Francis, Richardson explain how hard they partied as Knicks

NEW YORK — Steve Francis loved New York City a little too much.

The former All-Star guard, who was part of the dysfunctional years under Isiah Thomas, was traded to the Knicks in a 2006 blockbuster but explained that a combination of poor organizational structure and hard partying sabotaged his short stint.

“I just started belonging to the city,” Francis said on the ‘Knuckleheads Podcast’ with hosts Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles.

Richardson was also a Knick at the time and laughed about how Francis showed up for a morning shootaround after a night of partying, without enough time to change his clothes.

“He was out so late and came in so early that he had to buy some ‘I Love New York’ boxers from somewhere straight on the street,” Richardson said.

Francis, now 43, then played the song “You Belong to the City” and declared to his teammates, “I love New York City,” according to Richardson. Francis was blown away by the nightly options, even on a weekday.

“I’m in the training room just lying on the training table, like, ‘Yo what was that about New York City?’ ” Francis said. “I was talking to some veterans and some coaches. And they weren’t with me (that night), I was with some of my boys from home. And I was like, ‘This is New York, we can go anywhere we want.’ And it wasn’t like a big club or nothing like that. It was just so many different places I’ve never seen.”

It was a change of pace from Francis’ previous stop with the Magic.

“The only thing they were talking about is, ‘Let’s go to Disney,’” Francis said. “I was like, ‘Nah.’”