An investigation by local and fedeal authorities has begun into a dispute that began on the Washington Wizards' team plane between guards Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton. According to multiple sources, an argument commenced during a card game on the team's overnight flight back to Washington from Phoenix on Dec. 19 and escalated into a heated exchange, resuming after an off-day, in the team's locker room on a practice day. The New York Post, quoting league security sources, reported that Arenas and Crittenton pulled guns on each other over a gambling debt during the pre-practice confrontation at the Verizon Center. The team has publicly confirmed that Arenas had stored three guns in a locked box in his locker and that the firearms were unloaded. NBA commissioner David Stern, given his distaste for any hint of violence in the league, is expected to wait and see whether charges are filed before determining the scale of potential punishments. In an ironic twist, it was the Wizards' late owner and Stern's close friend, Abe Pollin who, perhaps prophetically, changed the team's nickname in 1997. They had been known as the Bullets.
