An NBA baptism, Houston-style. (NBA/Insider).(Eddie Griffin draft night)(Brief Article)

This was Eddie Griffin's introduction to the working world. Growing up in Philadelphia, Griffin never had a job. "My parents worked," he says. "So I just went to school and played."

The night of the NBA draft marked Griffin's first attempt to land gainful employment. It was not how he pictured it. It was, as Griffin says, "Crazy. The craziest night of my life."

Griffin entered that night as a possible No. 1 overall pick--he did not even work out for teams picking later than fifth. But he fell to the Nets at No. 7. Before Griffin could absorb that, though, he was traded from the Nets to the Rockets for three other rookies. Crazy, indeed.

"It was weird," Griffin says. "It would have been nice because New Jersey is close to home in Philly. But when I heard I got traded I was happy, because Houston is a better team than the Nets."

Such craziness served as a good primer for Griffin's first NBA summer, which has been nearly as hectic as draft night. He moved to Houston two weeks after the draft to get started on conditioning, thinking he would have to be much stronger to earn NBA minutes.

"My strength, my shooting and my defense," Griffin says. "I know I need to work on all of them, and I wanted to start right away. That's the only way I was going to get to play."

At that time, Griffin was a frontcourt afterthought for the Rockets, a young player who ...