So I have read a number of takes on Eddie Griffin's death, but none of them mentioned his mental illness until I came upon this post at FreeDarko. The comments further the discussion nicely, IMO.

Some members of my own family have dealt with both depression and addiction (and the spiral-inducing link between them), and my observations of them have colored my opinion of Griffin and his problems.

It makes me sad to see someone with Griffin's obvious physical gifts never come anywhere close to reaching his potential as a basketball player, but it makes me sadder to see someone suffer as much as Griffin apparently did.