When Millionaires bring Guns to Work
SteveProfessional basketball players Gilbert 'Agent Zero' Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton are under investigation for allegedly drawing handguns on one another in the Washington Wizards team locker room during a heated argument.
The argument apparently involved a dispute over Arenas' failure to settle a gambling debt with Crittenton. It has also been reported that the gambling in question took place on a team flight returning from a recent road trip. Arenas' contract pays him about $15M/year, I wonder what the table stakes were in the card game.
Ironically, the Wizards were known as the 'Bullets' for decades before changing the team name in 1997 
When the Bullets were still the Bulletsamidst concerns of the glorification of gun culture and violence. It would have been a better move for Arenas and Crittenton to draw some magic wands instead of guns I think.
So far the Wizards and the NBA are stepping up to the plate. And by stepping up, I mean assuming no responsibility, taking no action, and allowing the Washington police to investigate, surely hoping that this whole issue disappears.
I love the story though. Gambling, (alleged) gunplay - is this an NBA locker room or a saloon in Dodge City?
Yep, gambling and guns in the workplace, and I only have one question - WHERE WAS HR?
Surely there needed to be some kind of policy in the handbook that specifically banned this sort of activity in the workplace.
Maybe just something simple like - 'Committing a felony on company property is against corporate policy'.
That should cover it.
Reader Comments (7)
My guess is that the Wizards HR dept. stands for Hush 'n a Rush.
@pasmuz - I should have held off a day, I see today the NBA did suspend Arenas indefinitely. But still, the team knew all about the guns way before the latest incident. Crazy.
The bullets!!
you know... i'm going to go say some things that i think people are afraid to say.
first, you can take someone out of the hood but you can't take the hood out of them. there's that. and then there's more. i think what arenas did was inexcuseable and ridiculous. i'm not defending it in any way - but let's step back and look at the bigger picture. it's partially socioeconomic. it's partially something else, systemic maybe. you take someone who is in their early twenties (and sometimes their teens) and throw millions of dollars at them . they're given more wealth they've more than likely never experienced before in their life. add into the mix the likely truth that when they were in school, it was not basic life or business skills or societal norms and such they were taught. they were likely pushed to focus on their athletic skill and were given (and still have) handlers upon handlers to help them hone in on that craft and not much else.
this story can't be shocking to people when you put all of that into context. did he know any better? no. should he have? yes. but did the "system" fail him in some way? i'd argue yes. and that's not something that a policy or an HR function could have prevented.
I'm with Jessica on this one. You see this happen more often than we'd like. A young person gets thrown into a professional arena making more money than sense and makes all the wrong decisions. It's like a VH1 Where Are They Now special in the making. As HR, we can put policies in front of them and offer mentoring program. Some of them will accept the guidance and others will toss it out the window, just like with any Joe Schmoe. The difference is these professions pay enough for a random handgun to be easily accessible and the illusion of 'above the law' to be commonplace.
@Rita - I know, sort of ironic.
@Jessica - I agree with much of what you expressed in your comments. I made a joke in the post about 'Where was HR' but I do think the organization, (owners, GM, Coaches, etc.) have a part to play in this as well. It is hard to argue that these players are getting a bad deal though when their rare ability and skills rewards them financially so well. Arenas has a $100M contract. Now we could argue that both he and the team should have known better, gotten him the right kind of counsel and support, etc. I do think the full investigation will show that these guns were on 'company' property for some time before the incident, and that team officials were aware of this and did nothing about it. Arenas was wrong for sure, but as you say, the true nature of the situation is probably more complex than it seems. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
@April - It is a good question I suppose, how much responsibility for trying to support the players in making the correct decisions does the organization have. They have such a huge investment in the players, that it only makes sense to make every effort to offer the kinds of assistance that Arenas likely needs. Thanks very much for your comments.
Or how about the HR with large professional sports teams reminding their athletes of the hard lesson Plax had to learn?