Eddy Curry is gone, all that remains of the Isiah reign is public denials and a repatriated Renaldo Balkman, and now the Man Who Shall Forever Be Remembered Between Vince Carter's Legs has hung up his Le Coq Sportifs.

http://espn.go.com/espn/page2/index?id=6202406

Thu, Mar 10 3:08 PM ET
by Thomas Neumann

Frederic Weis, the 7-foot-2 French center who found himself on the wrong end of a Vince Carter dunk in the 2000 Olympics, retired Thursday at age 33 because of knee problems.

It's probably not a bad move, considering he had scored seven points in his past seven games with French club Limoges. He averaged 1.6 points and 2.7 rebounds per game this season.

Still, he's best known as the victim of Carter's stunning dunk at the Sydney Games, a stuff that was equally impressive in English and in French.

Don't forget, however, that the Knicks selected Weis No. 15 overall in 1999 -- one spot ahead of hometown baller Ron Artest. Considering that Weis never appeared in a single NBA game, Page 2 looks back at a few of the players picked after him in that draft who would've been better choices.

• No. 16 overall, Artest: Halftime sips of Hennessey notwithstanding, Ron-Ron has been an impact player throughout his pro career.

• No. 21 overall, Jeff Foster: A serviceable big man still playing in the NBA today.

• No. 22 overall, Kenny Thomas: Former New Mexico forward enjoyed a solid 11-year career with Rockets, 76ers and Kings.

• No. 23 overall, Devean George: Played 11 NBA seasons, won three rings with Lakers.

• No. 24 overall, Andrei Kirilenko: Hopefully time has healed the wounds of Knicks fans.

• No. 41 overall, Francisco Elson: Another serviceable post player who remains active.

• No. 45 overall, Ryan Robertson: Former Kansas guard scored five points in his only NBA game -- but still an awesome pick compared to Weis.

• No. 57 overall, Manu Ginobili: That Weis pick is looking worse and worse, isn't it?

Ultimately, Weis reminds us what an abject disaster Scott Layden was as general manager of the Knicks ... even though Isiah Thomas made him somewhat forgettable by comparison.

So adieu, Frederic. If by any chance you're reading this, can you please tell us the French word for "stiff"?

MattSuspect wrote:As a huge SJU and Artest fan, I remember this day as much as when Charles Smith missed those layups; Punched a wall in my college apartment in the bronx. Was livid for a week. Still to this day I wonder how the hell you can pass up on Ron Artest, oh thats right we had friggin Shandon Anderson. sigh.

God dammit! He was FOULED!!!!

If he made that selection as some sabotage tactic against the Knicks, then he never should have been allowed to work for an NBA team on any level, ever again. Why would he do something like that out of loyalty to Grunfeld, when he could have made smart moves and benefited from the progress the Knicks would have made. I guess Karma saw to it that he wouldn't ever enjoy any significant success as an exec after that.