Picture this: It’s the 2007 NBA Draft, and 19-year-old Javaris Crittenton, fresh off a standout freshman year at Georgia Tech, hears his name called 19th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers. The stage couldn’t have been bigger for him. Joining a franchise led by Kobe Bryant, fresh off back-to-back scoring titles, and Derek Fisher. For a young guard with explosive potential, it was a dream scenario. Crittenton arrived with high hopes, but his time was scarce on a Lakers team eyeing contention. Just months into his career, the Lakers traded him to Memphis in the Pau Gasol deal. It was a move that cemented L.A.’s return to title contention. So what happened during his brief experience with the Lakers?

But why did it all spill out? Years later, in Netflix’s “Untold: Shooting Guards,” he reflected on the harsh reality of L.A. Where the spotlight burned bright, but the support system was thin. Lakers assistant coach Rasheed Hazzard recalled Javaris Crittenton’s emotional debut night. “Javaris’ first game in Staples Center, yeah, he didn’t dress. Not being allowed to put the uniform on that’s another level from just not being put in the game. It was like an energy that was taken from him. ‘We don’t think you’re good enough,’ that’s the message he got.”

However, Javaris Crittenton caught everyone off guard when he spoke up on Gilbert Arenas’ No Chill Gil podcast about the Lakers. Gil asked if he’d been watching the playoffs, and Javaris didn’t hesitate. “Of course, I got to stay in tune of my Lakers, man,” he said, grinning. “Think I got to head on this ain’t got nothing to do with me getting drafted by the Lakers or playing for them. Like, I’m a real Lakers fan for real.” That moment hit differently. I mean, after everything he revealed in the documentary, you wouldn’t expect him to still rep the Lakers like that. But he does. So why no hard feelings? Javaris Crittenton broke it down in the same episode.

He showed the kind of wisdom and self-awareness that only comes with time. “Sometimes you just got to be patient…, you got to wait your time, you got to stay down and keep grinding.” He understands that as a rookie entering the big leagues, it’s important to stay patient and keep working on your craft. He also admitted, “So I think that was one of my problems. Like, I wanted to play right away. And I was on a team with Kobe and Derek Fisher, Lamar… yeah, like, greatness.” He was on a team with the legends, and for him to have his moments, only patience could work.

But what happened with him then was a harsh reality check for a teenager who had dominated at Georgia Tech just months earlier. Coach Hazzard connected to give more insights, “There was some anger and resentment that he harbored directly toward Phil. He took it personally, but that was a basketball decision. This is business,” his statements highlighted that the Lakers’ win-now environment left little room for development, and Phil Jackson’s legendary poker face offered no reassurance to Javaris Crittenton when needed. But the comeback? Then Javaris Crittenton himself revealed how deeply the experience affected his game spirit.

After the opening night, it crushed my spirit, and I didn’t even know how to recover, honestly. My confidence took a hit. I was embarrassed, not playing that much.” These statements speak volumes about how a young player should not be discouraged. He continued to share “And when I used to come home from practice or working out, man, I would sleep so much from being depressed, which made it even tougher on me, because it’s like I’m out in LA by myself, and I don’t have many people that I know or many friends.” He laid down the brutal reality of his NBA introduction with his unfiltered comments. It depicts a stark contrast to the glamorous image of being a first-round Lakers pick.

Looking back, he gets it now. The pressure got to him, the impatience ate at him, and the doubt crept in. But there’s no bitterness here. Just growth, hard-earned wisdom, and maybe even a little peace. Because sometimes, the toughest lessons can be the ones that stick.

Arenas reveals the true reason for suspension with Javaris Crittenton

For years, the headlines told one story: Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton’s locker room standoff was about egos, guns, and a card game gone wrong. But in Netflix’s Untold: Shooting Guards, Arenas finally dropped the bombshell no one saw coming. The real reason the NBA came down on him so hard wasn’t just about the guns in the locker room. But it was about how they got there in the first place. “The secret that nobody heard until right now, “Arenas revealed. 

“The real reason I think I was suspended for 50 games was the idea of how I got the guns to Washington, D.C. And what it was, I was using NBA planes to, the word they use, ‘traffic guns,’ from Arizona to Virginia, to my home. And I don’t think the NBA wanted that to get out.” That changes everything. If true, it wasn’t just about two players clashing. The NBA feared a PR nightmare over its planes being used to transport firearms.

The incident already stained the reputations of both Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton, but this twist adds a whole new layer. For Arenas, it was the beginning of the end of his prime. For Crittenton? Unfortunately, it was just one chapter in a much darker spiral. The league hammered them with suspensions, the media painted them as reckless, and the story became a cautionary tale. But now, over a decade later, Arenas is pulling back the curtain, and the truth is even messier than we thought.