'Untold: The Shooting Guards' reveals how Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton’s locker room gun standoff ended two NBA careers

In December 2009, a heated card game between Washington Wizards teammates spiraled into one of the most bizarre and damaging scandals in NBA history. Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton, once full of promise, brought firearms into their team’s locker room after a gambling dispute turned personal. Now, Netflix’s “Untold: The Shooting Guards” revisits the shocking chain of events and how a single moment unraveled two careers and forced the league to take a hard look at its culture.The incident began during a routine team flight just days before Christmas in 2009. Gilbert Arenas, known for his humor and constant need to push limits, mocked Crittenton over money lost in a card game. What started as trash talk quickly escalated into threats. According to Arenas, he joked about setting Crittenton on fire, only to be met with a chilling response.“He said he would shoot me,” Arenas recalled in the documentary. “I said, ‘Then I’ll bring you the guns to do it.’”On December 21, 2009, Arenas followed through on that reckless statement. He brought multiple unloaded guns into the Wizards’ locker room and placed them near Crittenton’s locker. He told his teammate to pick one. But instead of diffusing the tension, it triggered something far more dangerous. Crittenton responded by pulling out a loaded gun of his own. The confrontation sent teammates fleeing the room and soon became national news.NBA Commissioner David Stern acted quickly, suspending both players for the remainder of the 2009–10 season. Arenas later pleaded guilty to felony gun possession and was sentenced to two years’ probation, 30 days in a halfway house, 400 hours of community service, and a $5,000 fine. Crittenton, charged with a misdemeanor, also received probation.While Arenas eventually returned to the league, his stardom never fully recovered. He retired in 2012. Crittenton’s downfall was even steeper. In 2011, he was arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a bystander and later pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison and released in 2023.The Netflix documentary "Untold: The Shooting Guards" sheds fresh light on the story, with both men finally telling their sides. Arenas reflects with a mix of remorse and bravado. “There’s always a line between being a prankster and going too far,” he said in the film. “And I was always on that line.” Speaking on "The Dan Patrick Show", Arenas later downplayed the drama, insisting, “It wasn’t as drama-filled as the media made it seem.” But public perception and league action said otherwise.Crittenton offers a sobering explanation for his reaction that day. “You keep talking about fighting. I play with guns,” he said in the documentary, portraying himself as someone who felt threatened and acted in fear.The Wizards’ season unraveled after the incident, and the franchise struggled for years to rebuild. More significantly, the NBA reevaluated its locker room environment and player conduct policies. What happened in Washington forced the league to strengthen its stance on weapons and reinforce the responsibilities that come with being a professional athlete.Arenas has reinvented himself as a podcast host and media personality, known for his candid takes and storytelling flair. His on-court brilliance is now viewed through the lens of what could have been. Crittenton, meanwhile, is a cautionary tale—his NBA dreams derailed by a single, fateful decision, and a prison sentence that followed.Also Read: Gilbert Arenas and Laura Govan’s son Alijah receives positive recovery update after Tesla Cybertruck crashNetflix’s documentary doesn’t just revisit a scandal, it exposes the ego, fear, and impulsive choices that turned a locker room standoff into a defining moment for two players and a wake-up call for the NBA.