Jasmine Riggs isn’t asking for much.
She isn’t asking for money, fame or the national spotlight she’s suddenly been thrown into. On Jan. 23, for the second time in seven months, her life was turned upside down.
In the early afternoon of Tuesday, Jan. 23 reports broke that the Milwaukee Bucks fired coach Adrian Griffin, despite getting the team off to a 30-13 start. The decision was a head-scratcher for NBA fans. Sure, at times the offense didn’t look fluid, but the team has been adjusting to incorporating a second superstar, Damian Lillard, into the starting lineup. While yes, the defense declined from last year, the team also replaced Jrue Holiday, one of the league’s best defensive guards, with Lillard, whose strong suit isn’t on that side of the floor.
While social media blew up with chatter about the move, it was Riggs’ perspective that went viral. Her response to the firing was that God doesn’t play, which led many outlets, including rolling out, to insinuate her multiple posts about the situation appeared to celebrate a Black man losing his job, although the Bucks still owe him millions of dollars. Riggs, however, responded to the rolling out story herself when it came to her attention and clarified one thing.
“I’m not celebrating anything,” Riggs said to rolling out. “I’m not happy.”
In July 2023, Riggs lost her 2-year-old son, Jayce. At the time of his death, Jayce was in a house with his father Alan Griffin, grandfather Adrian and Adrian’s wife. Riggs left Jayce with Alan for three days. On the third morning, he was found dead.
Now, Riggs is only asking for one thing: Justice.
“Justice for Jayce would look like Alan and everyone in the house at the time of death being charged with neglect,” Riggs said. “My biggest issue with Alan is I texted him the evening before Jayce was found dead and asked how Jayce was doing. He never texted me back, and the next morning, Jayce was found dead around 10 a.m.”
Riggs said she has yet to receive an apology from the Griffin family, who she also claims didn’t show up to Jayce’s funeral.
She also said Alan didn’t even call 911, Adrian did. Adrian had just left the house when Alan called him and let him know what was going on with Jayce. Local authorities later found no foul play was involved in the tragedy, and while Riggs doesn’t believe the Griffins did anything harmful to Jayce, she does want the three adults to be held accountable for the way they handled the child’s death.
Seven months later, Adrian’s firing led to Riggs unintentionally bringing the media attention she longed for from Jayce’s tragedy last summer. Her posts calling out the Griffin family led to multiple celebrities like Shaquille O’Neal reaching out to extend condolences. The added attention also came with harsh critiques from strangers.
“She’s bitter, [there] was no foul play!” A social media user commented under a post. “I think she’s more [upset] about her meal ticket [dying].”
Riggs responded to the criticism to once again reiterate what her intentions were in calling the Griffins out.
“F— a d— dollar,” Riggs posted on Facebook. “I want my son. The fact that anyone with a kid could even mention money is crazy … but like I’ve been saying, you can’t be a terrible person in this world and get rewarded. I’ll take poor and happy over rich and miserable any day.”
