Eric Griffin (basketball)

High school and college career

Griffin attended Maynard Evans High School in Orlando, Florida before transferring to Boone High School for his senior year after being cut multiple times from the basketball team at Evans. At Boone, he met head coach and former LSU guard Willie Anderson, who recognized Griffin's freakish athleticism and unrelenting hunger for greatness. Anderson was the first one to give Griffin a chance, and he didn't disappoint.

Following a solid first year of organized basketball, Griffin went on to play for Hiwassee Community College in Tennessee, where he averaged 16 points, six rebounds and two blocks per game in 2008–09. But when the small junior college lost its accreditation in 2009, Griffin was forced to move on. He transferred to Garden City Community College in Kansas, and in 2009–10, he played 32 games, averaging 8.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game.

In 2010, Griffin transferred to Campbell University. In his junior season, he scored in double figures 20 times, had five double-digit rebounding nights and set a school single-season Division I era (since 1977–78) record with 61 blocked shots. In 29 games (22 starts), he averaged 13.2 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.7 steals and 2.1 blocks in 28.1 minutes per game.

In his senior season, Griffin was named to the 2012 All-Big South Conference first team. In his two-year career at Campbell, he finished with the school's highest career field goal percentage (.559) and ranks third on the school's all-time blocks list with 134 rejections. In 31 games, he averaged 15.7 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.4 blocks in 30.3 minutes per game.

2012–13 season

After going undrafted in the 2012 NBA draft, Griffin joined the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2012 NBA Summer League. On July 27, 2012, he signed with Fileni BPA Jesi of Italy for the 2012–13 season. In 28 games for Fileni, he averaged 17.5 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.

2013–14 season

In July 2013, Griffin joined the Miami Heat for the 2013 NBA Summer League. On September 10, 2013, he signed with the Heat, but was later waived on October 26 after appearing in seven preseason games.

In December 2013, Griffin signed with Leones de Ponce of Puerto Rico for the 2014 Americas League. In February 2014, he signed with Guaros de Lara of Venezuela for the rest of the 2014 LPB season. He left Guaros de Lara the following month after appearing in just six games. He later signed with Indios de San Francisco de Macorís of the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto in May. In 17 games for Indios, he averaged 13.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists and 1.3 blocks per game.

2014–15 season

In July 2014, Griffin joined the Dallas Mavericks for the 2014 NBA Summer League. On July 18, he signed with the Mavericks, but was later waived on October 21 after appearing in two preseason games. On November 3, 2014, he was acquired by the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League as an affiliate player of the Mavericks. On February 4, 2015, he was named to the Futures All-Star team for the 2015 NBA D-League All-Star Game. In 49 games for Texas in 2014–15, he averaged 19.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.4 blocks per game.

On April 15, 2015, Griffin returned to Leones de Ponce, signing with them for the rest of the 2015 BSN season. In 14 games for Leones, he averaged 10.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 blocks per game.

2015–16 season

In July 2015, Griffin joined the Los Angeles Clippers for the Orlando Summer League and the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Las Vegas Summer League. He signed with the Detroit Pistons on September 28, 2015, but was waived on October 7.

On November 10, 2015, Griffin signed with UAE basketball club Al-Nasr Dubai SC. His final game for Al-Nasr came on April 16, 2016.

2016–17 season

On August 18, 2016, Griffin signed with Hapoel Gilboa Galil of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. In 33 games for Gilboa Galil, he averaged 14.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.8 blocks per game.

2017–18 season

On July 3, 2017, Griffin signed with Pallacanestro Cantù of the Serie A. Prior to joining Cantù, he played for the Utah Jazz's Summer League team in both Utah and Las Vegas. After impressing the Jazz during the Summer League, he opted out of his deal with Cantù and signed a two-way contract with the Jazz on July 20, 2017. On a two-way contract, Griffin will spend the majority of the 2017–18 season with Utah's G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars. However, he'll be permitted to join the Jazz for up to 45 days as well.

Personal

Griffin is the son of James Martin and Alma Bracy, and has three siblings: Bacarrai Bracy, Damien King and Adrian King.

In June 2016, the State of Florida dropped a two-month-old charge of attempted first degree murder with a firearm against Griffin. Griffin and a friend had been arrested in late April 2016 for an Orlando-area shooting that involved 24-year-old Treavor Glover. The Florida State Attorney's Office determined that it was not suitable for prosecution, finding that Griffin was falsely identified (the victim described the man who shot him as being "around 6-foot to 6-2"; Griffin is 6-9) while determining that Griffin had an alibi (his alarm system was on the night of the shooting until the following morning, and a motion detector picked him up as movement in a hallway).