotions about Enzo with his need to continue playing basketball. He tried to visit Celia and Enzo as often as possible but could not hide his disappointment at not being able to do what other fathers did with their children. He could not take Enzo to the movies (films were too long for Enzo). He could not play board games. He could not do puzzles.
Enzo liked basketball — he would go to Weis’s games sometimes and sit in the stands for short stretches — but he could not play. On the court, when it was just the two of them and Weis was hoping for anything, just a shot or a pass, Enzo only ran, around and around, while his father held the ball.
By January 2008, Weis hit bottom. Shortly after New Year’s Day, he decided he wanted to “stop it all,” as he said. And so he took the box of sleeping pills, drove to the rest stop in Biarritz and closed his eyes.
Weis woke up about 10 hours after the took the pills. He had somehow failed again, but this time it saved his life.
“It was the luckiest I’ve been in my life,” he tells Borden, and while the failed suicide attempt led him to quit drinking and a reconciliation with his wife, life after basketball (Weis retired in 2011) with an autistic child is still incredibly demanding. Sometimes, Weis’ frustration after getting drafted in the NBA will bubble to the surface.
In the Times piece, Weis snaps at a customer in the tobacco store he and his wife run. According to the piece, he can still be moody, and every day seems like a struggle. But Weis also talks about owning a beach house and the reasoning gives readers a reason to hope.
“The tides make Enzo happy,” Weis explained, “and so I want to take him there. I want to let him run out with the ocean because he loves it.”
Weis smiled.
“He loves to feel like he is running on top of the water,” he said.
The next time someone talks about Carter’s dunk, remember the complicated man behind that moment.
(Via New York Times)
