SportsIllustrated.com:
How they met:
Weekend that changed his life came inPhoenixtwo years ago, when Rice was still with theMiami Heat, which had drafted him No. 4 overall in 1989 and for which he averaged 19.3 points in six seasons. The story begins, as usual, with Rice’s jump shot, which he used to win the three-point shooting contest. When Rice returned toMiami, teammateMatt Geigerthrew a party to celebrate. It was there that Rice met Cristina Fernandez, a high school special-education teacher. “I told the guys she was going to be my girlfriend,” Rice says. But he wasn’t nearly as bold around Fernandez. He was so shy that he had to send teammate Kevin Gamble over to ask, on his behalf, if Fernandez would like to dance.
She agreed to dance, but she didn’t want anything else to do with Rice, who was separated from his wife and on his way to a divorce. But after several three- and four-hour phone conversations, Fernandez agreed to go out with him. On the day they were to have their first date, Rice scored a career-high 56 points against theOrlando Magic. “I had to do something to impress her,” he says.
Before long Fernandez saw that Rice wasn’t the stereotypical self-absorbed athlete, but surprisingly quiet and conservative. She introduced him to sushi, Spanish and salsa dancing. And she consoled him on Nov. 3, 1995—the day after Rice says Heat president and coachPat Rileytold him not to pay any attention to trade rumors—whenRileycalled to inform him that he had been dealt toCharlottewithGeigerand guardKhalid Reevesforcenter Alonzo Mourningand two other players. “I was on my way to practice when I got the call,” Rice says. “I just went back inside, sat down on my living room floor and cried.”
The tears were over moving away from his sons, Glen Jr., now 6, and G’mitri, 4, of whom his ex-wife, Tracey, has primary custody. They were over leaving the Miami fans, for whom Rice felt such affection that he wrote an open letter of thanks to them, published in The Miami Herald. And they were over leaving Fernandez. In Charlotte, Rice's play didn't suffer—last season he averaged 21.6 points and made his first All-Star team—but his appetite did. His weight dropped from 220 pounds to 205 as he sat alone in the hotel room in which he lived, playing video games night alter night. "Matt and Khalid would tell me I had to come to Charlotte, that he wasn't eating, that his new nickname was Slim," Fernandez says.
She finally moved in with Rice in Charlotte near the middle of last season—they plan to be married in September in Miami—and became his strongest supporter and toughest critic. "She may not know everything about basketball, but she knows me," Rice says. His scoring surge this season began after Fernandez told him he wasn't being aggressive enough on offense.
Why did they divorce?
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