WASHINGTON POST Wizards beat writer Micheal Lee caught up to Gilbert Arenas today and asked him about Peter Vecsey’s claim in the NEW YORK POST today that he drew a gun on Javaris Crittenton over a gambling debt. Lee Tweets:
Arenas: “I saw the story. Very compelling. Some real O.K. corral stuff.”
I posted earlier today that Vecsey’s story about the incident seemed to be based solely on a single Crittenton acquaintance. That doesn’t make it wrong, but Arenas obviously is now disputing Crittenton’s friend’s claim.
An NBA investigation into Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas‘ possession of guns inside the team’s locker room has been linked to a confrontation with teammate Javaris Crittenton, multiple sources told Yahoo! Sports.
The league’s ongoing probe hopes to determine whether Arenas had accessed any of his unloaded firearms while engaged in the dispute prior to a team practice at the Verizon Center on Dec. 21 in Washington. Tensions between Arenas and Crittenton escalated because of a festering disagreement between the two players, sources said.
Arenas told reporters on Tuesday the District of Columbia police also are investigating the circumstances under which he brought the guns to the arena. The D.C. police issued a statement on Wednesday saying they were assisting the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a joint investigation into “an allegation that weapons were located inside a locker room at the Verizon Center.” The statement did not name any individuals
After the story broke, Peter Vecsey of the NEW YORK POST alleged more details about what happened between the two players.
Arenas stored unloaded guns in locked box w/out ammo at the Verizon Center and soon after notified team who notified authorities. He and wiz are cooperating.
Arenas said he took guns from his home after birth of daughter on Dec. 9 because he didn’t want them around his children.
A week later he turned the guns over to team security and asked them to turn them over to authorities because “I don’t want them anymore.”
“The Washington Wizards have learned that Gilbert Arenas stored firearms in a locked container in his locker, unloaded and without ammunition. The Wizards organization and Arenas promptly notified the local authorities and the NBA and are cooperating fully with law enforcement during its review of this matter and will have no further comment at this time.”
The NBA and Washington Wizards are investigating Gilbert Arenas’ alleged possession of a firearm and whether he violated league rules.
“The investigation will be concluded shortly,” said the person, who requested anonymity because the probe had not been completed. “The NBA is aware. There are no criminal charges.”
Accord to the league’s collective bargaining agreement between players and owners, players are not allowed to possess firearms on league property nor while conducting league business.
Sorry if this ruins your holidays, but it seems as if Shaquille O’Neal has been cheating on his wife instead of practicing his free throws as he should be doing. At least this is according to the site YOUNG, BLACK AND FABULOUS; the first place I check for all of my NBA news. Who is Shaq trysting with? Laura Govan, who also happens to be Gilbert Arenas‘ fiance and the mother of his two children.
(The Gilbert Arenas, Laura Govan, Shaquille O’Neal love triangle offense)
YBF claims to have sources who confirm the O’Neal-Govan shenanigans — Shaqnanigans? — and the site has something even more salacious, it says: Emails between the two lovebirds. Here’s one now!
A few months back, during a Bill Simmons podcast, Marc Stein pointed out that NBA players are the single most auspicious group of consumers in professional sports, and that everything they purchase is judged as a sign of status. Stein cited cars, jewelry, and even suits; we’re pretty sure it’s safe to include tattoos on this list.
(Incidentally, every reporter there was asking him what the hell he was thinking.)
For proof, look no further than Washington Wizard DeShawn Stevenson. The sharp-shooting guard has always had a demonstrative streak about him, but he’s reached absurd new heights with the tattoos he unveiled today. Put it this way: Stevenson turned his neck into a 5-dollar bill, and that might not be the weirdest ink above his shoulders.
Today in “Brendan Haywood, Homosexuality and You,” we have The Apology. You knew it was coming, of course. But from what I’m reading in Haywood’s blog today, he’s not apologizing to Stephon Marbury specifically for comments he made recently in reference to Marbury’s sexuality. He’s apologizing to gays, and not very convincingly at that. But hey, Haywood just wants to “quelch” this budding controversy.
In a recent radio interview at Hardcore Sports, Haywood said that the reason Marbury may be having a problem finding a team is that “GMs won’t touch him, because no one would want to get dressed around him.” There were comments about Marbury’s video of himself dancing to (dubbed in later) “Barbie Doll,” including: “because you gotta think something is a little, he’s swinging from both sides of the fence.”Read more…
Back when he was at UNC around the turn of the century, we figured Brendan Haywood would be a high lottery pick and beast in the NBA; muscled, legit 7-footers don’t just appear out of nowhere, after all. But Haywood slipped to 20th, even though he had the talent to stick in the league for, now, eight years and counting
(Playing with balls GET IT PEOPLE BALLS IT’S A PUN A PLAY ON WORDS)
Perhaps it’s because Haywood’s mouth has been more of a liability than anything else on the court; his beasting has been largely focused on fellow players, sometimes even teammates. He had a long-standing, often physical feud with fellow Washington center Etan Thomas, who’s one of the most erudite members of the entire league. And now he’s on the offensive toward Stephon Marbury… with a heavy emphasis on “offensive.”
One of the more disappointing aspects of being a pro sports fan in modern times is the disconnect that has grown between fan and athlete. In fact, many athletes seem to have outright contempt for the people who watch their every move, and they show it through stonewalling every media inquiry that comes their way.
So it’s refreshing on rare occasion that an athlete sticks his or her neck out and actually has an opinion. It’s even more interesting when an athlete breaks the unwritten code of silence when it comes to other athletes. That’s why Brendan Haywood’s comments regarding Browns receiver Donte’ Stallworth stood out. No band of brothers here, and to tell Haywood tell it, behind the impassive eyes and tired cliches that athletes trot out to their adoring public, some of them might even feel strongly about things.
You may have noticed that during his final round conquest at the Masters, Angel Cabrera somehow wasn’t smoking his customary cigarette. No, it’s not because packs are going for upwards of $10 in New York City. It’s because after his mid-round puff break at the 2007 U.S. Open, Cabrera felt a little self-conscious about how the public might think that he was “out of shape.” As if the fact that he’s a Santa Claus-like obese Argentine who walks like a duck and sweats profusely wouldn’t give that away, the cigarettes were really pushing him over the edge.
Well, Cabrera kicked the habit, and boy wouldn’t you notice that it made a big difference! Except that it didn’t at all. The man still wears golf duds that look like they were ripped out of a 1980s rehab center, he still waddles down the fairway and, as Adam pointed out last night, he still doesn’t speak English, despite camping out on the tour for two straight years.
In fact, when you really break it down, there’s only one thing that was different about Cabrera this weekend: He was chewing lots, and lots and lots of gum. Lots of it. And why, pray tell, would Cabrera be plowing through Seinfeldian cases of gum? One word: Nicorette.
That’s right, Nicorette finally has a golden celebrity sponsor, and he’s even named Angel. If only he could speak English, he could give advice like “Every time I could nervous about two-putting, I popped some Nicorette!” Or, “Every time I shanked a shot into the trees, I remembered I was paired with Kenny Perry and that he’d definitely choke, so I took the time to enjoy a nicotine-laced chomp.”
Oh, if only Angel was fluent in English, then we’d really get to enjoy what he was thinking when he kept giving the thumbs up to the cameras after the green jacket ceremony. Something tells us he thought his jacket came with by swimsuit models. Maybe that was lost in translation, too.
Of course, if Perry had held on to win, we wouldn’t have needed the swimsuit models in the first place, we just could have checked out his daughter. No, not the 14-year-old who was smushed into TV shots with her mother, but the Tennessee Titans cheerleader. Yes, Kenny Perry’s daughter, Lesslye, is a cheerleader for the Titans. And, as you might suspect, she’s fit to be a Titans cheerleader, even though her name is spelled in a way that makes you wonder if her parents spoke English any better than Cabrera.
“It’s pretty cool. I get free tickets to the games.”
Well, that’s a relief. Now if this guy had won the Masters, then we could really relate to him. And to Kentucky, which, in our case, might be a first.
Of course, having Lesslye around makes some things irresistible. Like, say, squeezing things. Evidently, that’s even more pressing when you see a star like Tiger Woods make a big shot in person. Case in point: Check out this video from the 15th green at Augusta yesterday:
Now THAT is one grabby husband! Or partner. Or stranger who happened to be sitting behind a large-breasted woman who, after copious amounts of alcohol, was OK with a fat, drunk guy lean up against her and wrap his arm around her shoulder.
In fact, please let it be option No. 3. That would be beyond hilarious, particularly since it pushed CBS’s Masters coverage into the rarefied air of, well, precisely the kind of crap they show in the middle of the day during the week.
• In case you missed it on Saturday — and it lasted long enough that it started to feel like the furniture toward the midpoint of overtime — the NCAA Div. I hockey championship wasn’t just good, it was all-time great. Maybe even the greatest of all time.
• The Cavs steamrolled the Celtics yesterday, a blowout that was largely overlooked because neither team’s playoff status or seeding was at stake, and Boston was playing without Kevin Garnett. Then Ray Allen decided he’d had about enough of Anderson Varejao, and suddenly, a playoff subplot was born.
• Your official ping pong ball leaders in the Blake Griffin sweepstakes: Sacramento.
• The Dodgers scored a run in the second inning yesterday even though the inning ended with a double play that stranded Andre Ethier at third base. Wait, what?
