Eddie Griffin never had a chance. He had an extremely difficult time in high school and even had to be separated from his fellow students while starring for his high school basketball team.

He spent one year at Seton Hall where he titilated pro scouts with his size, agility and athleticism. But between the time he enrolled in high school and left Seton Hall, a scant five years had run it’s course and during that time Griffin had little traction with his peers and most importantly the outside world, where the riches of the NBA could one day outstrip his ability to cope with his lonlieness and isolation. That time came. Griffin lost that battle.

I think it’s safe to say that it was not an accident that a freight train t-boned his SUV. Eddie Griffin launched himself into it’s path and tried to end the pain once and forever.

Whether his demise was the result of his upbringing, dependence on alcohol, a chemical imbalance or a combination of all three, the NBA’s meat grinder comsumed yet another young life. Griffin joins Len Bias, Reggie Lewis, Bobby Phils and Bison Dele (Brian Williams) on the bardo path, seeking still, to separate illusion from true self.

Namaste Eddie. Travel light.

Sonics minority owner, Aubrey McClendon, in a moment of panhandle bravado, finally admitted to all of the sports world what Sonic fans have feared ever since the head barista emptied out the tip jar; “that they didn’t buy the team to leave it in Seattle.” Majority owner, Clay Bennett has been playing a classic game of raise the stakes to unplayable levels with Seattle mayor David Nickells. Bennett has rejected a refurbished Key Arena for any future Sonics games beyond the term of the current lease and is raising the bar so incredibly high to Seattle and Nickells, that the city will not be able to meet his demands, at which time Bennnett will throw up his hands in dismay and proclaim that Oklahoma City is the only viable option now for his team. After McClendon’s slip of the tongue, the gloves are off. Sonics fans are livid, and bloggers are vivid in their off color descriptions of Bennett, while Bennett and Nickells recently got into bitter war of words in the press.

This will play out ugly as they build the core of their team for the 2009/2010 season near the bottom of the Western Conference in front of vanishing crowds, especially if Bennett continues to play Texas hold’em with the citizens of The Emerald City.

Setshot is a rare intellect whose curiousity and wisdom has roamed the halls of academia while surveying the landscape of competitive basketball for the better part of six decades. His perspective and experience are a rare combination that allows for a truly enlightened commentary on hoops. We’re honored to have him as a semi-regular contributer as “The Vintage Voice.”

I have been actively engaged with basketball for over sixty years, watching, playing, briefly coaching, and watching with a more practiced eye. During that time I have seen players and coaches come and go, styles of play develop and then be replaced, but much the same reaction from fans when it came to expectations and frustrations with their teams, particularly at the professional level. If the sport has changed, the fans for the most part have not. We see at two levels–what we want to see, and what we are actually seeing. The transcendent moment arrives when the two levels become one. That does not often happen, even during championship seasons, as the true fan is both a promoter of his team and its chief critic. Read the rest of this post »