Those rumors of security cameras capturing an alleged gun standoff between Gilbert Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton in the Wizards locker room? Not true, says the team.
Team officials told NBC4's Pat Collins Thursday afternoon that there are no security cameras in the Wizards' locker room at the Verizon Center. That is contrary to a TMZ.com report that said the Wizards have video of the incident but were having trouble downloading it for police.
Meanwhile, workers were spotted Thursday afternoon removing a giant poster of Arenas from the 6th Street side of the Verizon Center, sending yet another signal of how unhappy the team is with its superstar Agent Zero.
NBA Commissioner David Stern suspended Arenas indefinitely on Wednesday without pay, saying he is "not currently fit to take the court in an NBA game," and that the guard's actions "will ultimately result in a substantial suspension, and perhaps worse."
"I feel very badly that my actions have caused the NBA to suspend me, but I understand why the league took this action," Arenas said in statement released by his attorney Wednesday evening. "I put the NBA in a negative light and let down my teammates and our fans. I am very sorry for doing that."
Federal prosecutors have convened a grand jury to explore an incident involving Arenas and handguns in the team locker room. Arenas spoke to prosecutors about the incident for two hours Monday.
Tuesday night might have been the last straw as far as the league was concerned. A Getty image shot during pre-game warmups in Philadelphia showed Arenas smiling and pointing his fingers at teammates as if they were guns. Arenas later tweeted about the incident, saying "I know everybody seen the pre game pics..my teammate thought to break the tention we should do that..but this is gettn way to much. I wanna say sorry if I p***ed any body off by us havin fun...I'm sorry for anything u need to blame for for right now."
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That incident, and his teammates' reaction, didn't sit well with Wizards management.
“We fully endorse the decision of the NBA to indefinitely suspend Gilbert Arenas," the team said in a statement. "Strictly legal issues aside, Gilbert’s recent behavior and statements, including his actions and statements last night in Philadelphia, are unacceptable. Some of our other players appeared to find Gilbert’s behavior in Philadelphia amusing. This is also unacceptable. Under Abe Pollin’s leadership, our organization never tolerated such behavior, and we have no intention of ever doing so.”
On Thursday the Washington Post provided more accounts of the alleged locker room incident:
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 the gun and chambering a round.
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.
Arenas called the incident a "misguided effort to play a joke" on a teammate. He said he never threatened or assaulted anyone with the guns and never pointed them at anyone.
