The Biggest NBA F*ck-Ups Since Dennis Rodman & Latrell Sprewell. Crittenton & Arenas Suspended For The Season

Thursday, January 28, 2010 11 AM | 5 Comments »

The Biggest NBA F*ck-Ups Since Dennis Rodman & Latrell Sprewell. Crittenton & Arenas Suspended For The Season

Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittendon got suspended without pay for the remainder of the season. Y’all remebeer they tried to merk each (not really but you get what I’m tryna say) in the locker room back in December. Both of ‘em brought pistols to practice after they had a lil’ dispute. If this ain’t stupid I don’t know what is. In the words of Fred G. Sanford: “You big dummies!!!”

An incident that embarrassed the Washington Wizards franchise and disgraced two of its players moved closer to resolution on Wednesday, when NBA Commissioner David Stern suspended guards Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton without pay for the remainder of the season after they displayed handguns during a locker room dispute last month.
Stern reached his decision after an hour-long meeting with Arenas at the NBA offices in New York. He later released a statement that said guns in an NBA workplace “would not be tolerated.”

Arenas learned of his fate during the meeting and asked the National Basketball Players Association not to challenge Stern’s decision.

Arenas’s criminal attorney, Ken Wainstein, accompanied him with Stern on Wednesday and released a statement that read: “Mr. Arenas recognizes that his actions were a serious violation of the law and league rules and were detrimental to the NBA and its reputation. He accepts full responsibility for what he did, and takes no issue with the length of the suspension or the process that led to the Commissioner’s decision. It is Mr. Arenas’ hope that this punishment will serve an important purpose, as a strong reminder of the responsibility that he and all NBA players have to set the right example with their conduct on and off the court.”

According to a statement released by the players’ union, Crittenton, who met with Stern on Tuesday, has not reached a decision on whether he would file an appeal regarding the severity of the suspension. Stern said both players expressed remorse and were contrite during their meetings; “nevertheless, there is no justification for their conduct.”

Two league sources said that Stern was contemplating suspending Arenas for 82 games but elected for remainder of the season after talking with Billy Hunter, the union’s executive director. In a conference call with reporters, Stern said that he hopes the length of the suspensions sends a clear message to players and “if there is any doubt with our players in the future, we will be dealing with this in an even more severe way.”

The Wizards released a statement supporting Stern’s punishment and mentioning how late owner Abe Pollin changed the name of the franchise from Bullets to Wizards in 1997 “precisely to express his abhorrence of gun violence in our community. We hope that this negative situation can produce something positive by serving as a reminder that gun violence is a serious issue.”

Arenas and Crittenton argued while on a team flight from Phoenix on Dec. 19 and brought guns during a confrontation at practice two days later. Arenas is awaiting sentencing on a felony gun charge on March 26. Crittenton, 22, received one year of unsupervised probation and a $1,250 fine after pleading to a misdemeanor gun charge on Monday.

Arenas was suspended indefinitely on Jan. 6 for his behavior after the incident was first reported. He pretended to shoot his teammates with his fingers before a game in Philadelphia and in a meeting with reporters said he had done “nothing wrong” and said, “Stern is mean.” Stern said he usually waits for the legal process to play out before suspending players but “I felt that I should do something to keep Gilbert from doing even further damage to himself. And I told him that.”

Arenas has missed the past 12 games while serving the suspension. The Wizards (14-30) have 38 games remaining, which would put his season total at 50 games.

Arenas’s suspension would be the NBA’s third-most severe non-drug-related suspension. Ron Artest was suspended 86 games (73 regular season and 13 playoff postseason) for his role in the brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan in November 2004, and Latrell Sprewell was originally suspended for a full year for attempting to choke then-Golden State Warriors Coach P.J. Carlesimo in 1997, but an arbitrator later reduced the suspension to 68 games. Crittenton’s 38-game suspension is the fourth highest.