Worst moment in each NBA franchise’s history
By Brad Rowland
Washington Wizards – The locker room gunplay of Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton
The Washington Wizards/Bullets franchise has experienced great success throughout its long history, but for folks in 2015, the organization might be best remembered for the ridiculousness of gun play in an NBA locker room.
In December of 2009, Wizards guard Javaris Crittenton reportedly brandished a loaded gun and pointed it at teammate Gilbert Arenas, who happened to be the best and most recognizable player on the Washington roster. Fortunately for everyone involved, Crittenton did not pull the trigger, but with recent revelations from Caron Butler on the situation, the organization and players should feel lucky that nothing else transpired, especially considering that Crittenton is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence for voluntary manslaughter in conjunction with a separate incident in Atlanta.
Both Arenas and Crittenton were suspended for the remainder of the 2010-2011 season, and within months, both players were no longer members of the Wizards organization. Still, the actions of both men will be associated with the franchise forever, and it is highly unfortunate that a quality basketball organization has to live with that kind of nonsense at the forefront of the memory of its fans and supporters.
At the time, this incident was seen, at least by some, as “boys being boys”, but now that we know the entirety of the situation, it looks even worse than previously thought. Hopefully, the Wizards (and the league as a whole) can continue to distance themselves from this incident in the future.