2009 was not a great year for former NBA point guard Gilbert Arenas. An unassuming card game became the biggest controversy of his life, derailed his career, and nearly cost him his life. Unfortunately, it was also the time he was going through a tough personal crisis.
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As Arenas revealed on The Pivot Podcast, the infamous gun showdown with Javaris Crittenton happened during the time rumors were going around that his then-girlfriend was involved with Shaquille O’Neal:
“I can’t pinpoint exactly what I was thinking when I did that but I think it was around the same time as the Shaq rumor was going around…The Shaq and my girlfriend at the time rumor.”
Rumors that Shaq was involved in a romantic affair with Laura Govan, Gil’s girlfriend back then, began swirling in 2009. In November 2009, TheYBF published screenshots of e-mails purportedly exchanged between O’Neal and Govan. These e-mails outlined a planned meeting between Govan and the NBA star, where Govan, was expected to visit Shaq’s hotel room for an intimate encounter.
In December 2009, a game of Booray between the Washington Wizards teammates soon became a heated argument between Gil and newbie Crittenton. The argument supposedly ended in the infamous trash-talker Gil threatening to burn down Crittenton’s car, and the newbie retorting back with “I’ll just shoot you then.”
As a provocative move, Arenas brought four unloaded guns to the Wizards’ locker room two days later—supposedly as a “joke”—challenging Crittenton to pick one. Crittenton responded by pulling out his own loaded gun and pointing it at Arenas, causing panic among his teammates.
Arenas revealed that it was Crittenton who had broken the news about the Shaq rumor to him. So a month later, when the same challenged Arenas and threatened to shoot him, the former point guard took it to mean “Oh, he thinks I am a b*tch.”
The fallout from the gun showdown
Following the incident, Arenas was suspended for the entire 2009-10 NBA season by Commissioner David Stern, which cost him approximately $7.5 million in salary. While Arenas had already enjoyed quite a prolific NBA career by then, Crittenton was just starting out.
The incident effectively ended his career. He was suspended for the remainder of the season and never played another game in the NBA. On the podcast, Arenas called it “the worst thing he ever did.”
Arenas himself faced legal repercussions, pleading guilty to carrying a pistol without a license and receiving a sentence of 30 days in a halfway house, two years of probation, and community service.
The three-time NBA All-Star was traded to the Orlando Magic the following season but never regained his prior elite performance level due to injuries and the fallout from the incident, ultimately leading to his departure from the NBA in 2012.
As for Crittenton, in 2011, he was involved in a separate criminal case where he was charged with voluntary manslaughter, resulting in a 23-year prison sentence.
