Frédéric Weis (born June 22, 1977 in Thionville) is a French professional basketball player, who is famous for getting dunked on by Vince Carter.
[edit] Pro career
Weis has previously played for Unicaja Málaga and Iurbentia Bilbao of the Spanish ACB League, and before that with PAOK Thessaloniki in the Greek League and Limoges in the French League. On January 28, 2009, Iurbentia Bilbao waived him after he missed the last 3 games in a row due to his health[1], and on February 13 he signed for ViveMenorca[2].
He was drafted by the New York Knicks with the 15th pick in the first round of the 1999 NBA Draft, but he did not sign with them and he never played in the NBA. The picking of Weis angered many Knicks fans because Ron Artest, who had grown up in Queens, New York and played for St. John's University, was still available. Artest was taken with the very next pick by the Chicago Bulls. On August 29, 2008, Weis' draft rights were traded from the New York Knicks to the Houston Rockets for power forward Patrick Ewing, Jr.[3]
[edit] "Le dunk de la mort"
Weis is infamous for having been "posterized" by the United States' Vince Carter during the gold medal game on October 1, 2000 at the 2000 Summer Olympics. After getting the ball off a steal, the 6'6" (1.98 m) Carter drove to the basket, then leaped and spread his legs as he jumped over the 7'2" (2.18 m) Weis, barely clearing his head, and ferociously dunked the ball. The United States won the game 85-75, and the French media dubbed the slam "le dunk de la mort" ("the dunk of death").[4]
[edit] French national basketball team
Weis won the silver medal at the 2000 Olympic Basketball Tournament with the French national basketball team. With France's national team he has also played at the European Championship in the following years: the 1999 European Championship, the 2001 European Championship, the 2005 European Championship and the 2007 European Championship.
At the 2005 European Championship he won the bronze medal with his national team. He has also played with France's national team at the 2006 FIBA World Championship.
[edit] References
- ^ (in Spanish) El iurbentia Bilbao Basket y Fred Weis acuerdan rescindir el contrato, ACB.com, 2009-01-29, http://www.acb.com/redaccion.php?id=54937
- ^ (in Spanish) El ViveMenorca firma a Weis y da de baja a Vladimir Boisa, ACB.com, 2009-02-13, http://www.acb.com/redaccion.php?id=55329
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/sports/basketball/28nba.html?_r=1&ref=sports&oref=slogin
- ^ Ballard, Chris (2008-02-20), Bet You Wish You Could Dunk, Sports Illustrated, http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/the_bonus/02/20/dunking0225/, retrieved 2008-09-10
[edit] External links
