By Aaron Bracy

February 26, 2023

@Aaron_Bracy

The old, worn, wooden steps were creaky and narrow. This isn’t safe, I thought. Not for me and especially not for a future NBA lottery pick whose 6-foot-8 body stood on much larger feet than mine, which probably made his ascent feel even more dangerous.

But climbed, we did. It was me, a Trenton Times photographer and Eddie Jamaal Griffin.

Phew. We made it. And there we were, on the roof of Roman Catholic High School for a photo shoot to go with my story on Griffin, the emerging high school basketball star. And it was an amazing photo. The young and handsome Griffin, neatly attired in his sweater, dress shirt and necktie, clutching a basketball in his right hand, staring seriously directly into the camera, the school’s golden cross looming large in the near ground and Philadelphia’s City Hall looking so small in the background.

Eddie Griffin, literally, was on top of the city. 

He was so full, it seemed, of hope.

—

The Trenton Times sent this young reporter to Roman in January 2000 to profile Griffin for a highly anticipated showcase game against New York City’s Rice High School the following month in Trenton. He had gone from someone who didn’t even play basketball as a high school freshman to a McDonald’s All-American and one of the most coveted recruits in the country. The buzz was so great around Griffin that some thought he should skip college altogether for the NBA.

“I’m definitely going to college,” Griffin told me that January day. “A lot of guys took the jump and were successful, but a couple weren’t. I don’t want to be one who isn’t successful.”

I don’t want to be one who isn’t successful.

I close my eyes and try to hear him say those words again. As I do, tears well up on the bottom of my eyelids. 

Tragically, Eddie Griffin would be dead 7 ½ years later.

—-

I have done thousands of interviews since beginning my career in journalism in 1997 and Griffin is among the nicest people I’ve interviewed. Shy but polite, he was easy to talk to. I really enjoyed our conversation. And he was accommodating – but you could probably guess that from agreeing to the photo location.

I think about that photo shoot a lot, especially whenever I’m stuck in traffic on I-676 and pass by Roman. I’m thinking about Griffin tonight on the eve of the Philadelphia Catholic League championship game at the Palestra when Roman makes its seemingly annual appearance.

Roman won two Catholic League titles during Griffin’s time, in 1999 and 2000 during his junior and senior seasons, respectively. Griffin transferred to Roman from Frankford prior to his sophomore season and was a bit player on the Cahillites’ Rasual Butler-led team that season. But it was after that season that he became one of Philly’s hot recruits when he blocked 25 shots in three games during the Alhambra Invitational in Cumberland, Md.

When he averaged 23.8 points, 11.7 rebounds and 7.8 blocks per game as a junior at Roman, Griffin had his pick of any big-time college in the country.

And his senior season was a launching pad into certain stardom. On January 3, 2000, he put on a dominating performance, dunking nine times and scoring 29 points in a game against Dajuan Wagner and Camden High at Temple University. I was courtside for that memorable contest. So were Allen Iverson, Larry Hughes, Tim Thomas, and several other NBA bigwigs among the 10,000 in attendance. 

Surely, Griffin did more of the same on the court the next month at Trenton’s Sovereign Bank Arena against Rice. I was courtside for that one, too. Strangely though, I don’t remember much at all about the game. What I can still see, though, what is crystal clear, is Griffin and his buddies and soon-to-be college teammates Andre Barrett and Marcus Tony-El, arm in arm, walking in lockstep in the back corridors of the arena. 

Barrett and Tony-El’s smiles were wide. Girffin’s too.

He was so full, it seemed, of joy.

 –

That fall, Griffin, Barrett and Tony-El were at Seton Hall. It was a coup by rising young coach Tommy Amaker to land all three, and Griffin was the centerpiece. The Pirates started out strong, winning their first five games, but the chemistry with the young upstarts and established veterans was off. It came to a head on January 6, 2001, when Griffin punched teammate Ty Shine during a postgame locker-room right after a loss at Georgetown. It wasn’t the first sign of trouble for Griffin. The prior spring, at Roman, he wasn’t allowed to walk during graduation after a school fight resulted in him finishing his high school classes from home. 

Back on the court at Seton Hall, there were no more problems the rest of the season. But the team didn’t live up to its early-season promise, finishing 16-15 overall, 5-11 in the Big East and losing in the first round of the NIT. Griffin, though, had NBA scouts wide-eyed after averaging 17.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and making 41 3-pointers with 133 blocks. 

He had a rare combination of a sweet stroke and salty swat.

Just when Griffin should have been on top of the world, however, tragedy struck his life. Marvin Powell had a heart attack and died at just 34 years old. Powell was Griffin’s half-brother, but much more than that. A former college basketball player at Hartford, Powell was like a father figure to Griffin, taking over for the birth father that was absent from his life. Now, Powell was gone, and just when Griffin needed him the most. 

Another season at Seton Hall with good friends Barrett and Tony-El and another Philly-area hooper, incoming freshman John Allen, might have been in Griffin’s heart. But the first-round NBA money was too much to pass up, so Griffin declared for the draft.

—

The New Jersey Nets selected Griffin with the No. 7 overall pick, but he was so coveted that the Houston Rockets traded three first-round picks to the Nets for Griffin’s rights. He played in 73 games for the Rockets as a 19-year-old rookie and put up solid, if not spectacular, numbers, averaging 8.8 points and 5.7 rebounds while making 90 3-pointers and blocking 134 shots. I talked to Griffin that season in Philadelphia before a game against the 76ers. The ease with which we spoke at Roman was missing, but it wasn’t the first time I felt that way talking to a professional athlete who I’d interviewed prior to stardom. 

However, looking back, maybe the NBA life just wasn’t easy for him. Suddenly rich and responsible for many and without Powell to guide him, Griffin started to show signs of problems in Houston. He ran into trouble following his second season in Houston, where he averaged 8.6 points and 6.0 rebounds as a 20-year-old. He allegedly fired a gun during a fight with his girlfriend and was arrested and charged with assault. It was one of several arrests. He missed practices and even skipped a team flight. Just 2 ½ years after being picked No. 7 by the Rockets, Houston waived their once-prized prospect in December 2003. 

The Nets quickly signed Griffin, but he never played for New Jersey. Instead, he checked into the Betty Ford Clinic for alcohol abuse treatment. Griffin was spiraling downward.

He was so full, it seemed, of pain.

—

Helped by noted reclamation basketball lifer John Lucas, Griffin resurrected his career with Minnesota in the 2004-05 season. Things were looking better. He averaged 7.5 points and 6.5 rebounds. His numbers were down the next season in Minnesota, but he did record a career-high 148 blocks. If he wasn’t the star many thought he would become, Griffin was an established and solid NBA player. But he wouldn’t make it through the following season. There was a late-night car crash and a suspension for violating the league’s drug policy. His NBA career was over in March 2007 – and, sadly, his life wasn’t far behind.

Griffin returned to Houston and was working out with the hopes of a return to the court in the fall. But on August 17, 2007, at 1:30 a.m., his car was struck by a freight train. He was dead. At 25 years old. The circumstances of the crash are mysterious. You can do Internet research and draw your own conclusions. Or not.

—

So much hope as he stood on top of Roman Catholic, so much joy as he walked in the corridors at the Sovereign Bank Arena. But, seemingly, so much pain, too. That’s the cruel reality about life, isn’t it, that to know joy, you must know pain. 

Damn.

We all have hopes, we all have joys and we all have pain. It is too late for Eddie Griffin, but what can we do to give someone else a little hope? To provide a little joy? To help heal any pain? Maybe you can call a friend, a family member or, even, a stranger and see what you can do.

Maybe someone just needs a little help climbing some old, worn, wooden steps somewhere. Help him to the top. And when he gets there, please give him a hug.

--

Aaron Bracy has been covering Philadelphia sports since 1997. His byline regularly appears on Associated Press stories. E-mail him at bracymedia@gmail.com Follow on Twitter: @Aaron_Bracy.