So, you may or may not have seen the feature we did for the NFL Draft in which we took every single team and decided who the worst draft pick in the history of that franchise was. And it was so awesome and fun to do (and totally not time consuming at all) that I decided to roll it out for the NBA as well.
So, for every NBA team, we give you a horrible draft pick -- either a straight bust, or player picked ahead of another player who was far better, etc. -- and then a snarky reason as to why said pick was the worst in franchise history. Your suggestions in the comments, please. And happy draft day!
This offseason, NBA FanHouse will address important questions about the league. It will be a Summer of Answers. First up: the biggest draft busts of the decade.
The 2001 NBA Draft was pretty weak in terms of legitimate ballers who would be found contributing meaningful minutes for seasons to come. Sure, '01 gave us Tony Parker and Gilbert Arenas, but they went 28th and 31st overall respectively. Lottery picks that year were far from household names: Eddy Curry, Eddie Griffin, DeSagana Diop, and Rodney White were all selected in the top 10. But all of that doesn't make that year's number one overall selection, Kwame Brown, any less of a bust.
Before we lay out the evidence of Kwame's career suckitude, let's admit that he had quite a bit working against him coming into the league, shall we? He was the first player ever drafted number one overall directly out of high school (KG was taken fifth in '95), and to go along with that he had the pressure of being Michael Jordan's first draft pick as an executive of the Washington Wizards. Considering that Kwame turned out to have the mental toughness of a certain cake he destroyed one fateful night in Hermosa Beach, this was clearly going to be too much stress for the youngster to handle.
Griffin's problems were re-hashed over and over again at the time of his death, and there was at least some (apparently misguided) speculation that he may have taken his own life on purpose. In retrospect, that doesn't seem to be the case. He was apparently talking on his cell phone at the time of the accident, which suggests he was drunk and distracted, not suicidal. That same lethal combination also took the life of Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock last spring.
Considering the friends and family that Griffin left behind, it's more than a little cold that he's publicly measured solely by his ill-fated NBA career. He was more than just an ex-jock; he was a son, a brother and a father. He was also an alcoholic, and as such struggled with a disease that afflicts millions of other Americans. Hopefully his death won't be in vain, convincing at least one person to call a taxi instead of getting behind the wheel after having too much to drink.
When the news broke earlier this week that Eddie Griffin died after driving his SUV into train, many people automatically assumed suicide. After all, Griffin's struggles with depression, alcoholism and erratic behavior were well known. But those who actually knew him, including his long-time friend Brandon Brigmam who was actually with Griffin earlier in the day he died, are unconvinced. From the Philadelphia Daily News:
"It was like a normal day," [Brigman] said. "Eddie was smilin' and playin' around. He looked perfectly fine. If I thought he was troubled, I wouldn't have left him. That's what you do with friends - support them."
Though thirdhand, information provided yesterday by one of Griffin's Houston-based lawyers, Derek Hollingsworth, also appears to indicate the crash was accidental.
Hollingsworth said he spoke Tuesday with Queen, Eddie's mother. In turn, he said, she'd received info from the mother of Eddie's daughter.
"Queen indicated the word from Jessica was that she was on the cell phone with Eddie shortly before the time he crashed," Hollingsworth said. "He said he was trying to get home, but was lost. The phone then went dead."
As difficult as it may be to imagine someone accidentally driving through a barrier and into a train, it's not like Griffin would be the only person to make such a mistake: earlier this week in Ohio a teenager was so engrossed in sending a text message that he literally walked right into the path of an oncoming train -- he was thrown 50 feet but somehow survived.
From the sounds of it, Griffin may have been talking on his cell phone at the time of the accident, which means he was already at least somewhat distracted. Unfortunately, we'll never know for sure. But just because a guy had some problems in his life doesn't mean anyone should automatically assume they were also responsible for his death.
The Enzo Ferrari is a car that explains itself with it's price tag. Sold at over $1.5 million, there were only 400 produced in 2003 and you had to be approved by Ferrari to own one. And yesterday, Eddie Griffin proved that celebrity drivers should be approved by Ferrari as well.
As the video shows, Griffin was practicing for a charity event at Irwindale Speedway in Daniel Sadek's Enzo Ferrari. Sadek, who would later refer to the Ferrari as his "dream car", is the executive producer of the new movie Redline. He brought several of his own personal cars out for the race, and unfortunately gave Eddie Griffin the keys.
Girffin slammed the car into a barricade and completely destroyed it. Enzo Ferrari's just simply don't head to the repair shop. The car is done for.
But the good news is Griffin is OK. Well enough, in fact, to joke about throwing away another man's $1.5 million.
"Undercover Brother is good at karate and all the rest of that, but a brother can't drive."
Ha. Ha. Are you kidding me? That's all you've got to say for yourself? You just wrecked a friggin' Enzo Ferrari. The car was probably worth more than your house, Eddie. There are probably other Ferrari owners and supercar nuts that are crying today because of you.
Sadek was very professional about it, talking about how good it was that Griffin was OK and how many people die everyday and that there "are a lot of worse things happening in the world".
True, there are. But people don't lose $1.5 million possessions everyday, either. And apparently that news cast felt Eddie Griffin's crash was more important than a kidnapping plot.
So, you may or may not have seen the feature we did for the NFL Draft in which we took every single team and decided who the worst draft pick in the history of that franchise was. And it was so awesome and fun to do (and totally not time consuming at all) that I decided to roll it out for the NBA as well. 
This is a somewhat predictable ending to a sad story: 
When the news broke earlier this week that 
