On the heels of David Stern’s announcement earlier today that Gilbert Arenas would be suspended indefinitely from the NBA, effective immediately, the Washington Post has raised the stakes. While initial reports suggested that Arenas and Wizards teammate Javaris Crittenton had engaged in some sort of Reservoir Dogs face-off, Arenas maintained that it was all a practical joke gone wrong.
Now Mike Wise, writing in the Post, is saying differently:
According to two first-hand accounts of the confrontation, Crittenton responded to Arenas’s action — which included laying the four unloaded weapons in Crittenton’s cubicle with a note that read, “Pick One” — by brandishing his own firearm, loading a clip of ammunition into the gun and cocking the weapon.
Two of the five people in the room that morning, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Arenas had originally not disclosed Crittenton’s action to protect the little-used guard from prosecution and had told Crittenton he would assume full responsibility for the actions of both players that day.
In a two-hour interview with the district attorney on Monday, Arenas, in his version of the story, spoke of Crittenton’s loaded gun, a person with knowledge of Arenas’s testimony said, adding that the player was expressly told by attorneys not to lie under oath.
In a text message to the Post, Crittenton denied the allegations, saying: “I have done nothing wrong. Let the investigation process take its course and you will see that. My name is dying in this situation.”
