Gilbert Arenas pulls out his guns

from ESPN.com: NEW YORK -- Gilbert Arenas tried joking about his gun trouble. David Stern found none of it funny.

Arenas was suspended without pay Wednesday by the NBA commissioner, who determined the player's behavior made him "not currently fit to take the court."

day after the Washington Wizards guard was photographed before a game in Philadelphia pointing his index fingers, as if they were guns, at his teammates, Stern warned the former All-Star that his conduct will "ultimately result in a substantial suspension, and perhaps worse."

Arenas is under investigation by federal and local authorities after admittedly bringing guns to the Wizards' locker room. Stern originally planned to wait to take action, but he tired of Arenas' behavior.

On Tuesday, a day after meeting with law enforcement officials, Arenas said he feared Stern more than the authorities because the commissioner was "mean."

Though Arenas first apologized Monday for his poor judgment and promised "to do better in the future," he also joked on Twitter about the incident and the media firestorm it created. That was exactly the wrong tact for Stern, whose league has taken another public relations hit.

"The possession of firearms by an NBA player in an NBA arena is a matter of the utmost concern to us," Stern said.

"Although it is clear that the actions of Mr. Arenas will ultimately result in a substantial suspension, and perhaps worse, his ongoing conduct has led me to conclude that he is not currently fit to take the court in an NBA game," Stern said in a statement. "Accordingly, I am suspending Mr. Arenas indefinitely, without pay, effective immediately pending the completion of the investigation by the NBA."

With each game he misses, Arenas, who turned 28 on Wednesday, will lose about $147,200 of the $16.2 million he will earn this season in the second of a six-year, $111 million contract. As of Wednesday he had $9,429,505.41 remaining for this season.

"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 a statement through his attorney. "I put the NBA in a negative light and let down my teammates and our fans. I am very sorry for doing that."

Arenas added that he had called Stern to apologize.

"While I never intended any harm or disrespect to the NBA or anyone else, my gun possession at the Verizon Center and my attempts at humor showed terrible judgment," he said. "I take full responsibility for my conduct."

"Joke or not, I now recognize that what I did was a mistake and was wrong," Arenas said. "I should not have brought the guns to DC in the first place, and I now realize that there's no such thing as joking around when it comes to guns -- even if unloaded."

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• glibert
• arenas
• guns
• suspension

[bmac2399]

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nice video

[4thAND40]

@bmac2399 thanks for the link.

[cipherP9]

I thought Arenas was a point guard, who knew he was actual a real life "Shooting" guard.

[4thAND40]

@MrJeckel i personally feel bad for the dude, but he does need to learn, guns aren't a game, and you can't joke around with guns.

[MrSouthphillyitalian]

now he's a cowboy

[Flamangatang]

@LilMacDonal No. This video is before all the gun charges. When he got fined, it was for shooting a fake gun in the air during warm ups a few games after he got in trouble and was back playing.

[LilMacDonal]

Thats what he got fined for?

[007DeezNutz]

he did the same thing in the locker room

[mpeeeze14]

everyone duck!

[westup1213]

i didnt see any guns

[samtheman7975]

Gilbert Arenas is a good reason for the wizards to rename themselves the bullets.

[Trickishismael360]

It's not bad that he did that. It's just the context of it.

[garagexkast]

@4thAND40 oh comoene man seriously? u cant pretend a fake gun? seriously so every kid in this world is bad? its a joke dude and a great joke. laugh a little seriously

[Du30ke]

Hes actually holstering his guns, not putting them away