Guns drawn in Washington Wizard's locker room

[stephpd]

This just can't be. Guns aren't allowed, except in homes.

Seems welshing on a bet doesn't go over well and guns were drawn by two teem members.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/nationa...DRgTSuVKDQ8XBO

NBA gunpoint guards in standoff

Teammates pull weapons on each other

By PETER VECSEY and DAVID K. L I

Last Updated: 6:06 AM, January 1, 2010

Posted: 2:53 AM, January 1, 2010

EXCLUSIVE

Guess they're still the Bullets at heart.

NBA all-star Gilbert Arenas and his Washing ton Wizards teammate Javaris Crittenton drew guns on each other in the team's locker room during a Christmas Eve dispute over a gambling debt, The Post has learned.

League sources say the pistol-packing point guards had heat ers at the ready inside the Verizon Center, the Washington, DC, home of the Wizards -- whose name was changed from the Bullets over gun- vi olence concerns.

It was the three- time all-star Arenas, 27, who went for his gun first, sources said, draw ing on the 22-year-old Crit tenton, who quickly brandished a firearm as well.
NBAE/Getty Images
FREEZE! Washington Wizards Gilbert Arenas (above) and Javaris Crittenton had allegedly been arguing over a bet debt when they drew guns.

It was not clear whether other teammates saw the shocking standoff, which happened on a practice day.

The duel in DC -- unprecedented in sports history -- was sparked when Critten ton became enraged at the vet eran guard for refusing to make good on a gambling debt, a source said.

"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.

The Wizards announced on Christmas Day that Arenas had admitted to bringing guns to the locker room and had turned them over to team security. No ammunition was handed over.

The NBA club's statement didn't disclose how Wizards officials discovered that Arenas was storing weapons on the job.

But a league source said Arenas' weapons were uncovered only after the confrontation with Crittenton.

Wizards General Manager Ernie Grunfeld declined to comment. "It's in the hands of [Washington] authorities," said Grunfeld, a former star Knicks player and president. "We're going to get to the bottom of this, if there is a bottom to this."

Washington police said they were investigating Arenas for gun-possession violations. But the Wizards' gun grab has also drawn the attention of the feds.

"We're working with the Metropolitan Police Department on the investigation. That's about all we can say at his point," said Ben Friedman, a spokesman for the US Attorney's Office in DC.

The feds have been investigating gambling within the NBA since disgraced ex-referee Tim Donaghy admitted betting on games and feeding information to bookies. It was not clear whether the gambling debt that sparked the Arenas-Crittenton duel had anything to do with league games.

A top players-union official said he was shocked by the allegations. "This is unprecedented in the history of sports," said Player's Association Executive Director Billy Hunter. "I've never heard of players pulling guns on each other in a locker room."

Team owner Abe Pollin -- his sensitivity heightened by the fatal shooting of his good friend Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 -- changed the club from the Bullets to the Wizards in 1997 because he didn't like the violent overtones of the original name. Pollin died in November.

Arenas, who has three kids, reportedly told team officials he brought guns to his Verizon Center locker so they wouldn't be close to his newborn at their home in Great Falls, Va.

He denied pulling a gun on Crittenton and even mocked the suggestion he would ever point a weapon at a teammate.

"You guys, I wanted to go rob banks, I wanted to be a bank robber on the weekends," Arenas said sarcastically after a game this week.

Firearm laws in Washington are among the nation's strictest. Until a recent US Supreme Court ruling, private ownership of guns was illegal in the nation's capital.

As it stands now, gun owners are allowed to transport firearms only within DC under very limited circumstances -- such as taking the weapon to be registered or to a practice range. There's no provision under current DC law for a private citizen to have a gun at work.

In 2003, Arenas pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of carrying a concealed weapon in San Francisco.

Arenas claimed the gun was legally registered in Arizona -- where he was star player for the University of Arizona Wildcats -- and said he forgot he needed California authorization to carry it there.

[customloaded]

why I don't watch sports. Its not clean any more and hasn't for years. When you hire the bottom of the barrel people to do a job, you'll have bottom of the barrel problems like, oh, um, two employee's pulling guns on each other.
Great example for today's youth.

[Paradigm]

Ahhh, thugball.

Count me among those who aren't shocked at all.

[Karl/PA]

You can take the boys out of the ghetto but you can't take the ghetto out of the boyz.

[RoyJackson]

The DC cops are investigating these guys?? Anyone else would be in the lock up...probably with no bail.
Both of these idiots should be barred from playing again...but no major league disciplinary action is ever permanent (except Pete Rose, it seems). Major leagues are a joke...

[knight0334]

Arizona doesn't have gun registration. Hell, they dont even have recorded transfers like PA and a couple other states have..

[stephpd]

Arizona doesn't have gun registration. Hell, they dont even have recorded transfers like PA and a couple other states have..

No but he brought the gun into DC from VA. (At least according to the story). I'd think a sports area would be outside the laws as far as were you can transport a firearm to and from in DC.

It'll just be interesting to see how serious DC is about their gun laws in this case. Doubt they'll be treated like the common man. Haven't been so far.

[brian]

awesome. those jokers never disappoint me.

[Story]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slu...yhoo&type=lgns

the Wizards issued a statement saying Arenas had stored three unloaded firearms in a locked box inside his Verizon Center locker. Arenas has said he removed the guns from his home to keep them away from his three young children.
When asked by reporters Tuesday night whether he had showed his weapons to anyone in the locker room, Arenas said, “Yes, I showed them to someone. I showed them to team security when I handed them to them and said give them to the police. Yes, I took them out of this locker room. I had to take them out to get them out of here to give to security.”
Arenas said the investigation began two weeks ago. “They just wanted to know where I got [the guns] from,” he said, “and make sure they’re not dirty guns.”



Dirty, dirty guns! Mssrs Burr and Hamilton are amused.

[Iron Sights]

The statement is unbelievable $%&*#@#