It was about 11 a.m. on January 1st when I initially got wind of a possible gun situation between Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton.  I had enjoyed a festive night of New Year’s eve partying the night before, gotten a good night sleep and now I was ready for my morning dose of sports.

Not even 10 seconds after I turned the television on, I saw the story scroll across the bottom of the screen, and I was 100% sure that my red wine intake the night before had distorted my vision.

I got up, made a beeline to my computer, and thanks to the wonders of Twitter, I learned that not only was this story real, but everyone had a joke, an opinion and an account as to what they thought happened.  I talked to my editor about this issue, and we both decided to leave it alone for now.  We acknowledged and understood that something involving Arenas and Crittenton had gone down, but there was no official way to account for exactly what had happened, therefore we wouldn’t be writing about it on Hoops Addict just yet.

During the next couple of days, stories about the incident started to emerge from credible sources like former Washington Wizards beat writer Mike Jones, current Wizards’ beat writer Michael Lee of the Washington Post, and NBA.com and TNT reporter David Aldridge.  They speculated about what happened, who was involved, what authorities were involved, and there was even speculation as to what could happen to Arenas suspension wise.  When I saw the thorough reporting that these gentlemen did regarding this story, I felt even more validated by my decision not to write about the issue.  All three of these men had connections that I simply did not have access to, and if I could not top what they had written, it was best for me to leave it alone.

This afternoon around 3:30 p.m., I emailed my editor again and told him that I should at least write an explanation to the Hoops Addict readers, explaining why we had not yet addressed this issue.  Not even 30 minutes later, before I even got a response from him, NBA Commissioner David Stern suspended Arenas indefinitely, and then released this statement.  Shortly after that, the Washington Wizards released their statement supporting Stern’s decision, and then Arenas, through an attorney released a statement of his own. Not to be outdone, Billy Hunter and the Players Association also released a statement.

At this point it was crystal clear to my editor and I, that this was no longer just a story with a bunch of rumors attached to it.  This was  a legitimate story that was going to have some on the court ramifications for the Arenas and the Washington Wizards.

As I am typing this story and watching the Wizards take on the Cleveland Cavaliers, Earl Boykins, whose contract is not even guaranteed beyond January 10th is starting in Arenas’ place.  The rumors surrounding trades involving Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison now may have to be measured against the possibility that Arenas may not return.  The possibility that Arenas’ contract will be voided, thus putting the Wizards under the cap, and in play to secure a big time player in free agency this summer now exists.  And Coach Flip Saunders would have to find yet another starting lineup to guide his team out of the 11-21 hole they’d found themselves in through 32 games.

The fact that I have to write a story like this makes me both sad and angry.  It is sad for me, because Arenas is not only an engaging person to interview off the court, but he is immensely talented on it.  When he’s healthy, he’s a legitimate threat to score 30 points,  hand out 10 assists, hit at least one shot from half court and unfortunately, make a bonehead play or two.  But for the most part, the good outweighs the bad.  And so for me to now know that for the foreseeable future, Arenas won’t be around for interviews or dazzling on court exploits, is a bummer of epic proportions.

But this Arenas story also makes me angry.  I wonder why Arenas didn’t show more restraint and tact once he realized he was being investigated and all eyes were on him.  I wondered why he even brought guns into the workplace, and why he was on Twitter non stop for several days.  I was angry at the some of the irresponsible stories, jokes and conversations that I saw and heard as a result of this Arenas story coming to light.

I always get angry when sports stories leave the safe confines of the sports sites/pages, and take on national importance for all the wrong reasons.  Even the Reverend Al Sharpton weighed in on this issue, which is a clear sign that an issue is officially of major importance.

I think back to Washington Wizards Media Day, when a focused Arenas mentioned that he was not talking anymore, and he wanted his game and on court actions to do the talking.  He seemed intent on leading this Wizards team to bigger and better things after missing the previous season due to injury.

“I’m 27 now, and I’m not the entertainer anymore..I wouldn’t be here[at media day] if there wasn’t a big fine coming afterward.  If I’m not going to get fined, I don’t think you’re going to hear me again,” Arenas said with a straight face.  “I don’t have a blog, I don’t have a Twitter[account].  I rather just cut the gimmick out and play basketball…when I had fun, I was criticized, so we’ll see what happens when I’m serious.”

A few minutes later the media scrum moved to DeShawn Stevenson, and he was asked about Arenas’ silence, and he was highly skeptical.

“I mean, Gilbert will say one thing and do another, so you can believe that if you want to,” Stevenson said while breaking into laughter.

A suspension, a three day Twitter binge and countless inappropriate jokes and comments to the media later, it looks like Stevenson knew exactly what his teammate was capable of doing.

In the coming weeks and months, I am quite sure I will have to write more about this Arenas situation.  His suspension will become more finite, results from investigations will be released, decisions will be made by the Wizards’ front office, and Arenas himself may even speak a little more, and I’m o.k. with that.

For me as a journalist the most difficult part was getting this initial story off my chest, and I’ve done it.

To the Hoops Addict readers and followers who wondered why nothing had been addressed, I hope you understand where my editor and I were coming from.  We specialize in talking about on-the-court basketball issues, and this story not withstanding, we hope to continue to do just that.

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