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Eddie Griffin's terrible end
The Roman standout was a superior talent with serious troubles.
"If Marvin were around," he told ESPN the Magazine in 2004, "it all would have played out differently. I needed some things to change, whether he was here or not. But I could have talked to him, and he could have helped me make the transition from teenager to man."
But Powell, who struggled with drugs, was gone, and Griffin's temper had become as well known as his drives to the basket. He was expelled before the end of his senior year at Roman Catholic for fighting with a teammate - he studied at home to receive a diploma - and then punched teammate Ty Shine in the locker room after a midseason defeat in his one college season at Seton Hall.
TOM GRALISH / Inquirer Staff Photographer
Eddie Griffin during his Roman Catholic days. He was expelled before the end of his senior year for fighting with a teammate.
When he wasn't drinking, Griffin had "the innocence of a child," Hardin said.
But . . .
"He had a very violent temper when he was drinking," he said. "He always thought he could control alcohol rather than vice versa."
After being drafted by New Jersey and traded immediately to Houston in June 2001, Griffin found success, making the NBA all-rookie team in 2002.
But his problems lingered. He missed practices and a team flight in Houston, and was arrested in November 2003 for hitting a woman and firing a gun at her truck.
Hardin said Griffin usually had some explanation for his erratic behavior that often held up legally and lightened his sentence. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge in that case and received 18 months of probation.
The Rockets waived Griffin a month later, and he signed with the Nets. But he never played a game for the Nets after he flunked a scheduled urinalysis called for by the terms of his probation.
Hardin said a Nets official met with him and Griffin for breakfast one morning at a hotel before Griffin was scheduled to give his urine sample about 7:30.
"A week or two later, it came back. He was like double the legal limit," Hardin said, "which meant he was intoxicated sitting here at breakfast."
Soon after, Griffin checked into the Betty Ford Center for six weeks and was later released by the Nets. It was around that time that he entered Lucas' alcohol treatment center.
Despite all that, Griffin was such a talent that the Minnesota Timberwolves offered him what turned out to be his last chance. They signed him for the 2004-05 season, and he played 70 games in each of the next two seasons, starting 20 games in 2005-06. He even signed a three-year, $8.1 million contract in August 2005. But the problems remained.
Griffin crashed his vehicle into a parked car - no charges were filed - and then was suspended in January for violating the NBA's antidrug program.
After the Timberwolves released him in March - they recently settled on his contract buyout terms - there were two more assault charges in Houston, where Griffin lived. Both were dismissed before trial. One involved an argument that evolved into "a wrestling match" with his nephew, as Hardin put it. The other was a fight that resulted from concern for a family member, the attorney said.
Until just a few months ago, Griffin hadn't played organized basketball since being waived by Minnesota. But since June, he had been working out each morning with former Rockets star Calvin Murphy.
He wanted to play overseas.
"That was the direction we were pursuing," said his agent, Jeff Wernick. "We had an offer from a team in Serbia, and I was actually trying to get hold of Ed to walk him through that."
During their time together, Murphy said he watched Griffin carefully for signs of trouble. But he didn't see any.
