Larry Brown Sports

Call it the gun incident that will never die.  Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton cannot seem to get out from underneath their locker room gun controversy, and at this point there is no telling if they ever will.  As you may remember, Arenas recently hinted that the Wizards leaked the gun story and used it as a tool to end his career in Washington.

With Crittenton currently mixed up in a murder investigation, Mike Wise of the Washington Post passed along some tidbits from a conversation he had with Arenas a while back.  Here is what Gilbert had to say when he was asked if he had spoken to Crittenton since the incident which resulted in both of their suspensions.

“No, but I heard he became more hard,” Arenas said. “You know, like some people turn over a new leaf when something bad like that changes their life. I heard Javaris went the other way — he became more ’hood, more hardened in that way. I don’t know if that’s the case, but that’s what I heard.”

As Pro Basketball Talk pointed out, Crittenton doesn’t need to worry about Arenas’ comments influencing the murder investigation since it is second-hand information.  Still, those aren’t the types of rumors Javaris needs floating around about him when he is trying to clear his name — regardless of the source.

Gilbert Arenas gave his twitter followers an introspective look at his personality Thursday night. He claimed he wasn’t a role model, but rather a regular person who does nice things and some dumb things. One of those dumb things was bringing guns into the locker room when he played for the Washington Wizards.

Arenas was initially suspended indefinitely for the incident, but his suspension was extended for the season after he mocked it with this pre-game gesture. The suspension essentially ended Arenas’ career with the Wizards, and on Thursday he intimated that the team leaked the story.

Here’s what he said in a series of tweets as shared by IamaGM.com [edited for grammar and spelling]:

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In the wake of Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas‘ court sentencing, I would like to know when athletes will learn that they are not above the law. Time and time again we see the same thing happening — either someone is using drugs, taking risque photos, or they are getting into trouble with guns.

It might be just me, but I don’t think Arenas’ punishment fit the crime. Arenas’ sentence includes 30 days in a halfway house, 400 hours of community service, and two years of probation. Not bad for a repeat offender who tries to brush all issues aside by saying he’s just joking. He brought guns — you know those things that could kill someone — into a locker room and threatened his teammate over a few hundred dollars. Are you kidding me? Arenas had, and let me emphasize that, HAD an $111 million contract. And he was either willing, or stupid enough to jeopardize that over a few hundred dollars? Who really knows if he’ll ever see that $111 million again, because if I were running the Wizards, I sure wouldn’t want to give it to him. I’d fight to void that deal.

Arenas isn’t the only one who has been this idiotic though. I mean he’s had a lot of examples to look at. There’s Bengals defensive tackle Tank Johnson, who while a member of the Bears, risked the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl because of his affinity for guns. Of course Tank wound up being allowed to play in the game, so no one learned a lesson there either. Compared to Arenas and Johnson, former Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress almost literally shot himself in the foot and was actually severely punished. After seeing that example, I don’t know how Arenas wasn’t more careful. The light sentence he received probably won’t do much for Gilbert changing his behavior. Something more should have been done because he got off too easily.

Sources:
Arenas sentenced to halfway house for felony gun charge [Sports Network]

This Gilbert Arenas/Javaris Crittenton gun mess has spun completely out of control and it’s certainly difficult to endure as a longtime Gilbert admirer. Things have gotten to the point where Arenas deserves the indefinite suspension from the NBA, his contract to potentially be voided, and potential jail time for possessing unlicensed guns. The latest twist to the saga comes courtesy of the Washington Post as they confirm Arenas was more or less joking around with Crittenton. Problem is Crittenton took matters seriously:

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When the news came down last week that the League was investigating Gilbert Arenas for bringing a gun to team facilities, I joked that he needed it for protection from teammate Caron Butler. Even though I was only joking in my post, it turns out it wasn’t too far from the truth. Yahoo! Sports reported that Gilbert was being investigated for pulling the gun on a teammate while the New York Post takes things a step further saying it was over a gambling debt:

“I’m not your punk!” Crittenton shouted at Arenas, according to a league source close to the Wizards. That prompted Arenas to draw on Crittenton, who then also grabbed for a gun, league security sources said.

A playground pal of Crittenton’s from Atlanta, Kendrick “Bookie Ball” Long, confirmed the locker-room standoff and said he learned of it directly from the third-year player out of Georgia Tech. “He [Arenas] was f- – -ing with him; he [Crittenton] was just defending himself!” declared Long, who said the dispute was over money but would not elaborate.

I wonder how much money is at stake here if the dudes are brandishing firearms considering Gilbert has made over $100 million in his career. I’m guessing it’s more over principle than a lofty dollar figure given Gilbert’s wealth. This story sounds much more like the truth and renders Gilbert’s tale laughable — Arenas said he wanted to get rid of the guns after his daughter was born. If that were the case, why didn’t he take them directly to the police without passing Go and without letting Crittenton try to collect $500? This makes me wonder what the NBA will do to try and curb gambling amongst teammates; some of the stories about high stakes card games on team planes are legendary and it’s clear things are getting out of hand in DC. I’m also guessing DC police will want to know more about this story too.

For the second time in his career, Gilbert Arenas is the target of a weapons possession probe by the NBA. Five years ago he was charged with criminal weapons possession and wound up suspended for a game as punishment. This time around, the penalty will probably be worse. While players are allowed to have firearms, they can’t carry them on league property or while conducting league business. Maybe Gilbert wasn’t aware of the rule because he brought his glock into the Verizon Center. Arenas explained his story to the Washington Times:

“It happened like December 10th. Right after my daughter was born. I decided I didn’t want the guns in my house and around the kids anymore, so i took them to my lock box at Verizon Center. Then like a week later, I turned them over to team security and told them to hand them over to the police, because I don’t want them anymore. I wouldn’t have brought them to D.C. had I known the rules. After my daughter was born, I was just like, I don’t need these anymore.”

Arenas’ story will garner sympathy from the suckers who will defend his good intentions. I’ll use this story as another example and reminder that ignorance is no excuse for breaking rules. While Arenas won’t come anywhere near Plaxico’s possession punishment (Gilbert’s not even being criminally charged), he has to know that bringing a gun into the arena is plenty stupid. If he was not sure where to put them, why not take them directly to the police to begin with? Was he afraid Caron Butler was going to jump him because Gilbert doesn’t pass to him enough?