Christmas usually means cozy family time, warm hugs, and a break from the daily grind. But for Gilbert Arenas, the holiday vibe comes with a very different backstory. When trash talk and poker games spiral out of control, things can get seriously intense. It’s something Gilbert knows all too well. Now, with his son stepping into the same high-stakes world, Gilbert’s got some real talk and advice ready for the next generation.

Before all that, let’s go back to December 2009. Things got way out of hand with the Washington Wizards. What started as a simple card game turned into one of the wildest NBA scandals ever. Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton? Yeah, those two brought guns into the locker room after a gambling spat went sideways. All this drama went down just before Christmas, on a team flight no less. And you better believe Arenas is making sure his son doesn’t end up caught in the same mess. No way he’s letting history repeat itself, in any which way…

On a recent episode of Pardon My Take, Gilbert dropped some real talk for the hosts and for his son if he ever finds himself caught up in a poker hand. He warned, “Don’t be an antagonizer. You realize that losing money is more important than how much they are losing, right?” Gilbert didn’t hold back, even recalling his own mess from 16 years ago, adding, “Just the idea of losing money is, it was more of the problem than $1100 dollars.”

Gilbert’s words hit hard because they come from someone who’s been through the chaos firsthand. When he says, “Don’t be an antagonizer,” he’s warning against making a bad situation worse by stirring the pot. Losing money at the table can sting, but Gilbert points out that it’s often the pride and tension around the loss that really mess things up. /His mention of $1,100 is about how that money became a trigger for conflict. Gilbert’s advice boils down to keeping your cool and knowing when to step back, something he learned the hard way.

Unpacking the notorious 2009 locker room firearm fiasco: Gilbert Arenas vs. Javaris Crittenton

It all kicked off during a December 2009 team flight when the Wizards were deep into a game of booray, a Louisiana card game, and Crittenton was on a brutal losing streak. Gilbert recalled in a 2022 Action Network interview, “talking my good old sh*t.” He added, “When anyone was getting killed, I’d hit the stewardess button. ‘Oh no, we have a jumper. Tell the pilot! We have a jumper, people!’” His relentless poking pushed Crittenton, described as “1,000 degrees hot,” to the edge. Gibbert said, “But everyone knows my style. I’m gonna keep poking. I want you f*** up.”

After both had taken losses, Gilbert Arenas jokingly threatened to burn Crittenton alive, which Crittenton took seriously. When Crittenton threatened to shoot Arenas, Gilbert responded, “It was about me calling his bluff. You say you’re going to shoot me? Fine, I’ll bring you the guns to do it.”

Just days later, during practice on December 21, Arenas showed up to the locker room armed with unloaded guns, trying to call Crittenton’s bluff, as teammate Caron Butler detailed in his 2015 memoir Tuff Juice: My Journey from the Streets to the NBA. But things took a sharp turn when Crittenton pulled out a loaded weapon, prompting the rest of the team to flee and lock themselves out.

Thankfully, no one was hurt. Crittenton later explained he felt forced to respond to what he perceived as a real threat from Arenas. Although many reports linked the drama to gambling debts, Gilbert insists that the story isn’t accurate. Either way, it didn’t bode well for either of their careers.