Steve Francis's China Trip Ends with a Bad Break-Up

It was just earlier this month when I was excitedly posting about Steve Francis's (1998-99) arrival in China to play for the Beijing Ducks. And now, Francis's trip to China has ended poorly (NY Times) with him being cut from the team (Yahoo):

In what is being described as an amicable parting between two sides that completely hate each other, the Beijing Ducks have released the former NBA All-Star (the former NBA All-Star starter, mind you) after a total of four games played out of a one-season (with an option for a second) contract. Francis was with the team for 13 days and played a total of 14 minutes. He scored two points.

Along the way in his strange journey, Francis got his first playing time with an ice pack taped to his ankles (Yahoo again) and his shoes untied for 17 seconds of garbage time at the end of a game, flipped off the ref in his second game, causing his team to be ordered to educate and criticize Francis for his uncivilized behavior (Inquirer Sports), refused to practice on Christmas day (note: it's not a holiday in China), and finally, left the building at half-time of his final game after the coach didn't give him any playing time.