Eddie Griffin killed when car met train.

Former Minnesota Timberwolves Eddie Griffin died last week when his sport utility vehicle collided with a freight train in a fiery crash in Houston, the Harris County medical examiner's office said Tuesday.

Houston police said in a report that the SUV ignored a railroad warning and went through a barrier before striking the moving train about 1:30 a.m. Friday.

The driver's body was badly burned and there was no identification.

Investigators used dental records to identify Griffin, 25, who began his tumultous pro career with the Houston Rockets in 2001. He was waived by the Timberwolves in March.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?secti ... id=5591331

wow, that's all I can say, wow. That's a real shame, only 25.

Oh my god. That really is horrible. And not being able to identify until now...


Sympathy with his family.

That's terrible, condolences to his family. Rest in peace, Eddie.

Wow, thats shocking...RIP.

wow, holy crap. that is so sad

He was an asshole that was too apathetic to live up to his potential, but he definitely didn't deserve to die.

I'll drop three point bombs with the Eddie of Live '05 in his honour. RIP big fella.

RIP...so young.

Shame.. I remember I loved to watch him play back in his year(s) at Seton Hall.

Oh damn, that sucks. He had so much potential. RIP, Eddie.

He was an asshole who repeatedly broke the law.
He was a below average turned awful basketball player making millions of dollars.

The world is better off without him.

He was an asshole who repeatedly broke the law.
He was a below average turned awful basketball player making millions of dollars.

The world is better off without him.

WOW, you are really a fucking dick. do us a favor and go crawl in some hole and never show yourself again

As I said on RealGM, I slept in till around 1PM, got up and went to have a shower. When I came out I bought up RealGM, ESPN, etc. I came back after chucking my clothes in the wash and was absolutely shocked.

I can't believe he's gone at just 25. To go like this is awful, I feel for his family.

For something as simple as seeing the warnings and stopping, he would be alive today.

To think that Eddie is barely 8 years older than me is sad. After all he has acclomplished, and all that he was yet to do if he just put his mind to it, what a waste - especially at such a young age.

I know it's highly unlikely, but imagine if he made the right choice and stopped at that railroad crossing, got home safely, then the next day went out and worked out with Josh Smith like he has been this offseason. Eventually he get's his head around things, loses the alcohol and saves his career. He was only 25. He had a good 7 years of basketball left in him, if only he got it together.

But "What if?" is a question that describes Eddie. "What If?" will be the two words that come to mind next time you hear someone mention Eddie Griffin.

I just hope that "What If" doesn't lead to "What if it was suicide?", but I can't help it. I just can't see how Eddie - while he's actually making an attempt to get back in the league and stick, through these workouts - could of died like this. Why would you see the warnings and go through? Surely you could see/hear the train. He could of been drunk, but would he really be heavily drinking then driving after working out with fellow NBA players, trying to save his career?

I just have the feeling he might have took his own life. He could of, with the help of alcohol, saw there was no way he was making it back into the league and that his life was already so messed up and continuing to fall apart that there was no way out. All it would of taken is a stop on those tracks and it would all be over.

Rest In Peace Eddie.

[[Q]]

hmm he seems to have problems running into things with his car. perhaps it was from watching porn and masterbating again?

ah whatever it was, I don't think he deserved to die so young. and yes, he was amazing in Live 2005... a lot like Jonathan Bender back in 99.

Last edited by [Q] on Wed Aug 22, 2007 12:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

He was an asshole who repeatedly broke the law.
He was a below average turned awful basketball player making millions of dollars.

The world is better off without him.

WOW, you are really a fucking dick. do us a favor and go crawl in some hole and never show yourself again

What part of that could you possibly disagree with?

something was wrong with him thats for sure, no one just drives into the side of a train without knowing its there. could be alot of different reasons, was he drunk? high? fell asleep(unlikely)?, maybe he just was seriously depressed and ended it? who knows all i know is the man was young, and despite what some seem to think around here, he didnt deserve this

What part of that could you possibly disagree with?

Where do you get the idea he was an asshole? He had a fight with a former teammate and was done for aggravated assault for hitting his ex girlfriend. Ignore the fight, everyone gets into a fight at some point in their life. The aggravated assault was bad, but I don't think that defines a person.

All signs point to him being very quiet, gentle and a nice guy - it was the alcohol that destroyed him. Not to mention the high expectations he had at just 19, failing to meet them and going on a downward spiral from excess pressure from media, fans, teammates, etc. Some people, when depressed, turn to alcohol. That's what bought the young man down.

As for him making millions of dollars - so does almost every other player in the league. The moneys there for him, the team gave it to him. Just because he was earning much more than the rest of us, does that mean he didn't deserve to live?

Same with his basketball - the guy was all potential and very little skill. He was in the NBA at just 19. He was still a kid. He failed to meet expectations, big deal. Theres more to life than basketball, especially when he had as many problems as he did.

I don't care if Ron Artest - who has had plenty of problems - got the highest paying contract in the league, somehow became much less of a player in a Steve Francis-type season... he still doesn't deserve to die.

iKe7in, I really don't see how you can say what you said. Have you met the guy? Have you lived through what he's been through?

I know he didn't exactly have the worst upbringing or hardest life, but money isn't everything you know. Some people would trade in the millions of dollars each year - and the pressure, expectations, media scrutiny, lack of privacy, hounding fans, leeching "family", etc. for a normal life and a normal payroll.

R.I.P. BIGMAN

He was an asshole who repeatedly broke the law.
He was a below average turned awful basketball player making millions of dollars.

The world is better off without him.

When people like Ronald Regan or Saddam Hussein die, that is to be celebrated. Those are people who were genuinley bad and who's actions led to the death and suffering of others.

Eddie Griffin is not in that category.

You can't be serious.

What part of that could you possibly disagree with?

Where do you get the idea he was an asshole?

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.

He had a fight with a former teammate and was done for aggravated assault for hitting his ex girlfriend.

Hitting AND shooting at.

Ignore the fight, everyone gets into a fight at some point in their life.

I haven't. Dozens of people I know haven't. I only know a few that have.

The aggravated assault was bad, but I don't think that defines a person.

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.

All signs point to him being very quiet, gentle and a nice guy

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.

- it was the alcohol that destroyed him.

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.

Not to mention the high expectations he had at just 19, failing to meet them and going on a downward spiral from excess pressure from media, fans, teammates, etc. Some people, when depressed, turn to alcohol. That's what bought the young man down.

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.

As for him making millions of dollars - so does almost every other player in the league. The moneys there for him, the team gave it to him. Just because he was earning much more than the rest of us, does that mean he didn't deserve to live?

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.

Same with his basketball - the guy was all potential and very little skill.

He averaged 18 and 10 as a freshman in college. Clearly he had skill and wasted it.

He was in the NBA at just 19. He was still a kid. He failed to meet expectations, big deal. Theres more to life than basketball, especially when he had as many problems as he did.

There have been teens in the NBA for decades, that's not an excuse. And his problems existed before his NBA days.

I don't care if Ron Artest - who has had plenty of problems - got the highest paying contract in the league, somehow became much less of a player in a Steve Francis-type season... he still doesn't deserve to die.

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.

iKe7in, I really don't see how you can say what you said. Have you met the guy? Have you lived through what he's been through?

Nope, I'm basing this opinion on what everyone else here is, second hand information.

I know he didn't exactly have the worst upbringing or hardest life, but money isn't everything you know. Some people would trade in the millions of dollars each year - and the pressure, expectations, media scrutiny, lack of privacy, hounding fans, leeching "family", etc. for a normal life and a normal payroll.

And he didn't have that option because....?

RIP EDDIE

Seems like problems were always lurking on his back.
Potential left unseen.

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.

Wow, Eddie Griffin dead at 25. Thats terrible. Even though he was probably one of the top 10 most likely active NBA players to die, this is still shocking news. What a way to go.

So much for one of the villains in Sit's old Dynasty story.

Holy shit. This is terrible and sad. Sure, he had a lot of problems but he didn't deserve to die.