Arenas suspended indefinitely

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BMiller52

All-Star
#31
#31
kennadog said:
Well, its very how many people are shot by "unloaded" guns.

I'm not after his head and I leave it up to the investigating agencies to decide if he should be charged with anything. I'm not likely to argue with whatever the NBA decides, either.

Fortunately, no one was hurt and I don't think Arenas should be out of the league. I just think it was dumb to pull one out for no good reason, unloaded or not. I sure wouldn't want a gun pointed at me, period. :eek:
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Fair enough. I don't think he should be out of the league either, but I don't think this is as serious as everyone else does since they're unloaded. The thing I'm interested in is whether the gun license carried over to VA. Some stats have gun licenses that carry over to different states. If it does I don't really see how he could be in too much trouble with the law. If it doesn't than he might be in a Plaxico situation where they get him in jail on a technicality.

I don't believe this was over a gambling debt. I don't believe a guy who signed a 100000000 million dollar contract would hesitate to pay a 25k gambling debt to a teammate over a game of horse or college football or whatever they bet on. He'd have no reason not to. With that much money that's chump change. I don't think he evver intended on harming anyone either. For a long time he was a goofy kind of player, and unfortunately this was a bad prank gone even worse and he didn't understand this could seriously screw up his whole life/career. Not to mention it's definitely messed up to pull a gun on your teammate, but it was a horrible idea for a joke. I don't think he really wanted to shoot him or anything. He didn't fire the gun, it wasn't loaded, and if the license carries over to VA I don't see how he could be in too much hot water. And if he really did get in an argument with Crittenton or whatever, and his teammates were freaked out, I don't think they would've been joking about it with him in the tunnel. That'd make no sense. That was another stupid thing that proves he doesn't get it, but at the same time IMO it proves he doesn't secretly want to kill all the players on the Wiz or anything with an evil intent like that. He's not a bad guy, he just made a really really dumb decision.
 
Elise10

Elise10

Starter
#32
#32
Gilbert was gonna be suspended based upon this alone

CBA Article 6 said:
Section 9. Firearms.
(a) Whenever a player is physically present at a facility or venue owned, operated, or being used by a Team, the NBA, or any League-related entity, and whenever a player is traveling on any NBA-related business, whether on behalf of the player’s Team, the NBA, or any League-related entity, such player shall not possess a firearm of any kind. For purposes of the foregoing, “a facility or venue” includes, but is not limited to: an arena; a practice facility; a Team or League office or facility; an All-Star or NBA Playoff venue; and the site of a promotional or charitable appearance.

(b) Any violation of Section 9(a) above shall be considered conduct prejudicial to the NBA under Article 35(d) of the NBA Constitution and By-Laws, and shall therefore subject the player to discipline by the NBA in accordance with such Article.
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He violated the CBA agreement when he brought the guns to the arena.

That picture of him "shooting" his teammates(his reason: "they told me to do it")shows that he really could care less about the severity of the situation at hand.
 
VF21

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#33
#33
So he's in trouble for having the gun there in the first place, not to mention brandishing it at Crittenton, regardless of why...and then something in his brain tells him the best way to handle it is to ridicule the whole situtation by clowning about it.

Wow. Now he's losing $147,000+ for every game he misses. I wonder how funny he thinks it all is now?
 
PurpleHaze

PurpleHaze

All-Star
#34
#34
So with this "indefinite" suspension the question is - how severe will it or should it be? Apparently, the NBA is going to let it run for quite awhile during their and LE investigation of Arenas. Artest was suspended for the remainder of season for brawl in Auburn Hills, Michigan which was 73 games but actually turned out to be total 86, including Bulls playoff games that year. There were something like eight other players on Chicago and Detroit involved who got lesser game suspensions. Artest lost close to $5 million in salary and Arenas could lose much more (something like $140,000+ per game) although the two incidents as different as they are similar.
 
P

pshn80

Starter
#35
#35
Superman said:
What the guy did was stupid, and he deserves to be suspended. That much is sure. I don't really even understand why he has four handguns to begin with. But I hesitate to demonize the guy for breaking a gun law by storing unloaded guns in his locker, if that's in fact the extent of his crime. I'll get right in line as we call him an idiot who doesn't know how to be responsible and who got too rich too quick, just like the bunches of other idiots in professional sports who do idiotic things because they can. But I don't think he should/will be kicked out of the league forever, and I doubt that storing unloaded weapons in his locker is reason enough for the Wizards to terminate his contract. That still remains to be seen, of course, but I'm not going to call for the guy's head just yet.
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If he had left them in his locker none of this would have happened. If the Wizards moved to terminate his contract it wouldn't be because he had them in his locker. Tell me if common sense doesn't tell you there is something very wrong here - "four handguns", laid out because of any dispute, "an idiot who doesn't know how to be responsible", whether he violated a D.C. law or not I believe we have grounds for the NBA to suspend or ban him for a very long time. I feel strongly about this particularly because I am a life long deer hunter and gun owner.
 
Elise10

Elise10

Starter
#36
#36
Again pointing to the CBA article: There's now no question that Gilbert was going to be suspended at the very least for bringing the guns in the first place. Even before finding out that he had them jokingly laid out for Critterton.

It certainly doesn't help that Arenas has a misdemeanor gun charge already:
Washington Post said:
2003 misdemeanor conviction on a charge of possessing an unregistered gun during a routine traffic stop in San Francisco. Police found a .40-caliber handgun in a bag behind the driver's seat and an ammunition clip in the glove compartment. The gun was properly registered in Arizona, but not California.
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Read

His guns aren't registered in Washington D.C, so it was illegal(in the eyes of the court) for him to bring them to the Verizon Center. Not that he wasn't allowed to have them at all but he crossed the line yet again by bringing them to work.


All in all, the best way to avoid having your kids around guns...is by not owning one.
 
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T

The Hammer

All-Star
#37
#37
He's gone. The only question that remains, I think, is do you bar him from ever entering an NBA arena for the rest of his life. If a fan brought unregistered guns inside an arena, do you honestly think they'd ever be let in to another one ever? Well... Arenas is even more high profile so the PR is worse.

This incident is pretty different than the Brawl. We are talking about guns here people. Guns. Inside the Arena. Not registered to the owner. Laid out on benches. Even merely from a PR point of view, let alone a safety point of view, there is no way he will play another NBA game. How do you think the fans who paid money to attend that game feel about it? The NBA is going to set a precedent here. Bring a gun... you're done. For life.
 
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Larry89

Larry89

Disgruntled Kings Fan
#40
#40
So when does Arenas' 13 mistresses and illegitmate child come into play?

When are we going to find out about Crittenton's double life and that he is actually a murderer using a fake name in the NBA? :p
 
PurpleHaze

PurpleHaze

All-Star
#41
#41
The Hammer said:
This incident is pretty different than the Brawl.
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I agree and said so. To some the brawl was worse. After all, NBA players were violently assaulting fans, endangering others in the stands with their flailing fists in response to a lunatic fan throwing a cup of beer on Artest.

With everything that's now being said about Arenas, the fact he had similar gun violation in 2003, giggling over all of it makes it much worse on that count alone. But what about the gambling issue (also apparently illegal) involving several thousand dollars owed by Critteton which instigated the latest gun nonsense?

Edit: Apparently $25,000 was owed by Arenas in lost card game betting.
 
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Variant

Variant

Starter
#42
#42
I'm not sure that Arenas violated any laws (and if he did, it'll be of the pay-a-fine variety), but he does risk more than just a suspension here as the Wizards may be able to void his contract...

Really, dude just needs to grow up. Probably would have turned out much differently had he just acted maturely instead of like a little kid.
 
PurpleHaze

PurpleHaze

All-Star
#43
#43
Variant said:
I'm not sure that Arenas violated any laws (and if he did, it'll be of the pay-a-fine variety), but he does risk more than just a suspension here as the Wizards may be able to void his contract...

Really, dude just needs to grow up. Probably would have turned out much differently had he just acted maturely instead of like a little kid.
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Nope, the dope definitely violated parts of the very, very strict D.C. firearms law, although obviously following investigation prosecutor will determine extent. The only possible out (or escaping most serious sanction) is if he had a permit to carry the gun which reportedly he did not.

NYC has similar very restrictive gun law and we saw what happened to Plaxico Burris who was first suspended by NFL, later convicted by a jury, and is now in prison.
 
Variant

Variant

Starter
#44
#44
I don't know the details of Plaxico's case, but I still seriously doubt Gilbert does time if he's a first time offender and all (maybe he's not) and this is as big a deal as you say.

Edit: I guess he does have a previous incident that I'd forgotten about. Regardless, can't really feel sorry for whatever comes Gilbert's way with this whole mess...
 
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PurpleHaze

PurpleHaze

All-Star
#45
#45
Plaxico's case is different and similar, just as some other cases cited in this thread. In the case of Burris he actually fired a round from his unregistered gun at a NYC nightclub - into himself! I would not call Arenas a first time offender since he had previous gun violation in another jurisdiction.

Of course, all of us are sort of speculating on a lot of this latest Arenas incident since it's only in the investigation stage at this point. Maybe he is not charged, maybe he is, maybe he cuts a deal with prosecutor, maybe he goes on trial, maybe he's convicted, maybe not, maybe he goes to jail, maybe he get suspended by NBA for a long time, maybe the Washington Bullets (opps, I mean Wizzards) are allowed to void his multi-millions dollar contract. Lots and lots of maybe's at this point...
 
VF21

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#46
#46
Larry89 said:
So when does Arenas' 13 mistresses and illegitmate child come into play?

When are we going to find out about Crittenton's double life and that he is actually a murderer using a fake name in the NBA? :p
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I guess I'm missing something, but I really fail to see anything humorous in any of this stuff...

The NBA has been trying to clean up its image and this is not gonna help at all. These guys are making a bazillion dollars. If they feel they may be in a position where a firearm might be necessary, they can hire freaking bodyguards. Arenas' people have made two public statements for him where he sounds contrite and apologetic. Then he turns around and ridicules the whole thing?

"The Beat" had a segment on this last night before the latest misdeed of Arenas. The consensus then was that he would be suspended for a significant period of time. By flaunting his action, Arenas pretty much sealed his own fate. I feel sorry for his teammates and the Wizards fans.
 
Capt. Factorial

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
#47
#47
Vlade4GM said:
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/34739586/ns/sports-washington_post//

Crittenton may have had a loaded gun.
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Reading that story puts a bit of a different spin on the situation. If the facts as presented (on page 2) are accurate, it's Crittenton who's going to be kicked out of the league, not Arenas. I wouldn't be surprised to see Arenas suspended for the remainder of the season. But if the NBA comes to the conclusion that Crittenton pulled out his own gun, loaded it, and cocked it...so long, Javaris.
 
Vlade4GM

Vlade4GM

All-Star
#48
#48
Capt. Factorial said:
Reading that story puts a bit of a different spin on the situation. If the facts as presented (on page 2) are accurate, it's Crittenton who's going to be kicked out of the league, not Arenas. I wouldn't be surprised to see Arenas suspended for the remainder of the season. But if the NBA comes to the conclusion that Crittenton pulled out his own gun, loaded it, and cocked it...so long, Javaris.
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Yeah, but the problem may be getting the proof that he did that. If they can't find the gun or get someone to testify, then it's hard to ban him from the NBA based on hearsay.
 
est.1999

est.1999

Starter
#49
#49
Why do people always have to bring up fantasy sports in every situation? Even when peoples lives and careers are in jeopardy. Last year I was watching football at a sports bar and it was the week where the cardinals were getting blown out by the jets and boldin got hammered on both sides trying to catch a ball in the endzone between defenders. He laid out. I thought he had broken his neck. Anyways while walking to our car me and my cousin saw this girl that was at the bar with us and we started talking about boldin. We both stated how we hoped that he was ok and she said yeah me too, he better be- he's on my fantasy team! Me and my cousin looked at eachother with disbelief.

All in all I'm just trying to say that can anyone just keep fantasy sports out of personal and serious matters for a change? Jeez
 
Aenadin

Aenadin

Starter
#51
#51
arenas and his "joke"

you know the saying

jokes are half meant to be true.....


if he wont be suspended for life he should be barred from the league 2 years minimum

i've had enough of these players doing idiotic things thinking. hey its just 30 games... vacation... i still get my mil at the end of the year.
 
O

Oprostaj

Bench
#52
#52
He's always been a peculiar character - I'm pretty sure in his twisted mind this was a funny joke. I know he's said he understands, but I don't think he does, the severity of the situation. If the stuff with Critterton is true, the guy just needs to go away. Considering Stern has more power than Obama (you all know this is true), don't be surprised if he just dissapears one day.
 
L

LWP777

Guest
#53
#53
It's funny how he is "respecting" the decision by David Stern and saying all the right things now but I guarantee you if he's suspended for the remainder of the season or worse, he and his team of lawyers will raise hell and not respect that decision.
 
Capt. Factorial

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
#55
#55
Vlade4GM said:
Yeah, but the problem may be getting the proof that he did that. If they can't find the gun or get someone to testify, then it's hard to ban him from the NBA based on hearsay.
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It sounds like there were several witnesses. The story says Arenas himself said nothing about Crittenton's actions to the press but did to the police; the other witnesses may do the same.
 
S

Superman

All-Star
#56
#56
The Hammer said:
He's gone. The only question that remains, I think, is do you bar him from ever entering an NBA arena for the rest of his life. If a fan brought unregistered guns inside an arena, do you honestly think they'd ever be let in to another one ever? Well... Arenas is even more high profile so the PR is worse.

This incident is pretty different than the Brawl. We are talking about guns here people. Guns. Inside the Arena. Not registered to the owner. Laid out on benches. Even merely from a PR point of view, let alone a safety point of view, there is no way he will play another NBA game. How do you think the fans who paid money to attend that game feel about it? The NBA is going to set a precedent here. Bring a gun... you're done. For life.
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I'm not trying to make lightly of gun safety and everything, but fans were hospitalized during the brawl. People got hurt. The extent of this situation is that two people showed their guns off, as far as we know so far. Stupid, but no one got hurt, and the actual danger level of the situation is arguable.

Also, the guns were registered, from what I've seen. Maybe not in DC, but I believe he was the registered owner of all the guns.

Arenas apparently violated terms of the CBA, which means that the Wizards could move to void his contract. And depending on the verbage in his contract and the CBA, he might not be able to successfully fight it. But I honestly and sincerely doubt that he'll be banned for life from the NBA. It very well could happen, and seeing as how all the facts aren't out there yet, my opinion could change. But based on what I've read so far, I just can't see that happening. Worse case scenario, in my mind, would be that he serves some time, and then Stern deals with him similar to how Roger Goodell dealt with Michael Vick, whose crimes were far more heinous.
 
S

Superman

All-Star
#57
#57
Elise10 said:
Again pointing to the CBA article: There's now no question that Gilbert was going to be suspended at the very least for bringing the guns in the first place. Even before finding out that he had them jokingly laid out for Critterton.

It certainly doesn't help that Arenas has a misdemeanor gun charge already:

Read

His guns aren't registered in Washington D.C, so it was illegal(in the eyes of the court) for him to bring them to the Verizon Center. Not that he wasn't allowed to have them at all but he crossed the line yet again by bringing them to work.

All in all, the best way to avoid having your kids around guns...is by not owning one.
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I'm sort of nonplussed about his previous gun charge. He was carrying an unloaded gun in his car in Arizona, and the gun was licensed and registered in California. Misdemeanor. (And kind of makes me wonder why every state has different gun laws. That would be an annoyance to me if I were a gun owner and traveled between state lines often. Of course, the law is the law.) Honestly, BFD.

And so far, that seems like the extent of his crime here, difference being that it's a felony in DC, not a misdemeanor. So he's looking at a maximum of five years, per violation (four guns, four charges), if he's in fact charge with the felony violation. I suspect the sentences would run concurrent to one another, but still, five years for having a gun registered in the wrong jurisdiction seems like a lot to me.
 
O

Oprostaj

Bench
#58
#58
Superman said:
I'm not trying to make lightly of gun safety and everything, but fans were hospitalized during the brawl. People got hurt. The extent of this situation is that two people showed their guns off, as far as we know so far. Stupid, but no one got hurt, and the actual danger level of the situation is arguable.

Also, the guns were registered, from what I've seen. Maybe not in DC, but I believe he was the registered owner of all the guns.

Arenas apparently violated terms of the CBA, which means that the Wizards could move to void his contract. And depending on the verbage in his contract and the CBA, he might not be able to successfully fight it. But I honestly and sincerely doubt that he'll be banned for life from the NBA. It very well could happen, and seeing as how all the facts aren't out there yet, my opinion could change. But based on what I've read so far, I just can't see that happening. Worse case scenario, in my mind, would be that he serves some time, and then Stern deals with him similar to how Roger Goodell dealt with Michael Vick, whose crimes were far more heinous.
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Part of your statement I agree with. The comparison with Vick, not so much. Bottom line is that Arenas brought weapons into a place that is at times, filled with people. One gun is enough. Furthermore, since much of it now is speculation, who says that he didn't have ammunition stored in the broom closet? We can do this all day, but having been around guns most of my life I can honestly tell you that safe weapons do not exist. Loaded, unloaded, whatever. What if someone had known that Arenas is storing guns and brought their own ammunition? All it takes is 1 second... On the flip side, Vick was never caught killing dogs - he provided funding for his idiot cousins / friends, which I agree is dispicable, but this is not The Unibomber we're talking about here - the distinction I'm trying to make - Arenas brought weapons into a place that is not protected, not guarded, is accessible by hundreds of people and could have cost people their lives. I don't think he should be compared to Vick. I AM NOT DEFENDING VICK.
 
S

Superman

All-Star
#59
#59
Oprostaj said:
Part of your statement I agree with. The comparison with Vick, not so much. Bottom line is that Arenas brought weapons into a place that is at times, filled with people. One gun is enough. Furthermore, since much of it now is speculation, who says that he didn't have ammunition stored in the broom closet? We can do this all day, but having been around guns most of my life I can honestly tell you that safe weapons do not exist. Loaded, unloaded, whatever. What if someone had known that Arenas is storing guns and brought their own ammunition? All it takes is 1 second...
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A gun without ammo can't be fired. There's no indication that anyone had any ammunition for those guns anywhere on the grounds; the statement says he had the ammunition at home. It wasn't in a broom closet.

And the way I understand it is that there is a safe and private section of the locker where players can store personals and valuables and such. It doesn't sound like anyone else even knew that the guns were there, and wouldn't have known had he not pulled them out. This isn't your high school gym locker. It's relatively secure.

On the flip side, Vick was never caught killing dogs - he provided funding for his idiot cousins / friends, which I agree is dispicable, but this is not The Unibomber we're talking about here - the distinction I'm trying to make - Arenas brought weapons into a place that is not protected, not guarded, is accessible by hundreds of people and could have cost people their lives. I don't think he should be compared to Vick. I AM NOT DEFENDING VICK.
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We've all done the Michael Vick thing, so without getting into a whole bunch of specifics, I'll say this: Vick admitted to being involved with a dog fighting operation and an illegal gambling ring. Doesn't matter whether he actually killed any of the dogs himself; the courts sentenced him more severely than the other defendants because a) he bankrolled the whole thing, and b) he lied about it up until the case was so crystal clear against him that it the only way he could possibly whittle his sentence down was to admit his guilt. He's not the Unibomber, and I'm not as anti-Vick as many are, but his crimes were far more heinous than carrying an unloaded weapon, resulting in absolutely no one being hurt.

I disagree with your assessment of Arenas actions, and I stated the reasons above. He didn't bring the guns into a place that was unprotected, unguarded, and accessible to hundreds of people. He stored them in his private locker at the arena, which was in poor taste, but had that been the extent of it, no one would have been harmed. Stupid and idiotic is how I would describe Arenas' actions, particular pulling the guns out, and he deserves whatever it is that he gets as punishment. But I don't think it was as dangerous and harmful as you're making it out to be.
 
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