"The NBA has conducted a thorough investigation of events relating to this matter," Stern said. "It is not disputed that, following an argument on the team's flight home from a game in Phoenix, both Mr. Arenas and Mr. Crittenton brought guns to the Verizon Center locker room and -- with other players and team personnel present or nearby -- displayed them to one another in a continuation of their dispute. The players engaged in this conduct despite a specific rule set forth in the collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and the Players Association prohibiting players from possessing a weapon at an NBA facility, and reminders of this prohibition given annually by the NBA to players both in writing and in person.
"The issue here is not about the legal ownership and possession of guns, either in one's home or elsewhere. It is about possession of guns in the NBA workplace, which will not be tolerated," Stern said.
The punishment, the third and fourth longest ones given out not concerning drugs or alcohol, was not unexpected for Arenas, who reportedly told Stern that he both expected and deserved to be suspended for the remainder of the season.
Crittenton, on the other hand, has yet to agree to the suspension and is said to be in the works of appealing it through the NBA Players union, if possible.
Besides an NBA sanction, both athletes face legal issues resulting from the incident as well. Crittenton was sentenced to a year of unsupervised probation following his guilty plea to a misdemeanor gun charge. Prosecutors agreed to drop a second misdemeanor charge of attempted carrying a pistol without a license.
Arenas, on the other hand, is still awaiting sentencing for his charge of felony weapons possesion.
