First off, I apologize for potentially destroying this thread. I hate quote/quote/quote/quote, etc. debates too, but I can't let this one slip.
He was abusive to women, had a history of violence with teammates and classmates, and drove drunk while masturbating. And that's just the times he was caught.
Saying "just the times he was caught" means nothing. There is no proof that he did or did not do things like this other times and was not caught.
"He was abusive to women" is a statement that I don't think you can use to describe Eddie over one incident. Who knows what went on and triggered that. We can't say unless we know him well, which neither you or I don't.
As for verbal/physical fights with teammates - I would never hold that against someone. In a competitive atmosphere, fights sometimes happen. It's not like he just randomly punched his teammate.
Hitting AND shooting at.
My mistake. As I said, who knows what triggered that.
I haven't. Dozens of people I know haven't. I only know a few that have.
All I can really say about that is... wow.
You can find the numerous times he was accused of verbally or physically getting into fights with teammates and coaches even before he got to the NBA. So he does obviously have a violent nature.
Rumors, rumors and more rumors. I've had fights with ex teammates and I don't remember a time where it wasn't bought on by the both of us. I don't think this means I'm a violent person.
Well I've never met the guy, and I doubt you have, so I don't know where you would get that idea. All we know of him was underachieving as a player and a criminal nature.
Every story I've read so far has people he worked with or knew describe him this way.
That's not an excuse. No one forced him to start drinking, and it's clear that there were people who tried to help him stop. He either didn't want to stop badly enough or just didn't care. He never had to face any consequences for his criminal behavior. He got fined less that one hundredth of his salary for abusing his ex, and was still allowed to graduate after getting kicked out of high school for fighting.
You could say no one forced anyone in the world to start drinking or doing drugs. Sometimes it just happens. Sometimes it is too hard for someone to get out of it.
My dad has been a drug addict and alcoholic for my entire lifetime. He always says he's trying to give it up, but it never works. He came over to my house about two weeks ago to apologize for taking herion after an old friend of his offered it to him. For some reason, he couldn't help but do it. He was clean for almost 2 months beforehand.
I don't think any less of him because he let me down. Sometimes you have to experience things first hand to realize how hard it is for people to give up alcohol and drugs. It almost becomes a mental illness.
There are 10-20 players per year with high/unrealistic expectations put upon them when drafted. Yet surprisingly, they don't all have to resort to criminal activity to make themselves feel better.
And how many fail to reach that? I wouldn't say there are 10-20 huge draft busts each year.
And yeah of course, Eddie shot at his ex girlfriend to make himself feel better about not being able to get things together in the NBA. That makes sense.
No, but it means his death is no more impactful than the thousands of people who died today or the thousands of people who will die tomorrow.
This is what I don't get. People always say "well it's no more important than the death of such and such".
That's true. But when a guy is in the public eye, of course people are gonna talk about it. We grow to "know" them. I wouldn't write up a post on how a random person on the other side of the world that I'd never heard of died somehow. There is no connection between us and I don't feel how I feel in this situation.
There is a connection between me and Eddie Griffin because I watch and follow NBA basketball.
He averaged 18 and 10 as a freshman in college. Clearly he had skill and wasted it.
I don't know if you understand that the College game is completely different to the NBA. See: Stromile Swift, Mateen Cleaves.
Some skillsets can completely dominate the college level, then become useless on the next level, eg athleticism with little or no skill.
There have been teens in the NBA for decades, that's not an excuse. And his problems existed before his NBA days.
I said that just because he turned out to be a bad basketball player doesn't make him any less of a person. At 19, he had alot of expectations put on him and didn't reach them.
Now you say being 19 is not excuse for not living up to expectations?
I think it's pretty well documented that younger guys have a much harder time adapting to the NBA. If they fail early, they almost always never recover. Do you realize how many draft busts came into the league as a teenager?
I don't believe he deserved to die, I just believe that his death is irrelevant. He didn't add anything to this world but criminal activity and disappointment. Not every death is a tragedy. He's not special and his death doesn't deserve more attention than you or I would receive.
I don't think Eddie Griffin added nothing in his 25 years of life other than disappointment as a basketball player and criminal activitiy.
Then again, I don't know him, so I can't back it up. I just don't think it's plausible to assume this guy did absolutely nothing else.
Nope, I'm basing this opinion on what everyone else here is, second hand information.
So through 2nd hand info you determined that the world is better off without Eddie Griffin.
And he didn't have that option because....?
Well I don't know.
I have read that his family had huge expectations for his NBA career and were saddened when it didn't turn out. Maybe his family pressured him into trying to turn his career around?
I do know that if I had a family who were assuming I would be a good NBA player, I would be hitting the gym - as Eddie was this offseason - in hope of doing just that, wether I liked it or not.
Pressure.
EDIT: Just found the original story before Eddie's identity was discovered:
http://www.click2houston.com/news/13915 ... d=10100242
Sounds like he would of been drunk or had fallen asleep at the wheel (remember it was 1.30am) and hit the side of the train. Then his car exploded into flames and he was trapped inside, burned to death.
What a tough way to go. I really feel fo his family, and once again, rest in peace Eddie.
