Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Kavanaugh said the charge stemmed from a Dec. 19 dispute between Arenas and another Wizards player over a card game on a team flight back from a game in Phoenix. Kavanaugh did not identify the other player, but authorities searched the home of Wizards guard Javaris Crittenton for a gun on Thursday. Crittenton has not been charged, and his agent denied wrongdoing.
Kavanaugh said “the other player” offered to settle matters with a fist fight, but Arenas said he was too old for that and would instead burn the other player’s car or shoot him in the face. The teammate replied he would shoot Arenas in the knee. Arenas missed most of the past two seasons after having a series of operations on his left knee.
Two days later, Kavanaugh said, Arenas brought at least one gun—a .500 Magnum revolver—to the Wizards’ arena in a black backpack, then put four guns on a chair in front of the teammate’s locker with a sign saying, “Pick 1.” Court documents do not specify when Arenas brought the other three guns to the locker room, including a gold-plated Desert Eagle .50-caliber semi-automatic.
According to Kavanaugh, when the other player asked something along the lines of, “What is this?,” Arenas responded with words to the effect of: “You said you were going to shoot me, so pick one.” The other player said he had his own gun, threw one of Arenas’ weapons across the room and then displayed his own firearm, Kavanaugh said.