Thursday, January 28, 2010
NBA Commissioner David Stern suspended Washington Wizards teammates Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton for the remainder of the 2010 NBA season on Wednesday, January 27. The suspensions came after a fallout stemming from the two bringing guns into the Wizards’ locker room.
The suspensions took place after a one-hour meeting between Arenas and Stern. Stern noted that his decision on the two was to be harsh, as “guns are prohibited from being in our buildings and in team business…it’s very potentially dangerous to our players and to anyone else who might be involved.” Arenas had earlier pleaded guilty to felony gun possession, and Crittenton pleaded guilty earlier this month to a misdemeanor gun charge.
Crittenton had not played for the Wizards this season, and will not likely be back in a Wizards uniform as his contract expires at the end of the season. Arenas’ suspension amounted to 48 games, making his the third longest non-drug related suspension in NBA history, behind Latrell Sprewell and Ron Artest, who missed 68 and 73 games, respectively.
The Wizards backed Stern’s decision, releasing a statement that the two “violated the trust of our fans and stands in contrast to everything that [owner] Abe Pollin stood for throughout his life.”
The team was originally named the Washington Bullets until 1997, when Pollin changed the team name to Wizards to express his abhorrence of gun violence in the Washington, D.C. community.