From Hoopshype and the Washington Post. Javaris is in it real deep as well.
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 the gun and chambering a round. Washington Post
Neither witness said the gun was ever pointed at Arenas, but both said Crittenton began singing as he held the gun. Arenas began laughing, the witnesses said, telling Crittenton, "Look at that little shiny gun," as two other players slowly retreated to the training room. Washington Post
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. Washington Post
In a two-hour interview with police and federal prosecutors Monday, Arenas, in his version of the story, spoke of Crittenton's loaded gun, a person with knowledge of Arenas's testimony said. Washington Post
Crittenton's gun, according to the witnesses of the altercation, was never found. Both witness accounts said they were unclear how the gun was disposed of. Washington Post
Mark Bartlestein, Crittenton's agent, declined to comment. Crittenton, in a series of text messages responding to a request for comment, said the account provided by the witnesses was "false." "I have done nothing wrong. Let the investigation process take its course and you will see that," he said. "My name is dying in this situation." Washington Post
"We still don't know all the details yet," a senior Wizards official said. "That's just one version of the story we heard." Washington Post
The dispute between Arenas and Crittenton began on the team plane during a popular card game between players called "Boo-ray." Crittenton lost roughly $1,100 to JaVale McGee, a Wizards center, in the game, according to a player who watched the game and who also spoke on condition of anonymity. Crittenton, already angry over a dispute over the game's rules, became irate when Arenas began needling him. Their barbs escalated to a point where Arenas, smiling, said he would blow up Crittenton's car, according to two players on the flight, who requested anonymity. Crittenton replied that he would shoot Arenas in his surgically repaired knee. Washington Post
Walking into the locker room two days after the dispute on the team plane, according to two witnesses, Arenas laid out the guns in Crittenton's locker. Two other teammates eventually sauntered in and, while Arenas was writing the note in front of Crittenton's cubicle, in walked Crittenton, according to their account. Asking Arenas what he was doing, Arenas replied, "If you want to shoot me, I'd just thought I'd make it easy for you." As other teammates laughed, Crittenton crumpled up the paper, tossed one of Arenas's guns across the room, where it bounced in front of a team trainer, and said he didn't need any of Arenas's firearms because he had his own, according to the witness accounts. Washington Post
A source familiar with Monday's meeting between Arenas and police and prosecutors said that prosecutors agreed to only use Arenas's statements as part of their investigation, not as direct evidence to be presented to the grand jury or to be used during a trial or hearing. Also, Arenas told prosecutors Monday that he would be willing to meet with them again or appear before a grand jury in the coming days if they requested. Washington Post
Arenas, reached by telephone in his Cleveland hotel room, where he watched the Wizards lose to the Cavaliers on Wednesday night, said he "respected" Stern's decision to suspend him. "He is the same man who put me on my second all-star team after I got snubbed by the coaches," Arenas added. "That decision came down for me. He made a tougher decision today that went against me. And I have to accept it." Washington Post
In the telephone interview, Arenas hoped he could soon meet with Stern. "That's not so I can ask him to reinstate me right now," Arenas said. "I just want to remind him of who I am. I'm the kid who jumped off the trampoline at the all-star game, the kid who throws his jersey to people in the stands. I'm not the hoodlum that's being written and talked about right now. "I'm sorry for my teammates, the city of Washington, the memory of Mr. Pollin and his family, and all my fans that support me and the game of basketball. I mean that. This shouldn't have happened. It shouldn't have got this far. I know that." Washington Post
