“So what was I supposed to do?”įrom the Knicks’ side, the belief was always that Weis was not truly motivated to ever come and play in the United States. From 1997 to 2000, Weis played in four consecutive French league All-Star games. At the 2000 Olympics - despite being dunked on by Carter - he generally played well as France won the silver medal. That may be a matter of semantics - the Knicks, like most teams, had a European scout keeping an eye on Weis (and other players) - but, from Weis’s perspective, he believed he was not wanted. Explanations of why vary, but Weis said top Knicks executives never directly contacted him about returning. Weis never played for the Knicks again, in the summer league or otherwise.
“To be honest, what stands out to me is that I remember him being an incredibly nice and sweet guy,” Van Gundy said. Van Gundy, in an interview, said he had no particular recollections about his interactions with Weis - there were few, he said, and all took place more than 15 years ago - but added that he had “nothing bad to say about 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. During phone calls with Celia, Weis described Van Gundy as having been “cold” to him and showing little interest in him. 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. 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. There was the vicious dunk from Vince Carter - just Google “le dunk de la mort” (Dunk of Death) if you have somehow missed it - that transformed him into an on-court victim. There was the disappointment of feeling as if the Knicks’ coach, Jeff Van Gundy, did not actually want him. There was the night in 1999 when the Knicks made him a first-round draft pick. There were the early years playing in the French league. He stopped the car, leaned back in his seat and, at 30 years old, considered all that had happened to him during his career. About 90 minutes into the drive, Weis suddenly pulled over at a rest area near Biarritz, a French town not far from the border. He was on his way to see his wife and son. and began the drive here, to this small city in west-central France best known for its production of fine china. Weis got into his car in Bilbao, Spain, around 10 a.m. A beach house was a good dream.īut on that day, in January 2008, the dream did not make him smile.
Frederic weis professional#
In France, in Spain, in Greece - wherever his career as a 7-foot-2 professional basketball player took him.
A beach house had been Weis’s dream for a long time. LIMOGES, France - On the morning when Frédéric Weis tried to kill himself, he dreamed about owning a beach house.
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