An incident that embarrassed the Washington Wizards franchise and disgraced two of its players moved closer to resolution Wednesday, when NBA commissioner David Stern suspended guards Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton for the remainder of the season after they displayed handguns during a locker room dispute last month.
Stern reached his decision after an hourlong, face-to-face meeting with Arenas at the NBA offices. He later released a statement that said guns in an NBA workplace "would not be tolerated."
Arenas learned of his fate during the meeting and asked the National Basketball Players Association not to challenge Stern's decision.
Arenas' criminal attorney, Ken Wainstein, accompanied him with Stern on Wednesday and released a statement that read: "Mr. Arenas recognizes that his actions were a serious violation of the law and league rules and were detrimental to the NBA and its reputation. He accepts full responsibility for what he did, and takes no issue with the length of the suspension or the process that led to the commissioner's decision. It is Mr. Arenas' hope that this punishment will serve an important purpose, as a strong reminder of the responsibility that he and all NBA players have to set the right example with their conduct on and off the court."
According to a statement released by the players' union, Crittenton, who met with Stern on Tuesday, has not reached a decision whether he would file an appeal regarding the severity of the suspension. Stern said both players expressed remorse and were contrite during their meetings; "nevertheless, there is no justification for their conduct."
Two league sources said that Stern was contemplating suspending Arenas for 82 games but decided on the rest of the season after talking over the past week with Billy Hunter, the union's executive director. In a conference call with reporters, Stern said that he hopes the length of the suspensions sends a clear message to players and "if there is any doubt with our players in the future, we will be dealing with this in an even more severe way."
The Wizards released a statement supporting Stern's punishment and mentioning how their late owner Abe Pollin changed the name of the franchise from Bullets to Wizards in 1997 "precisely to express his abhorrence of gun violence in our community. We hope that this negative situation can produce something positive by serving as a reminder that gun violence is a serious issue."
Arenas and Crittenton engaged in an argument on a team flight from Phoenix on Dec. 19 and brought guns during a confrontation at practice two days later. Arenas, 28, is awaiting sentencing on a felony gun charge on March 26. Crittenton, 22, received one year of unsupervised probation and a $1,250 fine after pleading to a misdemeanor gun charge Monday.
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