[dramatic music playing]
[tense music playing]
[Gilbert Arenas] To be a star in the NBA,
you have to be
an image that people will buy.
And I was one of those players.
[commentator]
Here's Arenas. This for the win.
- [buzzer sounds]
- Yes!
[crowd cheers]
[Arenas] You're not a regular-a*s person.
You are a business.
- [fan] Gilbert.
- [fan 2] Gilbert!
[Arenas] I was the golden boy.
I was on billboards.
I was on the cover of a video game.
I had my own shoe line.
I was the likeable dude.
[commentator] Gilbert, for the win. Yeah!
Agent Zero wins the game
at the buzzer for Washington.
[Arenas] But sometimes,
you can end up going down a road
that you don't want to be on.
[tense music swells]
[man] Authorities in Washington, DC
are investigating reports
that pro basketball players
drew g*ns on each other
inside their locker room last week.
New, headline-grabbing mix
of superstars and g*ns.
Everyone's talking about this.
This is far beyond sports.
Arenas tweeted, quote,
"I wake up this morning
and seen I was the new John Wayne."
Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.
- [man] Seen any g*ns in the locker room?
- Nah, never.
You gotta be prepared when
you're dealing with someone like Gil.
[man laughs in surprise] Oh!
Gilbert was such
a household name at that time.
I think people forget
there was another player involved.
[reporter] Taking g*ns has proven costly
for Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton.
- [man] Javaris Crittenton.
- [woman] Javaris Crittenton.
[man 2] Javaris Crittenton had
the ability to change his destiny.
He didn't do that.
He chose the wrong path.
[dramatic music playing]
I think our decisions that day
ruined his life.
[foreboding note plays]
[man on radio]
Former NBA star Javaris Crittenton
was sentenced in 2015
to 23 years in prison.
His attorney confirmed
that he was resentenced,
and scheduled to be released immediately.
[eerie music playing]
[Javaris Crittenton] When I played
everything back over in my mind,
like, man, how did you get here?
It's some f*cked up sh*t
that don't make sense.
But at the same time,
life is about choices
and how you deal with things,
know what I mean?
All I know how to do is be honest.
So we're gonna cut the bullshit right now.
[music intensifies]
[Arenas] When I was a little kid,
me and my father moved
from Tampa to Los Angeles
because he had dreams
of being a Hollywood star.
He really wanted to be famous.
[Gilbert Arenas Sr.]
I felt like trying to be an actor,
raise money for both me and him,
and possibly for my family.
As you say, Hollywood. [laughs]
[Arenas] He worked as
a bodyguard for Mike Tyson,
Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme.
So I got to see a lot of,
you know, movie stars growing up.
The stigma of growing up in the Valley
is soft, like Santa Monica or Malibu.
You know, what we consider whitewashed.
You know, um...
It's a safe place, how about that?
[woman] Two more, that's all we need.
Come on. Yeah, come on, let's go! Yes!
- [kid whoops]
- [boy] We won our first game!
- [woman] Okay, here, interview him.
- Ahh!
[woman] Tell me about it.
[young Arenas] It was wonderful.
- [laughing]
- [boy] He looked.
[boy 2] Tell me about that block.
It was wonderful.
[Arenas] I think my personality
was probably just, you know...
I was a guy that took all the tops
off the, you know, the sprinklers.
Dyed a jacuzzi red.
Looks like somebody, you know,
was bleeding and that.
The bus comedian.
Used to switch kids' lunches.
You know, where I could sit back and just...
[snickers] "Oh yeah, he's pissed."
[laughing]
[kids clamoring]
[boy] Yeah!
[kids laughing]
[Arenas] You know, when you're growing up,
you're just creating personalities
to protect yourself.
Look at this, look at this.
[Arenas] And I learned that from my dad
without even knowing.
You know, growing up,
like, I never met my mother.
So, um, I was raised by my father,
you know, single father.
But no matter what he was going through,
the house was always laughter.
He's an actor,
but, you know, he loved funny.
And so it seemed to me early in life
that the best actors were comedians.
They could turn
the drama of life into comedy.
My persona was a jokester.
I dealt with pain through laughter.
No matter what was going on in my life,
I can turn it into comedy.
So I never took nothing serious.
[producer] Walk me through your childhood.
What was young Javaris like?
Um...
Young Javaris, boy,
that was a long time ago, man. [laughs]
Um...
[whimsical music playing]
I was born in Atlanta, Georgia.
Capitol Homes Projects, to be exact.
It wasn't the best place to grow up in.
A lot of poverty, drugs, violence.
But at the same time,
I have some of my best memories there.
Even though you were in the hood,
we had love.
I was raised by a lot of women.
My mom, my grandma, aunties.
They taught me respect.
They taught me how to love.
They taught me the importance of family.
[Sonya Dixon Terry] I had Javaris
when I was a senior in high school.
At that time in my life,
Javaris was my life.
When I worked and went to school,
either my mom
or my grandmother watched him.
We all had a shift, you know.
That's the reason why Javaris,
you know, became who he is.
But there's only so much
that a mother can teach a son.
Certain things has to come from a man.
You know, and, um,
Javaris didn't have that.
[poignant music playing]
[Crittenton] It was a challenge
not having many male figures in my life.
It was like, I didn't really know
how to respect men like that.
It's not that I would be disrespectful.
How do you receive it?
Because I'm not used to receiving it.
[Terry] For Javaris,
respect is everything.
You can't even be around him
if you're not respectful.
That's how we were taught.
We... We don't do that.
These have been my beliefs since a kid.
You know, like, I don't let people
talk to me any type of way,
treat me any type of way.
Even once I learned to respect, you know,
coaches and the men, you know,
that I didn't know, like,
I'm big on respect.
I'm big on giving it,
and I'm big on getting it.
[Arenas] When I got to high school,
the idea of being an NBA player
wasn't realistic to me.
[intriguing music playing]
I didn't think that I was good enough
to be an NBA player.
- [man] Number 25, Gilbert Arenas.
- [kid] Come on, Gil! Come on, Gil. Yeah!
[Arenas] I felt I was behind the curve,
so I had to make up for it.
So every part of my day
had to do with basketball.
[fan] Gil!
[Howard Levine] He was kind of goofy,
kind of a prankster a little bit.
He was always ready with a joke,
and always ready to laugh.
[producer] How do you know Gil?
[laughing] How do I know Gil?
I was his high school basketball coach,
his varsity basketball coach.
[crowd yelling and cheering]
I don't think he believed
that he was a real basketball player yet,
but I've been around
a lot of basketball players,
and what he had, I'd never seen
before on this side of the Valley.
[cheering]
I remember Coach says,
"Can I talk to you outside, son?"
"Oh sh*t, I did something wrong."
[Levine] I said, "Gil,
I'm going to say something to you
that I'm probably
never going to say again."
"You have a chance at becoming
a professional basketball player."
And he's looking at me like,
"What? What are you talking about?"
[commentator]
Oh my! It's the Gilbert Arenas Show!
[Arenas] I ended up at Arizona.
Now I'm in shape,
faster, stronger than I was before.
[commentator] I tell you, he's a big-time
athlete. He's got style, he's got flair.
It's great to see
a kid that didn't get that publicity,
and he comes out
and just earns a position on the floor.
[Arenas] I led the team in scoring.
We go to the National Championship game,
and after that, I was like,
"Okay, I'm going to enter the draft."
[stirring music playing]
Right before the NBA Draft,
you have pre-draft camp,
which is like The Hunger Games, right?
So one-on-one, five-on-five.
You know, we're doing a shuttle drill.
Here is the apex, this is the jungle.
Who is the top lion?
I'm coming out as him.
The media was doing questioning,
and they asked me,
"What do you wanna get out of being in
the NBA? What do you wanna be in the NBA?"
And I was like,
"Yeah, I want to be a pimp."
[humorous notes playing]
The guy says,
"Wait, excuse me, what did you just say?"
Now I have two choices.
Back down, which now makes me look weak,
or double down,
which I don't back down from anything.
So I said, "Oh, my bad."
"I want to be an international pimp."
[music ends]
And the look in his face,
like, "Oh sh*t." Right? [laughing]
[dramatic music playing]
Going into that draft day,
that moment, I'm confident.
[commentator]
It's a big night in the big city,
and all roads lead to the Garden.
I was praised for my skill work,
so that's what I was dependent on.
[Levine] It was expected that he was
gonna be drafted in the first round,
which means it's no-cut contract
and a lot of money and all this,
da-da-da-da-da-da-da.
With the third pick in the 2001 draft,
the Atlanta Hawks select Pau Gasol.
[applause]
The Detroit Pistons select
Rodney White from Charlotte.
[people cheering]
[Arenas] So you start
hearing names come off the board.
I remember my college teammate,
Richard Jefferson, hitting me.
He was like, "Hey, good luck in the draft.
I think I'm about to get called soon."
"You're gonna be called before me?"
The third or fourth
best player on our team.
"Get the f*ck out of here." Is he crazy?
"Are you crazy? You're crazy, man." Click.
The Houston Rockets select Richard
Jefferson from the University of Arizona.
- What?!
- [music cuts off]
- How... What?!
- [dramatic music resumes]
A couple guys kind of slipped in there
and moved Gilbert down.
[Arenas] So now
it's the second round, and then...
[man] The Golden State Warriors
select Gilbert Arenas.
[music ends]
I'm feeling...
cheated.
[ominous music playing]
It seemed like I was getting
a penalty for my behavior.
You know, a few things
was going against me. Um...
You know, I was immature.
I bumped heads with the conventional NBA
when I said the pimp phrase.
If I had to do it over again, would I?
[music ends]
Yeah.
[ball dribbling]
[Crittenton] Basketball, for me,
was my first love.
What I put all of myself into.
[gentle piano music playing]
In the third grade,
I remember me in a Hawks uniform,
walking around
with a basketball in my hands.
Like, this was a part of my destiny.
[Terry] As a child, I remember Javaris
watching the television,
and he turned back and he looked at me,
he said, "Mom, I'm going to the NBA."
[hopeful string music playing]
At that moment, it just hit me, like,
maybe he knows
what he's talking about, you know?
[time buzzer sounds]
[Terry] Take your time, Javaris.
All right!
[announcer] At guard,
number one, Javaris Crittenton!
[Crittenton] I was at
Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy.
I was a really focused kid.
I got good grades.
I put all my energy,
all my heart into playing basketball,
and just trying to make it.
[man 1] Javaris Crittenton.
[man 2] One word, expl*sive.
He attacks you off the dribble.
He's got three-point range.
[man 1] The shot,
and Crittenton's starting to feel it!
[Crittenton] I was the total package.
One of the top players in the country.
Me and Dwight Howard was
on the same high school team.
[commentator] Here's Crittenton on
a three-on-one break, trying to go up top.
That's how you give it to the big guy!
[Crittenton] We had, you know, this bond.
So, playing with Dwight was super dope.
Like, okay,
we're about to do something great.
[commentator] And a steal by Crittenton!
And he'll take it all the way!
[crowd cheering]
[man] Javaris Crittenton's
a state champion.
[Crittenton] I'm a very spiritual person.
Like, I believe my talent comes from God.
I just try to have faith, you know?
It was always Dwight's teammate,
you know? Now it's me.
What do we know
about Javaris Crittenton, point guard?
[reporter] Today's youth,
tomorrow's stars.
It's the 2006 McDonald's High School
All-American Game.
[tense music playing]
[Crittenton]
Being a McDonald's All-American,
it don't get no better than that.
[exciting music playing]
It's a prestigious accolade.
You know, you got
the top 24 players in the country,
so when they select you for that,
that's a good feeling.
That's the best of the best.
[commentator]
A three for Javaris Crittenton.
Crittenton, a terrific player.
[Crittenton] I was getting
heavily recruited by
almost every top school in the country.
Billy Donovan, Roy Williams, Coach K.
Just to go from getting
your first college letter
to 5, now I'm getting 10,
now I got 100. Now, like...
These people really want me to play
for their school. That's a good feeling.
At that moment, I...
I was just overwhelmed.
I was like, I can't believe this.
This is like a dream.
But I didn't really want him to go away.
I was afraid for him to go away.
[Crittenton] Born and raised here.
To have the support of my city,
my family, my friends,
that was super important to me.
So, that's what made me
stay in Atlanta and go to Georgia Tech.
The buzz is back for
the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
The next great point guard in line
looks to be Javaris Crittenton.
Javaris, you're such a great point guard
in the state of Georgia.
We know you can sh**t,
we know you can dunk.
Can you catch the ball, Javaris?
We know you can dish it as well.
Nice catch.
Coach Paul Hewitt getting a fine player.
He'll join Thaddeus Young.
- Congratulations, Javaris.
- Thank you.
[stirring music playing]
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] We'll see how
the Yellow Jackets move around this.
Crittenton moved very nicely.
[Crittenton] So many great point guards
came out of Georgia Tech.
I was like, man, I want my name
to be added to that list
of a player that made it to the NBA.
Going into the draft, Atlanta had
the third pick and the 11th pick.
And so, I'm thinking, like,
hometown kid, hometown hero,
please let me go to Atlanta.
Please don't let them pass me.
The Atlanta Hawks select
Al Horford from the University of Florida.
The Atlanta Hawks select
Acie Law IV from Texas A&M University.
[despondent note playing]
It was like a heartbreak.
Like, man, Atlanta really just
passed on me, so I'm leaving Atlanta.
[man] With the 19th pick,
the Los Angeles Lakers select
Javaris Crittenton from Georgia Tech.
And I'm like... Like, what?
I'm kind of shocked.
Like, I'm about to be a Laker.
[hopeful music playing]
This is my dream.
Like, I'm really about to play with Kobe.
I'm really about to be
coached by Phil Jackson.
What in the world?
A Laker, you know what I mean?
I just spoke with Phil upstairs,
and I was just excited to meet him.
[reporter] You know how tough
he is on rookies, though?
No, I don't really know.
That's when it hit me.
I'm really about to leave home.
I'm really about to leave
my comfort and what I'm used to.
[Terry] I was proud of my son.
He did better than
a whole lot of kids from the projects.
He did well.
[music ends]
[producer] Tell me what it means to be
associated with the Los Angeles Lakers.
[chuckles]
Um, being associated
with the Los Angeles Lakers
is like being part of the royal family.
[crowd cheering]
[determined music playing]
The Lakers have a special place in
just about every household in Los Angeles.
There's just so much winning
that's taken place
throughout the history
of the organization.
So when you're a part of it,
there's an expectation that you're going
to continue to win at that level.
You're expected to be a champion.
During the '07-'08 season,
I was the player development
and draft workout coach.
So I spent a lot of time in the gym.
Which is where I met my guy,
Javaris Crittenton.
[indistinct yelling]
Javaris Crittenton was
a hell of a basketball player.
[man] Yes!
I kind of felt
a responsibility for him, 'cause
we spent so much time
together on the court.
He was a great, great young man
when we got him.
[whimsical music playing]
[Crittenton] I get to LA.
Like, my eyes are wide.
I just see, you know, the nice weather,
the pretty women,
all the stuff I see in the movies.
Trying to adapt to new surroundings.
[young Crittenton]
Last night, I couldn't sleep well.
I kept waking up, looking at the clock,
is it time, is it time yet?
Come out here and give my best effort.
Whatever the coaches need me to do.
Let's be clear, he was elite.
And so when we drafted him,
obviously you're excited about the talent.
But in our offense,
better known as the triangle,
it's all about ball and player movement,
having proper spacing, creating angles.
And most college players
don't play that way,
especially an elite player like Javaris.
[Phil Jackson] Javaris is going
to have to learn one thing.
That we're going to have to impress
upon him is the value of the ball.
Javaris' first game in Staples Center,
he, um...
Yeah, he didn't dress.
[ominous tone playing]
Not being allowed to put the uniform on,
that's another level
from just not being put in the game.
It was like an energy
that was taken from him.
"We don't think you're good enough."
That's the message he got.
[Crittenton] To go from
being a star my whole life
and then, you know,
getting minutes here and there,
and not playing sometimes at all,
that... that's difficult.
There was some anger and resentment
that he harbored directly toward Phil.
He took it personally,
but that was a basketball decision.
This is business.
It crushed me because I had my family,
everybody tuned in.
Like, he made it
and this is his first game.
And to get
so many text messages and calls,
like, "Yo, was you even on the...
Like, what happened?"
And I just didn't know, like, what to say.
Like, I didn't know how
to make it make sense to anybody.
Didn't make sense.
[Tommy Sheppard] I joined
the Washington Wizards in 2003.
I was the assistant general manager
during that time.
When I first got here, you know,
it was a brand-new slate.
[woman] If you're a Wizards fan,
you're wondering if there's
a light at the end of the tunnel.
- The team hasn't won a game this season.
- [man laughing]
Yeah, that light is a train coming at you.
That's what it is with the Wizards.
[Sheppard] 2003,
that was a very difficult time.
Michael Jordan had just left.
That's the icon of basketball,
and he just left town.
Went to the game last night.
I'm very disappointed. It's tough to see.
We need some excitement.
It's been very depressing.
We need something to pump us up.
Trying to instill faith that
the Wizards are going to be in good hands
and it's going to be an exciting ride,
that was a challenge.
You know, and then enter Gilbert Arenas.
[dramatic tone plays]
Gilbert was a free agent that summer,
and his talent was very, very underserved
with the Golden State at the time,
but I think everybody in the league
knew this guy could play.
[commentator] Gilbert, the leap...
- [whistle blows]
- To lay it in and draw the foul!
[exciting music playing]
We saw the potential in Gilbert,
and put him
in the opportunity to come to DC,
and put the team
in his hands, essentially.
[man] Gilbert, welcome to DC.
We're here in the nation's capital.
What type of player is Gilbert Arenas?
Excitement, energy, never let up.
[commentator] Gilbert Arenas,
all the way to the rack.
[Arenas] When I went to the Wizards,
I was really welcomed early.
[commentator]
Here's Gilbert, sets for three.
How do you like that?
[Arenas] I'm becoming a star, right?
I got my... my nickname, Agent Zero.
[announcer]
And at guard, he is Agent Zero!
[Arenas] Some called me the Hibachi.
[commentator] Arenas,
he's got that Hibachi thing going.
If you was on the wrong side
of my sh**ting night,
you was being hibachied.
You was being cooked.
Welcome back to Cooking with Gil.
Gilbert Arenas, I don't want to
grill it on the Hibachi for you. [laughs]
Now, that was prime time television
watching back then.
[Stephen A. Smith] Gilbert Arenas
is an all-star in this game.
A fantastic individual,
a fantastic player.
[Commentator] Arenas, for the win, yes!
[man] Gilbert Arenas propels the Wizards
to their first playoff series win
in 23 years.
[Arenas] Every single night,
I'm putting on for the city.
Everyone was proud to be a Wizard fan.
[all cheering]
Gil helped put the Wizards on the map.
Gil is in the building, family!
[Nick Young] Gil was the face of DC.
[commentator] Gilbert, for the win! Oh!
Agent Zero wins the game
at the buzzer for Washington!
No matter where I went,
I was the golden child of the city.
In Gil we trust!
They saw Gilbert, and they saw hope.
[Arenas] It was a dream,
but the power I had in Washington,
it's something I never had before,
so I'm still trying to be a kid
- with an adult responsibility.
- [music fades out]
[man] So what do you do
when you're not playing ball in LA?
Chill, man, just try to rest.
- [man] Anything you're looking forward to?
- Just being able to play an actual game.
[Crittenton] After the opening night,
it crushed my spirit, and I didn't
even know how to recover, honestly.
My confidence took a... a hit.
[commentator] Ripped it. Oh, harsh.
Just can't find enough PT
to show what he has to offer.
- [somber music playing]
- [Crittenton] I was embarrassed,
you know, not playing that much.
And when I used to come home
from practice or working out,
man, I would sleep so much
from being depressed,
which made it even tougher on me,
because it's like,
I'm out in LA by myself,
and I don't have many people
that I know or many friends.
Like, damn, I ain't got nobody to talk to.
My family was missing.
I ain't got nobody to motivate me.
I ain't got nobody to tell me
what I'm doing right or wrong.
I didn't... I didn't have none of that.
[Terry] He was ready for the NBA,
but he was not ready to be alone.
You're an NBA player at 19,
and you have nothing but idle time.
Pocket full of money,
and you're in a city like LA,
where if you have the means,
you can do basically whatever you want.
This place eats up people all the time.
[man] Javaris Crittenton is living life.
Look at this guy.
Javaris, you're just living life
to the fullest, man.
- All these beautiful ladies.
- [man] Beautiful ladies. Look at this.
[Crittenton] My teammates told me,
"When you get out to LA,
these are things you gotta do,
you want to keep your name buzzing,
you wanna go out to the clubs."
And I'm so focused on basketball,
and I'm depressed.
Like, I'm not trying to...
I'm not trying to hang like that.
You know what I mean?
But one night,
we went out to the club,
and I'm waiting on my car.
Some guys came and tried to, like,
uh, snatch my necklace and run.
I'm literally fighting, like,
four guys in the street by myself.
But me, where I come from,
and just my heart is like,
"Ain't nobody finna take nothing from me."
Like, you...
Walk up and snatch something off my neck?
We're not going out like that.
[siren blaring]
You know, my brother
and my family back in Atlanta,
they had already been telling me,
"Don't think LA is just Hollywood,
and all the glitz and glamour."
"There's plenty of gangbangers."
"There's plenty of robbings, killings."
"Like, don't go out by yourself.
Go out with our people."
[ominous music playing]
[distant siren wailing]
[Young] You know,
being in LA, being not from LA,
it's hard.
You got to know your spots to pick.
You got to know where to go.
He ended up running with
the wrong crowd, I think, after that.
Me and Javaris used to
work out every summer.
And, you know, he took his shirt off.
I'm like, "Man, what's that?"
And I seen, like, a big C tatted
on his rib with a blue flag.
I'm like, oh, man.
I said, "You're losing your mind now.
I thought you was playing with this."
Javaris started hanging out
with the Mansfields Crips.
I've known that g*ng just because
I grew up not too far from them.
[troubling music playing]
He ended up being pretty much a part
of the... Part of the set, yeah, for sure.
[Hazzard] What happens is somebody from
your family knows somebody from this g*ng.
"I'm going to connect you
with the guy from this g*ng,
and he's gonna make sure you're good."
[Crittenton] People from Mansfield, we're
not relatives, we're not blood-related,
but you can have somebody
that's like your brother,
know what I mean? And y'all not blood,
but it's like your brother is family.
Me being from the projects in Atlanta,
I can relate to them,
they can relate to me.
It's like now I got support,
now I got somebody to talk to,
and that's what I was missing.
[Young] Being in LA,
being a part of a g*ng,
they take that serious,
and you can't go back from that.
[Hazzard] Coming to
a place like Los Angeles
was a tough break for him, I believe.
It just wasn't a great fit.
It wasn't a great fit for him.
[Sheppard] At that time, we made
the playoffs three years in a row,
and at the middle of all that
was Gilbert Arenas,
but we lost in the first round
back-to-back.
Our team was slowing down, it was getting
older, injuries were taking its toll,
and we were always trying to find
those unpolished gems out there
that maybe could come in
and help the team.
- [man] One, two, three...
- Wizards!
[Crittenton] In 2008,
I was traded to Washington.
I'm like, this is a great opportunity,
a new beginning.
It gave me a chance
to get out there and play.
Sometimes you need a change of scenery,
and I came in
with a lot of confidence, you know?
Javaris was still an intriguing talent,
and I think everybody felt,
"This guy's going to be
a surprise player."
[Crittenton] When I came in,
like, Gil took a liking to me.
I took a liking to him too,
like, "Dang, dude is cool," you know?
I'll never forget, we're working out,
and I blew my shoes out,
and we're in the middle of the workout.
Gil was on the sideline watching,
like, rooting us on.
And I was like, "Yo, what size you wear?"
He's like, "13."
"Hey, here, keep k*lling."
Like, he took his shoes off his feet
and gave them to me.
I was trying to figure it out.
I was almost like, "Dang,
what's his angle?" Know what I mean?
[Arenas] When we traded for him,
he had that spirit of wanting to be great.
I was his automatic big brother.
Come on to the family, what do you need?
[Crittenton] I really think
he knew that I looked up to him.
Like, when you receive any type of love,
support, like, that means a lot, man.
But they said,
"Don't get caught up in Gil's antics."
I'm lost, like, "What antics?"
They was like...
Like, "You'll see."
[Arenas] Of course, that is the kid.
Holla at your boy right in front,
so n*gg*s can see who it is.
[Arenas]
Inside the locker room is our playground.
And the players we had
on the Wizards is young kids.
- How you doing? How you doing?
- [Daniels] What's up, bro?
- [Arenas] Hey, how you doing, Billy T?
- I'm living small like a golf ball, bro.
Hey, say what's up, rook? Hey!
[Blatche] When I got
to the Wizards, I was the only rookie,
even though we had Tyshawn Taylor.
But I was 18, coming out of high school.
And Gilbert, he was just a jokester.
He's a silly guy.
Kong!
[all laughing]
[Arena] Rookie enjoys the very laughter.
[Young] After I was
drafted to the Wizards,
believe it or not,
Gil was the first person to call me.
So I thought... I was like,
"This is going to be dope."
Oh, sh*t.
Hey, I'm tired, boss.
He owes me so much f*cking money.
His kids gonna be mad at me,
how much money that n*gga owes me.
[Blatche] It seemed like it was his job
to try to break me off the court.
He just do stuff to get under my skin.
[Arenas] Oh my Lord.
Get out your nose, n*gga!
[laughing]
[Arenas] You know,
I'm messing with the team.
It brings you together.
Is this your watch?
Yeah, it's my watch.
It was in the back of my locker.
When I did see my teammates,
that's where I turned into the jokester,
the clown.
What's up!
Ladies and gentlemen!
Kong!
[laughter]
Kong in person.
There he is.
Whoo!
That n*gga is ugly! Ugly!
[Crittenton] I know he's super goofy,
but, you know, it's just certain stuff.
Like, I'm not...
I'm just not going for certain stuff.
[Arenas] He is a l*sbian starter kit
with those t*tties he have there.
- Show the cameras those t*tties.
- Where's he going? I'd like to know.
[Crittenton] I've never been in
a locker room where people play like that.
That's highly disrespectful.
But, obviously,
stuff like that goes on in the NBA.
[Arenas] I'm walking down the hall
to the coach's office
'cause they're studying
about the next game.
[Young] I remember
we had a g*ns awareness meeting.
He comes into the meeting with a BB g*n.
He sh**t me in front of everybody.
Shot him right in the arm. Boom!
"What are we here talking about?"
It was funny, but it was just,
Gil would go to the extreme.
[laughter]
[Arenas] You b*tch!
[Storey] Gil.
[Arenas] You... You b*tch!
Ah! [laughs]
[sinister tone plays]
It's dangerous in there.
Guess who got soaked taking a sh*t?
[Blatche] Gilbert, he just knows
how to get under your skin.
He knows how to get a response out of you.
- [Arenas] What? He wants to whip my a*s?
- [man] Yeah.
- [Arenas] All right.
- Hold on.
[Arenas] ♪ n*gga be ugly as hell! ♪
- [man] What happened? Why are you--
- [Arenas laughs]
- [clattering and banging]
- [man] Oh!
[Arenas] Somebody get the camera.
[Crittenton] I'm not a troublemaker.
I don't do no pranks.
I ain't been in no type of trouble.
[man] You got your a*s kicked, son.
I hope don't nobody try me like that or do
nothing crazy like that because I just,
I don't play like that where I come from.
[Arenas laughing]
He hits like a girl.
- [groans]
- [Arenas laughs]
- [man 1] Are you bleeding? You bleeding?
- [man 2] He's bleeding.
[Arenas] There's always this line between
being a prankster and going too far,
and I was always on that line.
[producer] What is team travel like?
What are team airplanes like?
Team travel, team airplane is...
It's private.
Um...
We do what we want.
Most of the time it's cards,
it's bonding, it's gambling.
[Crittenton] I wasn't new to gambling when
I got to the NBA, but it was different.
Players done wrote
$70,000 checks, $50,000 checks.
It's that serious.
Every part of the NBA
is testing your manhood.
"What you wanna do?" "Let's play cards."
"How much you gonna bet?" "I don't care,
[Crittenton] So we got a flight
from LA to Phoenix, which is 45 minutes.
We're gambling.
We're doing what we normally do.
So you got me, Gil,
Earl Boykins, and JaVale.
I don't start off gambling. I'm asleep.
It's a three-man game.
Earl let JaVale borrow
some money across the table.
Then JaVale won, like, three big pots.
He was raking in big pots.
So he tried to give Earl Boykins a little
bit of the money that he owed him.
Just a little bit of it. And I was like...
I was like, "JaVale, pay the person
what you owe them," or whatnot.
I woke up from them arguing.
So I guess while I was asleep, JaVale
must have borrowed 200 bucks from Earl.
[laughs]
So Earl's like, "You got all the money.
Can I get my 200 bucks back?"
Which is a no-no, right?
Don't give life to a dead dog. Right?
So JaVale's like, "No, nah, nah,
I'll give it to you when we land."
"We got 30 minutes. When we land,
I'll give you the money back."
And Javaris got pissed about that.
Like, "Come on, man. You got
all the m*therf*cking money on the table."
Right? "Give that man his money."
That's what triggered me.
Like, "Yo, come on, dog." Like,
"Why are you going at them?
This has nothing to do with you."
"Right? You owe me money,
and you don't hear me talking sh*t."
So Gil said something like, "How the f*ck
are you going to tell him what to do?"
"And you, you're just as young as him."
Or... It was... I can't remember what it was
verbatim, but it was off the wall.
I'm like, "Who are you talking to?"
He's like, "I'm talking to you."
So now I see he's triggered.
So I'm going to keep... [clicks tongue]
"Right, so, here's the cards."
"Here's the cards, little man."
Boom, boom, boom.
"There you go, bro."
Right, so I'm just f*cking with him now.
[Blatche] I'm sitting
right behind them on the plane.
And you can see from everybody's faces
and how tense it was,
something was going on.
Javaris gets out of his seat,
hot, walks at me.
"What kind of man are you?"
It was one of those.
I tell him something like, "I'll beat
your a*s." We're going back and forth.
"I don't know who you think I am."
"I'm not any of these other dudes
you be playing with like that."
- [ominous music playing]
- We're in front of the team.
So now you got all the players like,
"Oh, yeah, what you going to do, Gil?"
You see Andray Blatche
take off his headphones.
People start sitting up because they hear
it's getting real, it's getting intense.
I take my headphones off.
I'm like, "Okay."
"Yo, when you drive into the arena,
I'll throw gas on your car,
burn it while you're in there."
That was my threat to him.
"You ain't finna set my car on fire.
Why? we ain't going to play like that."
"We're going to respect each other."
What I was doing
was purposely to irritate Javaris.
That's what I do.
So you can just see him just fuming.
If you sh**t up my car, I'm going to
sh**t you in them bum-a*s knees you got.
"It's already bad.
What do I give a sh*t for?"
"I'm going to sh**t you
in your good knee."
"My good knee? You done took it too far."
"You keep talking about fighting,
like, I play with g*ns.
You better ask about me."
My comeback was,
"I want to see you do it.
I'll bring you the g*ns."
"I'll bring you a g*n.
I dare you to sh**t me tomorrow."
"Are you man enough?
Do you have two of these to sh**t me?"
"You ain't got the cojones
to do nothing like that."
"You ain't even built
to do nothing like that."
[ominous music intensifies then fades out]
[Young] When we land in the airport,
and we sitting on the runway,
Gil puts his headphones on
and starts playing Michael Jackson.
♪ So you want to go startin' somethin'?
Got to be startin' somethin'! ♪
♪ You want to be startin' somethin'?
You want to be startin' somethin'? ♪
I'm laughing like, man.
Nobody really think
it's going to really carry over.
Like, you know.
Yeah.
And...
Everybody get in their cars and go home.
[Crittenton] We had an off day
before we came back.
And...
So I'm sitting here
playing all this stuff back.
And I'll never forget,
I'm not just trying to say this,
I prayed. I prayed that night. I'm like...
[tense music playing]
I really don't know what to do.
I had a chrome 9mm.
I'm like, man, do I take my g*n
to the locker room just for protection?
It was just like,
help me make the right decision.
Gil had made threats to my life.
Now my mind is going,
"You done took me back to the hood."
Other players had stories like,
"Gil did this," or, "Gil crazy."
There was rumors that he used to
keep g*ns in the locker room.
What is he really going to do?
I don't know,
but it's going to be something crazy.
What's something crazy?
I had 460-something g*ns.
I mean,
you're talking about Street Sweepers,
AK-47s from the, you know, the '60s.
I had them for... for collection.
In college, my girlfriend at the time,
her father collected g*ns.
You know, I said, "Hey,
if I ever make it to the NBA,
I want to buy your collection."
Once I went to Washington,
I was always seeking,
adding to my collection.
So, where I get my g*ns from is Arizona.
It was one of those states
where you go in, you say,
"Oh, I need a rocket launcher," right?
[laughs]
You know, "Here you go."
So whenever we landed in Phoenix,
first thing I do, go to the g*n place,
get it, put it on the bus,
get in the airport,
and then boom, we're gone.
For the most part,
no one even knew I had them.
A few days later,
before I leave for practice,
I'm like, "sh*t, I gotta bring the g*ns.
He said he'd sh**t me."
I'm looking at my collection,
all the g*ns just displayed out, you know?
And I'm like, all right,
what can I get him?
It's like about 7:00 a.m.
- [tense music playing]
- I'm driving to the arena.
Go into the locker room.
I'm the only one in there.
Got the tiger stripe Desert Eagle,
Smith & Wesson 500.
I'm more showing off than really,
like, this is a real threat.
I put it on his chair.
Then I realized,
he ain't gonna know what this is.
Ah, I need a note!
So I wrote one,
and then went about my day.
[Crittenton] I'm on my way to practice.
Man, this is the craziest part.
When I get to the locker room,
there's g*ns on my seat,
and there's a sign that say pick one.
So I'm like, ain't no way, man.
I got wind, it's like,
"Yo, Javaris is here." [gasps]
So, I see him looking, picking them up.
I went out like, "Yeah, there you go."
"You said you was going to sh**t me,
so there you go, I... I gave you g*ns."
[Blatche] Like a movie,
Javaris came in behind him
and started walking to his locker,
and, uh, things escalated.
It's like, "Okay,
you really want to do this?"
"You really want to try me?"
He was like, "I don't need this bullshit!"
And threw it. Threw it across the room.
He threw it like it was a toy,
like it was nothing.
I never in my life believed in slow motion
until that moment.
Everything started happening
in slow motion.
When the g*n hit the floor, boom,
it didn't go off.
That's when Javaris, he said,
"What I need you for? I got mine."
People were screaming, running out, like...
I don't know Javaris got g*ns like that,
but people don't know
if it's loaded or not.
Yeah, I can't, you know,
tell you if his g*n was loaded.
That's for, you know, him to disclose.
There ain't no point of...
carrying a g*n with no b*ll*ts in it.
Like...
It was scary, bro.
I ain't gonna lie, it was kind of scary.
I was definitely scared. Not gonna lie.
I thought it was going to go off.
My heart racing, you know,
because it's like, man,
you making me feel like you finna...
something finna happen.
Javaris was like,
"I'm not taking no sh*t right now."
But I don't think
Gilbert would have let it...
escalate to the point where somebody
would actually get harmed, you know,
get shot or k*lled.
I think that startled him,
seeing I had that g*n in my hand.
It was like, "Okay, whatever I was on,
whatever I was thinking, show's over.
Show's canceled."
Javaris and Gilbert,
they kept yapping a little bit,
and it was just like,
now it's a normal, regular day.
It's just a regular day now.
Like, it's over.
The tension just kind of
went from sky high
to kind of, like,
"Okay, now we leveling back out."
That was really the... the... the end of it.
Well, we thought, right? You know.
[city traffic noises]
[Peter Vecsey] Here's something for you.
You ready for this?
I used to hang out with Iverson,
and we became tight because I loved Allen.
I was around Allen all the time.
We'd go and... Parties.
He would invite us to a party.
I remember we were at a party one night,
and Iverson goes outside, you know.
f*cking, somebody took shots at him.
I don't even think
they knew it was Iverson.
He was just out on the street,
they f*cking shot... Could've k*lled him.
k*lled Allen Iverson. I would have had...
I would have had an exclusive story.
[laughs]
Peter Vecsey has an unusual story.
[Vecsey] I'm a reporter covering the NBA.
My thing was breaking stories.
That was my life.
I broke the Sprewell
choking Carlesimo story.
I broke Kobe being traded on draft day.
That was my story.
I just wanted to find out
what was going on.
I would go off on my own
when things were happening,
and I took that to the newspaper business.
You've got a clause
in your contract this year
that allows you to talk to any team
at the end of the regular season. Correct?
How'd you get that information, Pete?
That is in the contract,
but how do you get that information?
Is that... That is correct?
[producer] How'd you go about
getting these stories?
What was the Peter Vecsey way?
Sources.
It's sources you can trust.
His wife, Joanne, is pregnant again.
I wanted to find out what was going on,
so I would develop
relationships with players.
Are you having fun, or is this a chore?
[Shaq] If I stop having fun, time to do
something else, like take over your job.
- You think you could do my job?
- Yeah.
They said when Vecsey came into town,
he's liable to come up with something
we don't know about.
[Sheppard] I was laying in bed,
and I got a phone call.
It said, "Get down here quick.
There's a problem in... in the locker room."
I remember it was chaotic.
Trying to get to the bottom...
Okay, what exactly happened?
How do we contain this story or make sure
this doesn't get out of the building?
[Crittenton] I'm listening
to what my agent's telling me.
"Be quiet, let it blow over."
Everything he was telling me
was making sense.
[Vecsey] I'm getting calls
at home in the morning.
I am not a morning person.
Yeah, and then there was a story
about g*ns in the locker room, and...
with the Wizards.
You know, I mean, that's a big story.
[intriguing music playing]
I believe that they were going to
do their best not to let that out, but...
I had a source.
[Crittenton] I think it was two players
that were talking to the media.
These journalists have a way of, you know,
being cool with somebody,
playing up on them
for the right story,
the right information.
I had sources in the club.
I had sources on every team, basically.
And somebody with the organization
tipped me off.
Players talk, agents talk.
You know, a lot of second-hand information
becomes pretty dicey.
[Vecsey] I'm trying to get confirmation.
This is huge, this is a big story.
I could get fired for being wrong.
I had a guy trying to find out
what he could on the ground.
Then I had another guy in New York
who was making phone calls.
He was the guy who found out
from Crittenton's friend in Atlanta
exactly what happened.
He-he got the guy to talk on the record.
So I'm the only one saying that
Crittenton's got a g*n in the locker room.
Everyone else says,
"No, it was all Gilbert's g*ns."
I call up Ernie Grunfeld,
the president of the team.
I said, "Ernie, I'm going with the story
that he had a g*n."
"Can you confirm that for me?
Just say yes or no."
He said, "I hope you have it right."
I hope I have it right? f*ck you.
I said, "Ernie, I'm going with my source."
And so once we put it together,
we all... we all went with it.
[Crittenton] I remember when it came out.
I wake up. I got like 50, 60 missed calls.
My face all over ESPN.
It's like, boom.
[tense music swells]
New headline-grabbing mix
of superstars and g*ns.
I've never seen, heard, acknowledged
nothing to this degree in any sport.
Everyone is talking about this.
This is far beyond a sports story.
When it broke, my agent was like,
"Someone in the Wizards organization
gave the story to Peter Vecsey."
So don't trust anybody going forward.
Gilbert is coming in the locker room like,
"Yo, we got a rat in here!"
- Ever see any g*ns in the locker room?
- No, never.
What do you make of these allegations?
- ...a basketball player.
- Huh?
[Young] My agent was calling like,
"What's going on?"
News outlets was calling us.
It was just a lot.
All the stories that came out
didn't cover the situation properly.
Some people were saying even
shots got shot in the locker room.
It was a bunch of... It was just a whole
bunch of nonsense and messiness.
[man 1] The Washington Post says
the dispute was over
who had the bigger g*n.
[man 2] Arenas threatened
to sh**t Crittenton in the face.
[woman] A $25,000 debt
Arenas owed Crittenton.
[man 3] Arenas was prompted
to draw on Crittenton.
They're saying I pulled a g*n on
my teammate over a gambling debt. False.
[man] This week on Gilbert & Javaris.
We professional athletes.
Rules don't apply to us.
This is a stickup.
[man 4] Arenas tweeted, quote,
"I wake up this morning
and seen I was the new John Wayne."
My whole stance is,
"You guys are actually wrong,
so what the hell
I need to take this sh*t serious for?"
He's joking about this, but in my heart
I'm knowing it's going to affect me.
Nobody wants more attention
brought to a bad situation
that you're in trouble for.
[Blatche] I remember, uh...
Head of security came walking in.
He was like, "Everybody
come to the locker room."
Then the police showed up. That's when
things... That's when I knew it was real.
Once I seen that police there.
[tense music playing]
[man] Authorities in Washington, DC,
are investigating reports
that pro basketball players
drew g*ns on each other.
[woman] The DC Police, US Attorney's
Office and National Basketball Association
all say they're investigating.
You're dealing with
the US District Attorney's Office.
Now that's legal.
That means people could go to jail.
There's going to be heavy fines.
I think it's really sad because they have
a lot of fans that look up to them.
The g*n, I think
that was not a smart decision.
[man] Even Al Sharpton
called for Arenas to be punished,
stating, "It's almost
as if people are saying,
'Well, we don't expect anything better
from our Black athletes.'"
I got all these emotions going on, like,
I need to fight the media with my humor.
[man] More controversy.
Arenas pretends to sh**t his teammates
while some of them laugh.
We was all in the huddle,
and Gil did the... Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.
[imitates g*n]
Then everybody played like they got shot.
[Crittenton] When he does the g*ns
in the air thing, my mouth dropped.
And I see everybody laughing and hyping,
circling up around him.
[Arenas]
I'm a goofball and that's what I am.
So even something like this,
you know I'm going to make fun of it.
[tense music playing]
[man] Gilbert Arenas has engaged
in a strong level of idiocy.
Commissioner David Stern is going
to have something to say about this.
When I'm talking to David Stern,
he's like, "You guys are one right now."
"But y'all in the same boat,
so whatever he do affects you."
[Arenas] Obviously, I do my research,
so I read through every g*n situation
that ever happened in the NBA,
and all that stuff.
So three games... max.
Seven games, I'll consider.
David Stern was like,
"We're going to suspend you guys...
uh, 50 games,
which is the remainder of the season."
I mean, oh, hell no. f*ck that.
But I was dealing with players
who violated a specific prohibition
agreed to by their union and the NBA,
that there will not be
g*ns in NBA facilities.
They put themselves in potential danger,
their teammates in potential danger.
It's nothing that we're going to tolerate.
NBA players Gilbert Arenas and
Javaris Crittenton have been suspended.
[audience cheering]
[Crittenton] The punishments
that was handed down by the NBA
were two of the longest suspensions
in NBA history.
I'm like, damn, I just got here. I just
arrived. Here I am getting suspended.
[music fades out]
The secret that nobody heard
until right now.
The real reason I think
I was suspended for 50 games
was the idea of how I got
the g*ns to Washington, DC.
And what it was is, I was using NBA planes
to, the words they use, "traffic g*ns"
from Arizona
to Virginia, to my home.
And I don't think the NBA
wanted that to get out.
Our legal situation,
and the stuff that we ended up facing,
it was like three different charges.
Crittenton pled guilty January 15th
to a felony g*n charge.
The judge sentenced the 22-year-old
to a year of unsupervised probation.
Arenas pleaded guilty January 15th
to a felony g*n charge.
Gil might have had an extra charge or two
because of how many g*ns he had.
So, you know,
those... those were serious things.
I just feel like, man,
like, and not blaming Gil, but...
All right, the stove hot, they're going
to crank the fire up. We boiling.
And you still out here playing,
sticking your chest out with these people.
That... that was a no-no.
[Arenas] We didn't get suspended
for actual g*ns in the locker room.
I'm getting 50 games for my behavior.
Right?
It should have been a different penalty
for him versus one for mine.
He kind of gets stuck with a 50-game
suspension that he didn't deserve.
Did I deserve it? Yeah.
[man] Now that the NBA has officially
weighed in on the gunplay incident,
neither is expected to return
to the basketball court anytime soon.
[dramatic music plays]
After the season, me and Javaris,
we never talked about it.
That locker room situation
put him on a road
that he was not expecting to be on
or wanting to be on.
I was mad at Gil, man, because
I just felt like if he was in my position,
if he was a young player on a rookie deal,
he wouldn't have been
doing none of that sh*t. Like, period.
[Blatche] They got rid of him so fast.
I been on the team. I seen people get cut.
I done seen people get traded,
but you know how
they still around in the basketball world?
When that happened,
it was like he vanished.
[music ends]
[Terry] Javaris came back to Atlanta
after the locker room incident, um...
I could look in his eyes
and tell that he was depressed.
He always looked forward to being
this big NBA player. You know?
And having that to be cut short, um...
it just brought a lot of hurt to him.
There was... There was
nothing I could do but pray for him.
[melancholy music playing]
[Crittenton] After the situation
with the Wizards, I go to Charlotte.
Um, I get waived by Charlotte.
They said it was
nothing basketball related.
They said that I was playing cards,
you know, at the table with some guys.
And it's like, damn, like, I gotta
remove myself away from everything.
After being waived by Charlotte,
I end up going to China.
But, um, it really wasn't for me.
I was depressed about everything that
happened with the locker room situation.
I'm like, look, man,
I gotta get back in the league.
I just want to let them know they can't
stop this show, man. That's all.
We ain't done yet, though.
[grunts]
I end up getting in the best
shape of my life. I'm in tip-top shape.
[groans]
My agent hits me. He's like, "Look, you
got workouts for this team, that team."
Like, "Boy, it ain't over."
I'll never forget, after one
of the workouts, my agent called me.
He was like, "Javaris, somebody said
that you tried to steal their flip-flops."
I'm like, "What?"
All I did was go to the equipment room,
looking for the equipment manager
to get some flip-flops
to get in the shower.
What the f*ck?
What the f*ck I finna do
with some Adidas Slides?
If this situation
didn't happen with Gilbert Arenas,
if there was never
a locker room situation,
would you even say
anything to me about these flip-flops?
That sh*t had me so defeated.
I felt like that was my last run.
Like, this is it.
People gonna write me off,
and I'll never be thought about again.
[Terry] When Javaris came back,
Atlanta had changed.
Especially the area where he grew up.
But Javaris wanted
to still be in the community.
He still had friends and associates there.
He didn't want anybody to think that
he had changed because he had got money.
But I didn't know that
there were so many bad people
watching and waiting for a moment.
[foreboding music playing]
[Vince Velasquez] I joined
the Atlanta Police Department in 1995.
So I've handled a bunch of homicide cases,
kidnappings, missing persons, you name it.
When I started, I was really immersed into
understanding the g*ng life
here in Atlanta.
They were very prevalent in 1995,
and even more so in the early 2000s.
Cleveland Avenue is a major artery
that runs east and west through the city.
And there's a lot of crime.
[sirens blaring]
Javaris Crittenton lived in that area.
He was someone who was known
in the Cleveland Avenue corridor,
so to speak.
But I don't think he realized
the danger he was putting himself in
by remaining in that neighborhood.
I was on Cleveland Avenue
every other week.
There was homicides, assaults,
robberies, you name it.
Javaris is home. You know,
the prodigal son has returned.
And he's got money,
he's got status, he's got clout.
And he thrived on showing that off.
He had a target on his back the minute
he started coming back over there.
I remember I had a necklace,
I had a watch, and I had
earrings in my ears.
The total value of everything
probably was like $100,000.
I'm leaving the barbershop,
my cousin is with me.
Two dudes pop out from
the side of the barbershop.
I already knew what it was.
I knew what time it was.
[phone line rings]
[operator] Atlanta 911,
emergency operator 2784, may I help you?
[Crittenton] We're leaving the barbershop.
They had g*ns, took jewelry and whatnot.
- Are you saying you were robbed?
- [Crittenton] Yeah, I was.
- Okay, you were robbed at gunpoint?
- [Crittenton] Yeah, at gunpoint.
[operator] Okay, what's your name?
Javaris Crittenton.
I'll never forget,
the dude had a g*n held to my head.
The other dude
threatening to k*ll my cousin.
I was so numb.
What the f*ck could I do?
I'm going through all these problems
with my career, personal life, family,
people stealing from me.
I... I get up out of town.
I end up going to my girl.
Like, my girl was in the Baltimore area.
So I'm escaping,
I'm running from everything. Like,
I'm out of state.
The same night that I come back,
we get armed robbed.
[Crittenton] I'd like to report a robbery.
[operator] What kind of robbery, sir?
[Crittenton] Armed robbery.
I was driving, a Pontiac SUV
pulled up alongside of us.
Five popped out with g*ns.
- They took cash, jewelry.
- Okay.
[Crittenton] The police
called me down to the precinct.
The dude showed me a lineup.
Like, I know all these dudes,
I know everybody. We all grew up together.
But I'm not finna tell on nobody, period.
Javaris tells the detective,
"I'm gonna take care of this myself."
And he starts to do his own investigation.
He went out in those streets,
he started stopping people, asking,
"Did you hear about
the NBA player that got robbed?"
"That's me. What do you know about it?"
Javaris was getting leads
and putting those pieces together
until finally he discovered
who he felt robbed him.
[phone rings]
[Crittenton on phone] Hey, listen, man,
I need to get that jewelry back, man.
[man] You say what?
[Crittenton]
I need to get that jewelry back.
[man] Don't even call this phone back
no more, man, unless you got some paper.
[Crittenton] I'm trying to see
who this is. I don't know--
[man] n*gga, I know who you is.
Man, I'll come and spray
that b*tch down right now, man.
Y'all n*gg*s want some problems,
about that little jewelry,
y'all need to come up with that money,
man, or y'all can die, man.
[phone hangs up]
[tense music swells]
[Crittenton] That second armed robbery,
it really did something to me.
These people was making death threats,
and extortion threats,
and what they was gonna
do when they saw me.
Every day, it's like I'm on high alert.
I'm a person that is on edge.
I remember I had a dream
that somebody was in my house.
In the dream, I grabbed my g*n,
and I'm... I'm walking back to the person.
They never acknowledge me.
As I get closer, the room light up.
And when they turn around,
it's a... it's a demon face,
it's a demonic face.
And it says, "I'm going to destroy you."
And I woke up.
I feel like I'm losing control.
When somebody go
to threatening my life and my family,
some people might not understand
because they never been in that situation.
If I know that you sent a threat to me
or you talking about hurting me,
like, I'm finna protect myself
and my family by all costs.
They want some smoke?
Let's do it.
This particular night,
my cousin was driving.
And we were strapped.
Heavily armed.
Like, I'm not going to play about my life.
We riding.
My cousin see the dude
that armed robbed me.
It's him.
It's him.
We spin around, and...
God hit me. He was like, "You about to
throw your whole, everything away."
"Don't do whatever
you're thinking about doing."
We stopped the car.
And I'm telling my cousin, like,
"Something don't feel right."
My cousin's like,
"He right here. Like, just..."
"Ain't nobody going to know."
When you make up your mind
and you sign up for certain things,
there's no going back.
I'm already in the position to,
like, get off.
And he looked me in my eyes.
We locked eyes, just like this.
And weren't no going back from that point.
It's just, I went to hit him. And, uh...
all you could see... What I saw was
somebody come towards, like,
somebody come towards the car, the truck.
And I'm hitting, hitting.
And I see somebody down.
We pull out.
The most f*cked up feeling in the world
was looking back,
out of the window,
and there's two people laying down.
[distant siren blaring]
[operator] 911, emergency operator.
[woman] They had a drive-by.
- [operator] Ma'am, is anybody shot?
- [woman] Yes! Hurry, hurry! Please hurry!
[man] Breaking news out of southwest
Atlanta, where a person has been shot.
[June Woods] I was at home,
and my mom called me.
She said Peepye got shot
in a drive-by sh**ting.
So I got in my car,
I did 80 miles an hour
to go over there and see
what was wrong with my baby.
She had gotten shot in her leg,
the femur part of her leg.
The nurse and the doctors came in there,
and they told me that, um...
Wait a minute. [clears throat]
They came in there and they told me
that Julian had, um...
passed.
[Velasquez] The intended target was
a g*ng member named Trontavious Stephens.
But Javaris hit the woman
standing next to him, Julian Jones.
Truly just an innocent bystander.
[Woods] When I heard that news,
I was distraught.
I was angry,
and then I was trying to think about
what I need to tell
these babies about their mom.
They just started crying,
and the oldest one couldn't accept it.
He was eight. He couldn't accept it.
[Velasquez] So what happens next is...
detectives talk to the witnesses on scene,
and they start looking
for a black Chevy Tahoe
that's been seen at the crime scene.
And they check all over Metro Atlanta,
and discover there was
a sh**ting that occurred
five days before Julian Jones is m*rder*d
at 50 Mount Zion.
That's right in the area
that Javaris Crittenton
was looking for the people
responsible for his robbery.
One particular witness says
a black Chevy Tahoe pulled up
and g*nshots were fired.
But the intended victim
luckily was not struck.
The caliber of b*llet that was pulled out
of the door was from an AR-15,
the same type of weapon
used to k*ll Julian Jones.
But what's most important about this case,
the person
who actually witnessed that sh**ting
calls 911,
and when the dispatcher asks...
[operator] You said
you know who did the sh**ting?
[man] Uh, yeah.
The basketball player, Crittenton.
C-R-I-T-T-E-N-T-O-N.
[dramatic music plays]
[Velasquez] That's the first time
Javaris's name comes on the radar
associated with this case.
At that point,
detectives start looking
for a rental transaction
that may explain that black Tahoe
that's been seen on two occasions.
They discover that Javaris
rented a black Chevy Tahoe
from Enterprise Rental Car
in Fayetteville, Georgia,
located literally less than
a mile away from his home.
So as the investigation unfolds,
it's clear to law enforcement
that Javaris Crittenton is the number one
suspect in the m*rder of Julian Jones.
[siren bleeps]
[woman] Atlanta police have
issued a m*rder warrant
for former Washington Wizards player
Javaris Crittenton.
He's accused of sh**ting
a 22-year-old woman last Friday night.
[Velasquez] This was a slam-dunk case.
There was no doubt about it.
Javaris Crittenton was guilty
as guilty comes.
[man] Judge, this is the case of State
of Georgia versus Javaris Crittenton.
[Woods] When we went to court,
I wanted to go up and choke him.
I wanted to curse him out.
I wanted to hop over the table
and beat him up.
But I couldn't.
I didn't get a chance
to tell her that I loved her.
I didn't get a chance to say goodbye.
I'm truly sorry.
There's not a single day
I don't think about
her children growing up without a mother.
[Terry] My whole family was hurt by it.
They didn't want to believe it.
They didn't believe it.
I didn't believe it for a while.
[judge] Julian Jones was a mother
who had absolutely nothing to do
with Mr. Crittenton's problems.
[man] The judge sentenced Crittenton
to 23 years behind bars
on voluntary manslaughter
and aggravated as*ault charges.
[Terry] It's hard to think about it.
[exhales]
[Woods] He took
a part of these children's life
that meant something.
He took a part of these children's life
to where they don't have a mom.
And that's one thing
you don't take from the kids.
[Blatche] When I seen the news,
I was just like, damn.
I remember I was like,
"There goes his life."
"There goes his life. It's over."
It's sad.
[somber music playing]
[Terry] Honestly, I have not
completely processed it all.
At that moment,
I went into, um, just existing.
Not living anymore. Just existing.
[Hazzard]
He made a lot of poor decisions that...
led to a m*rder.
I mean, that's what it was, right?
It was... It was a m*rder.
To say those words
about a former NBA player...
Man.
It's almost like another American tragedy.
It really is.
I mean, this guy had the American dream.
He had it right at his fingertips.
He was a young man with so much hope
and promise and talent who lost his way.
sh*t, man, that's a tough one.
[car approaching]
[solemn music playing]
[producer]
How did Javaris get out of prison?
[Velasquez] I was shocked.
How does that happen?
How does someone who took the life
of an innocent mother of four
get out after ten years on a 23-year bid?
Couldn't understand it.
There was a deal that was made
between Javaris' attorney
and the district attorney at the time
that Javaris Crittenton
could get out of prison after ten years
under certain conditions.
Keeps his nose clean, community service,
house arrest, etc., etc.
A lot of people don't get these
opportunities, man. I got a second chance.
God has been good. God has been merciful.
[Velasquez] Typically,
when those deals are made,
the district attorney's office
includes the family
and gets a temperature
of how they feel about it.
But this deal was made without
consideration of the Jones family.
They were blindsided.
They had no idea.
I've investigated over 1,000 murders,
and I've never, ever, ever seen
where the family was not consulted.
Evidently, they struck a deal with him,
and we not knowing nothing about it.
So I'm still trying
to figure that out right there.
[Velasquez] What I understand,
Javaris went to high school
with future NBA player Dwight Howard.
Dwight Howard's uncle is Paul Howard,
who was the district attorney
when Javaris Crittenton was prosecuted.
One can only imagine that that may have
had some influence on part of that deal.
And this family didn't get
the justice I think that they deserved.
[woman crying]
[Velasquez] In my opinion,
Javaris Crittenton would still be in
prison had that relationship not existed.
[cries of joy]
[man] What's up, boy?
[woman] Lord, let him through the gates.
Hey.
[woman] I'm so glad to see you!
- I know it.
- [woman] Oh, Lord!
[Woods] When I hear the name Javaris,
I get mad.
We didn't get no justice.
That wasn't fair at all.
That wasn't fair.
Her kids didn't even get no justice.
It was like...
They didn't get to know their mother
a bit better than what she know them.
She couldn't spend more time with them
to see them grow up.
And that's all I wanted her to do,
was see her kids grow up.
[producer] Is it hard for you
to say the name Julian Jones?
Um...
It's tough to hear.
You know, it's not really a...
There's not really a whole lot of times
I say it unless it was in my prayers.
You know what I mean? It's something that...
you just really try not to, like...
Man, it's... it's heartbreaking, bro.
[melancholy music playing]
There was a couple of times
that I really just...
googled a picture of her
and just stared at it.
I wish that something
could have been done differently.
I wish that I could go back
into the hands of time and change it.
And it's just...
It's just the reality of...
of what is.
Sometimes you got to be reminded of,
you know,
the pain you inflicted upon others.
Ride it out, and just trust in God.
- [producer] But you didn't.
- But I didn't.
[Woods] It's been hard.
But then I think about Julian,
and I get much happier.
When she was a baby,
she got the nickname Peepeye
because she always slept with one eye open
and one eye closed.
I figured that she was trying to sleep
and try to see everything around her.
So I was like,
"Okay, we're going to call you Peepeye."
She started laughing.
So she always told people,
her name is not Julian.
Her name is Peepeye.
She was always smiling
and trying to make other people smile.
And she loved to cook
and loved to dance and have fun.
She was a family person.
And she always loved
to be around her family.
I was so proud of her.
And, um...
I wouldn't change her
for nothing in the world.
[moving music playing]
I'm going to forgive him
because the Lord said forgive.
But I'll never ever forget
what Javaris done
to Julian and her kids.
I'll never ever forget.
[man] What's up, man? You all right?
- [woman] How you doing?
- [Crittenton] Morning, good morning.
Back again?
Yeah. [laughs]
[man] Mic check. Okay, just to give you
a little idea of what we do.
We have a success academy for young men.
We give them an opportunity
to come up with a game plan.
We try to guide them
in the right direction.
The majority of these young men here
ended up here because they got
caught in the judicial system.
And oftentimes
when you see Black and brown boys
on the news where
they've shot somebody or robbed someone,
there's no excuse for it.
However, what is the result from it?
Because when we go to court,
very seldom do we hear how he got there.
[teen] Me right now,
I'm really just trying to work on
reacting a certain type of way,
dealing with certain types of stuff.
But then you got certain situations
that, uh, inhibit you from being able to,
to... to... to let go of that anger
the same way you typically would.
[man] Most of y'all probably know or
don't know, I just came home from prison.
I don't really like to talk about it,
but I've been robbed before, you know?
And that's just a past trauma
that caused a lot of things in my life.
I went down on a g*n charge.
That's why I'm here, I still come here.
Because I want to try
to help myself as well,
but also be there for the people around
me, which is my community, you know?
[thunder rumbling]
[producer] What kind of things bring you
joy and peace today?
[Arenas] What brings me
joy and peace today is my kids.
Agent Zero... I'm no longer that dude.
It's scary,
but as a parent,
what I get to do now is instill
everything I went through,
and say, "I fell into that hole,
I did all these things, and I've learned
from it so you can be better."
Basketball is bigger than our egos,
and you don't want to end up
reflecting back on life saying,
"God damn it,
if I would have just walked away."
[Crittenton] That moment with Gil
in the locker room with the g*ns,
it was a crossroad.
I truly believe that. I look back at it.
It's... it's two paths you can go down.
Like, if you make a decision out of pride
and stubbornness and foolishness,
you're going to go down
this path right here,
and it's a long, dark, and lonely road.
[Arenas] I don't feel guilty
in the sense of,
"This happened because of me."
That was our independent decision-making.
You know, I can't take credit for,
you know, him throwing a g*n across.
You know.
Um, I can't take credit
for him pulling it out.
I can't take credit
for that part of the story.
[Crittenton] The old Gil,
I felt like I couldn't forgive him.
I had a lot of pain and anger towards him.
But we probably
didn't have to go through that.
But we went through it. I went through it.
[Arenas] My responsibility
that I got to take forward
is how all my antics
actually affected him.
And Javaris being removed from the NBA
and the friends and the teammates,
that did...
that did hurt.
And, um, I felt bad for that.
[Crittenton] When I think about Gil today,
man, you know, I see a changed person.
I see a person that has matured. Um...
He checks on me, you know. It...
Everything is genuine now, you know?
So I'm thankful for the relationship
that we have to this day.
[Arenas] For people to see who he is,
that's going to take some time.
It doesn't happen overnight.
But, you know, if he needs me,
I'll just be here for him.
[soft music playing]
[music fades out]
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