While Gilbert Arenas has many strong opinions on topics around the sports world, in real life, he is just another prankster who is surviving on that bleak line between pranking someone and going too far. In 2009, that almost cost him his reputation in the NBA world.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
As a Washington Wizards guard, the three-time All-Star found Javaris Crittenton as his new student when the team drafted him in 2007. Over the years, the two got quite close. But one incident completely changed the way many think of the duo. More than 15 years later, Arenas is still verifying facts of that infamous moment, as he revealed on the Ball in the Family Podcast with Lonzo & Gelo Ball.
“To be honest, I don’t… I wasn’t there; I mean, I was there. I do remember hearing,” Arenas first spoke about rumors about Mike Miller walking in and out of the locker room on the night. “It was more of like you get into the team arguments, right? And then someone said they’re going to do something, bet. I want to see you do that. That’s what that was. It wasn’t like we were fighting. It was like, I want to see if you have the balls to do it. Yeah, it was one of those things. So, at the time, ‘You’re (Crittenton) not shooting me.’
“First of all, there are no bullets in a gun. Like, I’m smarter than that. You live in Virginia; you can have a gun, but if you need bullets, you have to go to Maryland. Then you can’t cross DC lines. So it took about like two three weeks to get that done. So I had some time, I was a gun collector. Yeah. I had about 500 (guns).”
In December 2009, the Wizards were flying back home after a game against Phoenix. Then, Crittenton was on a bad losing streak in a Louisiana-based card game called Booray, and Arenas did not shy away from rubbing salt on his wounds.
“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!’ ” he told Action Network in 2022. “Javaris is 1,000 degrees hot. But everyone knows my style. I’m gonna keep poking. I want you f—– up.”
The tension from that game carried into the following days, when it reached its peak.
Two days later, Agent Zero brought four guns into the Wizards’ locker room and placed them near Crittenton’s locker. A note reading “PICK 1” was left with the weapons. But there was a catch.
A prank gone severely wrong
The thing is, all of Arenas’ guns were empty. But as it happens, Crittenton also brought his own ammo. What happened next made the situation far more serious.
Crittenton produced his own firearm, turning what Gilbert Arenas has described as a challenge or joke into an incident that could have ended very differently. The episode is often remembered as a bitter feud between two teammates and even made it to Netflix’s ‘Untold’ series. But things between the two couldn’t be more different.
“Me and you were super close. You was my partner. We used to hang out all the time,” Crittenton previously said. “The media created a completely different narrative because of the situation. People really have no clue how close we were.”
Gilbert Arenas even said he gave Crittenton his actual hotel room number during road trips, something he did not typically do with teammates. He also supported his teammate when his mother needed surgery.
Even after the locker-room confrontation, the two did not immediately cut ties. Arenas has recalled sitting with Crittenton in a jacuzzi afterward as they talked through what had happened. For the young star, the issue was never simply about the money but about respect. Agent Zero later acknowledged that his actions could have affected that process.
“You’re still trying to establish yourself amongst this group, and I kind of f—-ed that off for you,” Arenas admitted.
He has also claimed that he tried to shield Crittenton once the incident attracted attention from the media and the league.
Arenas discloses what the documentary never revealed, and what the situation cost him
When the NBA came knocking on the doors of its two players, Arenas’ goal was simple. He would’ve taken the blame on himself if the situation became a bigger legal or NBA issue. But apparently, that part never came to light in the documentary.
“I have it. They didn’t put it in the doc,” Arenas said. “But the text message that kind of started it was like, ‘Yo, say you didn’t have nothing, it was all me. I had the gun.’ I didn’t even think about police coming.
“I’m like, ‘If the media finds out or if the NBA comes, just… tell them I did it. I’ll take all the blame. Right? I’ll take all the blame.’”
The consequences were still severe.
The NBA suspended both Gilbert Arenas (50 games) and Crittenton (38 games) after determining that they had brought firearms into the team’s workplace. Arenas also pleaded guilty to a felony gun charge in Washington, D.C. More than a decade later, the story remains as tangled as ever. But one thing is clear: Arenas and Crittenton remain friends.