It’s easy to overlook Adrian Griffin and it always has been.
Griffin went undrafted after a solid, four-year collegiate career at Seton Hall and turned into one of those alphabet soup players, with stints in the CBA, USBL and Italian League that lasted three seasons.
As a 25-year-old NBA rookie with Boston in 1999-2000, he made 47 starts and once shared Rookie of the Month honors with Lamar Odom. But the Celtics let him go after two seasons.
He cracked the playoff rotation in his two seasons with Dallas, but his reward was a ticket to Houston. That’s where players with less perspective might have cracked.
Griffin tore cartilage in his right knee before the 2003-04 season, and the subsequent surgery limited him to 19 games and 133 minutes.
“Everyone told me I had to retire because of my knee,” Griffin said. “But you learn through the years that you put your faith where it belongs and work hard.”
When Houston traded him to the Bulls in September as part of the Dikembe Mutombo deal, Griffin, 30, knew he had an old knee but a new start.
The Rockets are paying his $807,546 salary, so the Bulls get a free look at the 6-foot-5-inch, 230-pound swingman.
“I just play hard with the right attitude,” Griffin said. “Do what the coaches ask you to do. If they cut you after that, I can walk away knowing I did my best.”
Griffin had four points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal in 10 minutes in Tuesday’s exhibition opener against Boston. He also exhibited the little things–diving on the floor for a loose ball, giving defensive help on a screen–that don’t show up in box scores but made coach Scott Skiles say he will play Griffin more minutes in back-to-back exhibition games this weekend.
“He has been great,” Skiles said. “Every day, you watch him and you feel like he’s dragging that leg a bit. But he’s always getting something done. He has a nice veteran way about him.”
Griffin, who said his knee feels great, admits there were times he wanted to give up in his chase to make the NBA.
“But then my dad would give me that father-son talk and it would motivate me,” Griffin said. “Plus, I got married young and now have four kids, so I had a family to feed.
“What we make, my parents never, ever dreamed of. It’s awesome just to be out here with another opportunity.”
