Eddie Griffin: A Talented Tragedy

Former NBA forward Eddie Griffin died in mid-August in a fiery blaze of fire from a train wreck. He died with dreams unfulfilled, he died a professional basketball player with unfulfilled dreams, and most disappointingly, he died a very sick and broken young man.

At 6-feet-10 and 230 lbs. of muscle, coming out of a New Jersey Catholic academy, becoming one of America's most talented prep players in 2000, before then starring at Seton Hall for a freshman season and becoming a top-ten pick in the 2001 NBA Draft, Eddie Griffin was destined for greatness.

He was going to be the next Scottie Pippen, he was going to do what former New Jersey prepster Tim Thomas hadn't done. After all, both Pippen and Thomas were about 6'10", about the same in weight, and all were seen as prototypical small forwards. The comparison was flawed because Thomas has never did much more than become a high-paid role player, valued largely for his potential to be great; Pippen was for years an under-paid, Hall of Fame role player who played beyond the potential to be arguably the best small forward to ever play the game. Griffin never did become great, and he never did cash in, because his alcoholism held him back.

The East Coast wunderkind ended up as the seventh overall pick in 2001, but even that was a disappointment. Suspended various times throughout a promising season spent with Seton Hall University in his lone year of the 2000-'01 collegiate season, Griffin was projected as the number one overall selection before his college career even began. With his maturity being questioned, he was taken by his hometown New Jersey Nets, but jettisoned to the Houston Rockets that same June night.