Griffin not expected back till 2004

I am Sorry if it has been posted.

For Eddie Griffin, a career in limbo
By Joe Juliano
Inquirer Staff Writer


RON FREHM / Associated Press

Eddie Griffin, a graduate of Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia, was hugged by his mother, Queen Bowen, after becoming the seventh draft pick in the 2001 NBA draft.


This is the day that the family, friends and fans of Eddie Griffin dreamed about. They thought that they would be celebrating his return to his hometown for a game against the 76ers, the team he followed in his childhood.

However, when the Houston Rockets hit the court tonight at the Wachovia Center, Eddie Griffin won't be with them. He won't be with them for the foreseeable future. And there is a chance that he might never be with them again.

Griffin, 21, a graduate of Roman Catholic High School, is at an undisclosed facility in the Houston area, receiving treatment to deal with what a representative called "emotional problems." He has been there about three weeks.

"He's bright and a great talent, but he's had trouble coping with life in the NBA," Rusty Hardin, Griffin's Houston-based attorney, said Friday. "His biggest priority now is to get his life in order.

"We're not even thinking of getting back on the court. If he does get back on the court, it means he's in good shape."

For now, Griffin is on the suspended list after a tumultuous preseason during which he missed a team flight and skipped practices.

However, it wasn't until after an incident at his home in southwest Houston that Griffin decided to seek professional help. A 21-year-old female acquaintance alleged that he struck her and shot at her early on the morning of Oct. 25. The case remains under investigation by Houston police, and no charges had been filed as of yesterday.

The Rockets elected not to pick up the fourth-year option on the contract that the 6-foot-10 forward signed as a physically gifted 19-year-old rookie in 2001. So instead of Griffin's collecting a guaranteed salary of $2.93 million for next season, he will be a free agent as of July 1 - a free agent with an uncertain future.

"We're not happy with the situation," Jeff Van Gundy, the Rockets' new coach, told the Houston Chronicle last month. "But, really, I don't have a lot of time to think about who's not here. I think about him, and I think about him a lot. He's a likable guy."

This is not the first time that Griffin's emotions have submerged his talent and potential. A shy young man with an impassive expression on the court, he was involved in two highly publicized fighting incidents, one while at Roman, the other while at Seton Hall University.

Hardin said that some of the problems now affecting Griffin center on his inability to communicate about issues.

"Part of his treatment is getting him to open up and talk about things," Hardin said. "If you take a young man and put him in this environment, he's going to internalize and bottle up any problems he may have.

"He's a really nice kid, but he's pretty confused right now. With kids that you pluck out of college as 19-year-olds and thrust into the NBA, some don't adjust very well. He's had some problems coping with this stuff."

In his senior season at Roman, he won the Markward Award as the city's best high school player and was named The Inquirer's player of the year. But he also was expelled from school for fighting with a teammate. He received his diploma but did not participate in graduation ceremonies.

Then, in his only season at Seton Hall, Griffin punched a teammate, Ty Shine, after a loss to Georgetown in January 2001. The Pirates, despite boasting a highly touted freshman class, finished 15-14 that season, and fingers pointed to Griffin as he left to enter the NBA draft.

"That was terribly unfair," said Tommy Amaker, then the coach at Seton Hall and now the coach at Michigan. "Unfortunately, that situation occurred. It made big news and hung over us the entire season. But to place the blame on Eddie's shoulders is grossly unfair."

Amaker said that Griffin's choice of Seton Hall over a bevy of national powers showed that "he liked to step away from the mainstream."

"Eddie is not a follower," Amaker said. "He does things that may be a little different. I loved his disposition. He was always the same on the floor, an easygoing person. Everyone always spoke of him in glowing terms."

Villanova assistant Fred Hill, who was on Amaker's staff at Seton Hall during Griffin's season there, called Griffin "the most coachable kid I've ever coached" and said that he showed a commitment to making himself a better player. But he also noted that Griffin had difficulty sharing his feelings.

"Eddie was a very quiet kid," Hill said. "He wasn't very communicative. He didn't open up to other people. Having dealt with him, what would happen is that Eddie would internalize things, keep them to himself."

Athletically, Griffin, who led the nation in blocked shots at Seton Hall while averaging 17.8 points and 10.8 rebounds, was on the fast track. And though his maturity hadn't caught up to his talent, he opted against spending another season with the Pirates.

A little more than a month after Griffin's 19th birthday, the New Jersey Nets made him the seventh pick in the 2001 NBA draft, then traded his rights to the Rockets on draft night for the rights to the three first-rounders they had picked - Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong. Griffin later signed a three-year, $6.96 million contract.

Rudy Tomjanovich, the Rockets' coach at the time, and team officials thought that they had made the steal of the draft. Griffin showed flashes of brilliance in his rookie season. He averaged 8.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.8 blocks and became the first NBA rookie to average at least one blocked shot and one three-point basket per game.

The learning curve continued last season, when Griffin started 66 games and averaged 8.6 points and six rebounds. But concern surfaced in April, when Houston police said that they had found a small amount of mar1juana in Griffin's car during a traffic stop. That case is still pending in court.

Griffin's conduct in the preseason this year perplexed team officials. He missed a team flight to Sacramento for an Oct. 14 game and never called the team to explain why. Van Gundy responded with a two-game suspension but gave him permission to practice.

Griffin said that he had missed the flight to deal with "personal family problems." But he failed to attend practice the day after the team returned from Sacramento, and Van Gundy suspended him indefinitely. Griffin also missed an Oct. 24 workout set up for him while the team was in San Antonio.


Rockets management has been mum about Griffin since he began undergoing treatment. But Rockets guard Cuttino Mobley, a fellow Philadelphian, supports him.

"Everybody loves Eddie," Mobley told the Houston Chronicle. "He's going to do what he has to do. Right now, we're concentrating on winning. He's concentrating on what he has to do. He's a good kid. We love him."

Griffin is said to be dealing with his issues. Hardin said that he does not expect him to be back until after Jan. 1, but that returning to the NBA is not Griffin's main focus at the moment.

"I'm sure he will play, but that depends on how he feels and how the Rockets feel," Hardin said. "Right now, we're not thinking about that. Eddie realizes the last thing to be concerned about is basketball. He wants to get his life in order."

I hope he return sooooooon.