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• Washington wizards player with gun full#

At least seven Wizards players and coach Flip Saunders have appeared before a grand jury or been questioned by authorities, leaving the team without enough players to hold a regular practice on some days. The case has proved a major distraction for a troubled team. The team has removed nearly all traces of the once-marketable "Agent Zero" from the Verizon Center, including Arenas merchandise with the jersey No. He was averaging 22.6 points and 7.2 assists this season for the Wizards, who are 12-25 and in last place in the NBA’s Southeast Division.

Washington wizards player with gun full#

"We will continue to lend our full support to Gilbert and will assist him in every way possible to see this matter through," union executive director Billy Hunter said.Īrenas has played in only 34 games since signing the contract because of a knee injury and the gun-related suspension. The players’ union would almost certainly contest such a move. In addition, the Wizards could attempt to invoke the morals clause found in standard NBA contracts and void the remainder of the six-year, US$111-million deal Arenas signed in summer 2008. One day after Arenas pantomimed shooting teammates in a pregame huddle before a game at Philadelphia, Stern levied the indefinite suspension by declaring Arenas "not currently fit to take the court" and said the 28-year-old player’s conduct will "ultimately result in a substantial suspension, and perhaps worse."

Arenas at one point said: "I’m a goof ball and that’s what I am, so even doing something like this, I’m going to make fun of it and that’s how I am." Stern was particularly upset that Arenas repeatedly joked about the matter with reporters and on Twitter. Possession of a gun at an NBA arena is a violation of the league’s collective bargaining agreement, and last week commissioner David Stern suspended Arenas indefinitely without pay pending the outcome of the investigation, a move supported by the Wizards. "It went as smooth as it could have gone," Bartelstein said.Įven if Arenas avoids a jail sentence, the outcome of the legal process will have important implications on his future in the NBA and specifically with the Wizards. Crittenton has previously said he did nothing wrong, and his agent, Mark Bartelstein, said his client was there during the apartment search. There have been conflicting published accounts as to whether Crittenton also had a gun and whether he drew it on Arenas.Īrenas’ lawyer, Crittenton’s lawyer and the NBA had no comment on the criminal charge. Their dispute became heated when the team reconvened for practice two days later, when Arenas took the guns from his locker. No evidence was seized, according to court documents, and Crittenton has not been charged.Īrenas and Crittenton started bickering over gambling losses during a card game on the team plane as the Washington Wizards flew home from a West Coast road trip on Dec. The search warrant indicated police were investigating crimes that include brandishing a weapon. The charge was made hours after the teammate, Javaris Crittenton, had his northern Virginia apartment searched by police looking for a silver- or chrome-coloured semiautomatic handgun with a black handle. 21 in a "misguided effort to play a joke" on a teammate. He says he took them out of the locker Dec. The three-time all-star has acknowledged storing four unloaded guns in his locker at the Verizon Center, saying he wanted to keep them away from his young children and didn’t know it was a violation of the city’s strict gun laws. Superior Court in an "information," a document that indicates Arenas has reached a plea deal with prosecutors.

Now it’s time to see how it plays before a judge.Īrenas is scheduled to appear in court Friday to answer a felony charge of carrying a pistol without a license, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. The NBA and the Washington Wizards had a far more serious response.