Bad judgment in bringing firearms to an arena, combined with a nonchalant attitude, earned Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas an indefinite suspension from the NBA.
He called himself a “goofball” trying to “play a joke” on a teammate, which didn’t sit well with NBA commissioner David Stern.
Arenas’ actions did bring to the forefront the issue of gun possession in the NBA, and why so many players own firearms. Players surveyed by a variety of media throughout the league estimate ownership at anywhere between 50 percent and 75 percent. Players say ownership is a matter of security, that the celebrity status of playing in the NBA comes at a cost of potentially being targeted.
“It’s scary out there,” Nuggets director of security Bobby Simmons said. “A lot of individuals know the players, they see them on TV or out in the public, and they become targets. They know they have money, they have valuables that they can take. And what I mean by ‘take’ is targeting them as someone to be robbed.”
Said Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups: “There’s a fair amount of (players) who have house guns, just for protection for intruders or robbery attempts. Just to protect their family.”
At least five NBA players were robbed in a four-year span, from 2005-08, including two home robberies in affluent Chicago neighborhoods where Eddy Curry and Antoine Walker were tied up in separate incidents as multiple assailants took valuables and a car.
Players must use common sense
Players say the best way to stay safe is using common sense.
“You can’t avoid everything in this world,” Nuggets guard Aaron Afflalo said. “But a lot of situations that guys find themselves in could have been avoided by using common sense or not going at all.
“If I feel like I’m going somewhere where I need a gun, chances are I don’t need to be there. But you’re always going to go home; you’re going to be in your car in places. Sometimes you need protection in those areas.”
Added Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony: “I think if you go about the situation the right way, go through the right procedures to taking care of that business, I don’t see nothing wrong with (having a gun). Then again, if you’re out there just buying them and just out there running reckless with them, you shouldn’t have them. I don’t condone that.”
Anthony said young players coming into the NBA don’t truly understand their surroundings at first.
“It took me about two years to realize that, because I came straight from Baltimore to Syracuse,” Anthony said. “Even when I was in Syracuse, I was still back in the streets in Baltimore, running around. Then I went from that to getting picked third in the NBA draft. Everything just changed. I thought I could still go back and sit out there all day on the chair and relax. It took me a minute to realize who I am.”
Arenas should have known better
Arenas, though, had no excuse for his behavior, being a veteran player. On Friday, he pleaded guilty to carrying a pistol without a license in the District of Columbia. The charge stems from a Dec. 21 incident in which Arenas admitted he stored guns in his locker at the Verizon Center and took them out to play a joke on a teammate. After an investigation, the NBA suspended him indefinitely.
The NBA bans players from possessing guns at its arenas and traveling with a gun on team business.
First-year Nuggets forward Joey Graham went to Oklahoma State with former Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams, who was shot and killed after a night out in downtown Denver in 2007. Graham said he’s been in some situations where he felt unsafe.
“Not here in Denver,” he said. “But I’ve before encountered situations where people come up tapping on the car window, people walking up to you and following you and things like that.”
Simmons said today’s players need to be much more aware of who’s around them, which is why NBA teams go to great lengths to offer security detail.
“I’ve been around the NBA probably for the last 35 years, working with players in an off-duty capacity,” said Simmons, a former police officer. “It was more friendly years ago. Thirty years ago, salary-wise, compared to today, everything is printed now. The public is aware. They know if this guy is an NBA player, he has money, or if not (money), something of value.”
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
