Mike Wise reports: Crittenton had loaded gun

[Benjammin]

Mods feel free to merge this, except you rent-a-mod, (just kidding Miller).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 05167.html


It also came as new details emerged about the locker-room confrontation between Arenas and Javaris Crittenton, a Wizards teammate, on Dec. 21 that suggest a potentially far more volatile incident than was originally reported by Arenas to team officials.

The two players had been arguing during a card game on the Wizards' flight back from Phoenix Dec. 19, and the dispute spilled into the team locker room at Verizon Center before practice two days later. Arenas has acknowledged bringing his handguns to the arena and displaying them in the locker room that morning in what he maintained was a playful gesture aimed at his teammate.

According to two first-hand accounts of the confrontation, Crittenton responded to Arenas's action -- which included laying the four unloaded weapons in Crittenton's cubicle with a note that read, "Pick One" -- by brandishing his own firearm, loading a clip of ammunition into the gun and cocking the weapon.

Two of the five people in the room that morning, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Arenas had originally not disclosed Crittenton's action to protect the little-used guard from prosecution and had told Crittenton he would assume full responsibility for the actions of both players that day.


If true, this was a more dangerous situation than was even reported by the New York Post.

[richboy]

JC then might not see a NBA game for a long time.

[yungal07]

This is awesome news. Not only did Gilbert's "joke" offend Critt, it could have got him shot too. LOL.

Abe would be so proud right now.

Get these **** clowns off my team please.

[miller31time]

JC then might not see a NBA game for a long time.

JC might not see the outside world for a long time.

[Benjammin]

JC then might not see a NBA game for a long time.

He might see an NBA game, just from a government provided television.

[newslowsad]

Get these **** clowns off my team please.

+1 co-sign, etc.

[nate33]

If so, Crittenton should be locked up.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

:clap:

This is awesome news. Not only did Gilbert's "joke" offend Critt, it could have got him shot too. LOL.

Abe would be so proud right now.

Get these **** clowns off my team please.

EXACTLY what I thought in the first place. Gil was kidding. Javaris was not.

[Benjammin]

:clap:

This is awesome news. Not only did Gilbert's "joke" offend Critt, it could have got him shot too. LOL.

Abe would be so proud right now.

Get these **** clowns off my team please.

EXACTLY what I thought in the first place. Gil was kidding. Javaris was not.

You did call that CCJ, with some excellent armchair psychoanalysis. In any event, this is by no means good news for Gil either. It's kind of hard to play it off so easily. As for Javaris, (if this is true) I think he needs a serious time out where you get three squares a day so he can assess what he did.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Ben, I'm pretty sure it's just what Shelden said. 150k is a lot of money for a guy like Javaris. Chump change that Gil should have paid and none of this would have happened. (But I doubt he'd have been smart enough to do this in a way the IRS wouldnt' get involved.)

Somebody could get hurt before all this shakes out--my worst-case at the moment.

[TheKingOfVa360]

JC then might not see a NBA game for a long time.

Regardless he wasn't see a NBA game for a long time. Now he will be a felon if he already wasn't one

[dangermouse]

EXACTLY what I thought in the first place. Gil was kidding. Javaris was not.

and once again i agree with you.

i KNEW Javaris was the thug in all this. who the hell jokes about shooting someone? and now it looks like it could have nearly actually happened.

have fun inside Javaris! Arenas will stay suspended and will probably get 20-25 games all up, to be made an example of.

[gowiz999]

this is a non story, right? just media sensationalism?

what a disgrace to this franchise, it's fans, and the city. shameful.

[bulletproof_32]

In all seriousness, this is freaking killing me. I'm still trying to deal with the reality that Gil might not ever play with for the Wiz again. Something that's really difficult for me to accept.

I just don't know what to believe anymore.

[Hoopalotta]

This is a frakin' thunderbolt, if true.

And I gotta say, who the hell chambers a round in the locker room? I mean, Gil's prank was dumb, but come on, chambering a round and pointing the thing at a person?

That's just taking things to a whole 'nother level, and yes, I hope Javaris is severely punished - if true - in a way I absolutely don't with Gil. Obviously Gil ambushed him with a bad situation and is basically culpable for whatever happens to Javaris, but that's just some wild conduct that is not far off from Vescey-Ville's 'reporting'. That's got a technical name in the legal system which I'm not going to nail exactly, but it's assault with a firearm. Gil's a bit 'off', but this is Insanity. if true.

It will be interesting to hear if it was actually Crit's gun. How unusual are firearms in the locker room anyway?

OK, we should say it again. "If true". The thing that gives this credibility is that you'd think the whole thing would have been covered by War'shington damage control personnel if something loopy didn't happen.

And yeah, I thought CCJ was off with that scent he was sniffin' early in the case, but he sure locked it down. You Sherlocked it down, CCJ. If True. Actually, even if not true it was an angle well worth exploring.

[LyricalRico]

I think this also kills the "Critt was the snitch" theory because I doubt he'd bring up a situation to the media in which he was the worst offender. That being said, I hope he had Vaseline on his X-mas list.

It also makes Gil's antics that led to his suspension all the more idiotic. Had he just issued one lawyered statement in the beginning and kept his head low, he would have looked like a hero once this came out and showed him trying to protect a teammate. His rep with the fans would have been helped and he may not have been suspended by the league at all. Now, his career is actually in jeopardy all because he couldn't control his need to make a joke out of everything.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

This is a frakin' thunderbolt, if true.

And I gotta say, who the hell chambers a round in the locker room? I mean, Gil's prank was dumb, but come on, chambering a round and pointing the thing at a person?

That's just taking things to a whole 'nother level, and yes, I hope Javaris is severely punished - if true - in a way I absolutely don't with Gil. Obviously Gil ambushed him with a bad situation and is basically culpable for whatever happens to Javaris, but that's just some wild conduct that is not far off from Vescey-Ville's 'reporting'. That's got a technical name in the legal system which I'm not going to nail exactly, but it's assault with a firearm. Gil's a bit 'off', but this is Insanity. if true.

It will be interesting to hear if it was actually Crit's gun. How unusual are firearms in the locker room anyway?

OK, we should say it again. "If true". The thing that gives this credibility is that you'd think the whole thing would have been covered by War'shington damage control personnel if something loppey didn't happen.

And yeah, I thought CCJ was off with that scent he was sniffin' early in the case, but he sure locked it down. You Sherlocked it down, CCJ. If True. Actually, even if not true it was an angle well worth exploring.

I feel like there's a lot more to ths story, hoopalotta. I'd be checking out all Crittenton's friends for possible affiliations. He should probably watch himself carefully as well. There's no telling who either of these guys know and what they might do. I doubt anything will happen right now, with all eyes watching.

However, this whole thing's still potentially pretty dangerous IMO.

[BanndNDC]

Holy moly. yall have already said it. a lot of things make a lot more sense though.

my immediate knee jerk reaction is that i want to know why javaris was not immediately suspended by either the team or the league (i dont care that he is hurt). nice trade there ernie. not only is he stupid (throwing a gun he didnt know was unloaded (maybe?) across the room) but he's also violent (chambering a round). somebody should have known something was up long before if the guy responds to an absurd threat with an actual threat (and a deeply cruel one at that by going after the injured knee). something should have been done (said) to crittenton beforehand. either he was a known to quickly resort to violence or we have columbine levels of harassment/picking on by the vets against the young guys (and if that is the case then all i have to say is that jeez kids are puxxies nowadays.

one positive from the picture is it seems that the rest of the team were on arenas' side. this also calls into question whether the photo "lied" by taking a still image, thereby, removing the context of the conversation occurring and the length of the gesture. did anyone see it live? was it a routine or a quick gestural quip/response to what appears to have been a statement by jamison? did jamison cause the suspension (assuming it was based in large part on the picture) by joking with arenas beforehand (and all parties forgetting about the photographers roaming around)?



anyway, in the spirit of fun (and with no actual thought put into it) im going with mcgee as my choice for "snitch". he seems like a nice guy who might talk to the principal if asked and is the least accustomed player to the wily ways of vescey and his ilk.

(though in all probability it was the trainer who had the gun thrown near him that probably told his boss from where it got to EG > Irene and the fam > Stern > Leonsis > League Office > Vescey)

[willbcocks]

Some of these justifications for Arenas's behavior, or justifications for why it was "relatively benign," read stranger than fiction.

[Tim_Hardawayy]

It also makes Gil's antics that led to his suspension all the more idiotic. Had he just issued one lawyered statement in the beginning and kept his head low, he would have looked like a hero once this came out and showed him trying to protect a teammate. His rep with the fans would have been helped and he may not have been suspended by the league at all. Now, his career is actually in jeopardy all because he couldn't control his need to make a joke out of everything.

How in the world could this situation have made Gilbert look like the hero? How about another hypothetical for you... not only does Javaris not treat Gilbert's joke like a joke, but he shoots and kills Arenas. Would he be a martyr then? Or just an absolute idiot?

I mean if I owed you money, and I told you to f off, then when you came to collect, I was waiting with guns in sight, offering you to pick one. What would you think? What would any sane, logical person think?

Javaris is obviously the worst of the 2 offenders here if everything reported is true, but I see no reason how this sheds a better light on Arenas, beyond taking some of the spotlight off of him.