Eric Londery Griffin (born May 26, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for Hapoel Be'er Sheva of the Israeli Premier League. He played college basketball for Hiwassee College, Garden City CC, and Campbell University before playing professionally in Italy, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, the United Arab Emirates, Dominican Republic, Israel, Poland, Australia, Greece, Uruguay and Taiwan.
Griffin played his first year of college basketball for Hiwassee College, where he averaged 16 points, six rebounds and two blocks per game in 2008–09. After Hiwassee lost its accreditation in 2009,[1] he transferred to Garden City Community College where he averaged 8.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks in 32 games in 2009–10.[2]
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.[2][3]
As a senior in 2011–12, Griffin was named to the 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.[3]
Professional career
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.[4] 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,[5] but was later waived on October 26 after appearing in seven preseason games.[6]
In July 2014, Griffin joined the Dallas Mavericks for the 2014 NBA Summer League.[11][12] On July 18, he signed with the Mavericks,[13] but was later waived on October 21 after appearing in two preseason games.[14] On November 3, 2014, he was acquired by the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League as an affiliate player of the Mavericks.[15] On February 4, 2015, he was named to the Futures All-Star team for the 2015 NBA D-League All-Star Game.[16] 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.[17]
On April 15, 2015, Griffin returned to Leones de Ponce, signing with them for the rest of the 2015 BSN season.[18] In 14 games for Leones, he averaged 10.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 blocks per game.
On July 3, 2017, Griffin signed with Pallacanestro Cantù of the Serie A.[27] Prior to joining Cantù, he played for the Utah Jazz's Summer League team in both Utah and Las Vegas.[28][29] After impressing during the Summer League, he opted out of his deal with Cantù[30] and signed a two-way contract with the Jazz on July 20, 2017.[31][32] He played 19 games for the Utah's G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, before being waived by the Jazz on December 21, 2017. He did not appear in a game for the Jazz during his time with them.[33]
On January 26, 2018, Griffin returned to Israel for a second stint, signing with Hapoel Eilat for the rest of the season.[34] On February 4, 2018, he made his debut in a 72–84 loss to Hapoel Jerusalem, recording 13 points and 8 rebounds off the bench.[35] On June 3, 2018, Griffin recorded a season-high 30 points, shooting 10-of-13 from the field, along with 7 rebounds and 2 assists in an 81–87 playoff loss to Hapoel Holon.[36]
2018–19 season
On July 23, 2018, Griffin signed with the Italian club Pallacanestro Reggiana.[37] On December 13, he parted ways with Reggiana after appearing in six games.[38] On January 1, 2019, Griffin signed with the Polish team Stelmet Zielona Gora for the rest of the season.[39] However, on January 16, 2019, Griffin parted ways with Zielona Góra after appearing in two games.[40]
On January 17, 2019, Griffin returned to Israel for a third stint, signing with Ironi Nahariya for the rest of the season.[41] Two days later, he made his debut in a 93–103 loss to Ironi Nes Ziona, recording 17 points, eight rebounds and three blocks off the bench.[42]
On August 23, 2021, Griffin signed a two-year deal with AEK Athens of the Greek Basket League and the Basketball Champions League.[47] In 15 league games, he averaged 10 points, 4.3 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.5 steals and 1 block, playing around 27 minutes per contest. His contract was terminated on July 1, 2022.[48]
Griffin is the son of James Martin and Alma Bracy, and has three siblings: Bacarrai Bracy, Damien King and Adrian King.[2]
In June 2016, the State of Florida dropped a two-month-old charge of attempted first degree murder with a firearm against Griffin.[55] Griffin and a friend had been arrested in late April 2016 for an Orlando-area shooting that involved 24-year-old Treavor Glover.[56][57] 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).[25]
