The NBA has seen enough of Gilbert Arenas’ gunplay. On Wednesday, the league suspended the Wizards’ hoopster indefinitely without pay after Arenas admitted to storing four unloaded and unlicensed handguns in his locker at the Verizon Center.
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Arenas said he took the unloaded guns out of his locker on Dec. 21 “in a misguided effort to play a joke on a teammate.” He denied threatening or assaulting anyone. The New York Post reported that Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton drew guns on each other. A pair of league officials told The Associated Press that the incident stemmed from a dispute over card-playing gambling debts and a heated argument in the locker room.
“Joke or not, I now recognize that what I did was a mistake and was wrong,” Arenas said in a statement Monday. “I should not have brought the guns to DC in the first place, and I now realize that there’s no such thing as joking around when it comes to guns – even if unloaded.”
National Basketball Association Commissioner David Stern issued the following statement on Wednesday, and it was posted on NBA.com:
“Although it is clear that the actions of Mr. Arenas will ultimately result in a substantial suspension, and perhaps worse, his ongoing conduct has led me to conclude that he is not currently fit to take the court in an NBA game. Accordingly, I am suspending Mr. Arenas indefinitely, without pay, effective immediately pending the completion of the investigation by the NBA.”