More details about the big scandal at the Washington Wizards in 2009 were told by Gilbert Arenas himself.
Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas was the main character in the most famous story in the league’s history related to guns. In 2009, the scandal in the Washington Wizards locker room drew special attention from authorities and NBA leaders.
Arenas’ 2009 scandal became a hot topic in the American sports world.
Arenas and Javaris Crittenton, the two players involved, were summoned to conduct an investigation. The consequences of the incident were not small as both were suspended from playing for the rest of the season.
Arenas then suffered a knee injury and could not find his All-Star form. In addition, he was also sentenced to 2 years of probation for illegally possessing weapons.
Crittenton’s fate was darker when he did not continue to play in the NBA and is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence for shooting and killing a woman in Atlanta.
According to an announcement by authorities in 2009, during a flight from Phoenix, Arenas and Crittenton had an argument due to bitterness while playing cards. The two sides exchanged words, even including many threats.
Both characters involved encountered big trouble afterward.
On the morning of December 21, 2009, Arenas arrived at Verizon Arena (home of the Wizards). That morning, at least one gun was carried by Arenas in his backpack.
When the Wizards players entered the locker room, they saw four guns placed on a chair in front of the closet door. Besides, a piece of paper saying ” Choose 1 ” was attached to Crittenton’s chair.
Regarding the number of four guns, one was brought by Arenas, one was loaded and was legally owned by Crittenton, and the remaining two guns have not actually been verified as to their exact origin.
4 guns in the incident took place in the Washington Wizards football team locker room.
Among previous threats to Arenas, Crittenton mentioned “playing with guns” and “threatening to shoot.” Therefore, Arenas challenged his teammate with the above action.
He said to Crittenton, ” Didn’t you say you wanted to shoot me, so I thought you’d like some of those guns over there. Go out there and pick one out. I’ll shoot you with one of those guns.” “.
Crittenton responded: ” Oh no, you don’t have to do that ,” before turning around and walking towards the lockers. This is said to be a humble gesture from this player, which fortunately kept the incident from being pushed to a more serious level.
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Up to now, Arenas has shared more details about the cause of the argument: ” We played Bourre (a popular form of card game in the state of Loussiana, USA).
I increased the bet on the last game from 1,100 USD to 2,200 USD. He (Crittenton) after a series of previous losing games felt excited and ready to risk his life. However, he still lost and lost everything.
When the flight from Phoenix to Washington ended, he was bitter that I wouldn’t let him continue playing to win back the money. We irritate each other back and forth and it leads to tension. I remember him saying: “I’ll shoot you”, I replied: “Huh, do you need a gun, I’ll bring it “.
According to Arenas’ memory, Crittenton once pointed a gun at his head but did not confirm that his memory was accurate.
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