The Washington Wizards never told the NBA that two of its players drew guns on each other in a locker-room dispute over a gambling debt, sources said yesterday.
It was only after The Post’s inquiries more than a week after the Dec. 21 incident that league officials found out about the unprecedented alleged armed standoff between All-Star Gilbert Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton inside the Verizon Center in DC.
That stunning gun duel now threatens to end the Wizard careers of not only the two point guards — who stand to lose millions of dollars in pay — but also of general manager Ernie Grunfeld, a former star Knicks player and president.
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“This is gonna cost Ernie Grunfeld his job,” a former NBA team president told The Post. “Because the buck stops at the top.”
Asked about the incident — and what the Wizards have told or not told the NBA about it to date — league spokesman Tim Frank said only, “There is an active investigation by DC law-enforcement authorities, which we are monitoring closely. We are not taking any independent action at this time.”
Neither player has been suspended.
The Post exclusively reported yesterday that Arenas, 27, went for a gun after Crittenton confronted the veteran guard about failing to make good on a gambling debt owed Crittenton and threats were exchanged.
“I’m not your punk!” Crittenton shouted, according to a league source close to the Wizards.
After Arenas drew a gun on him, Crittenton then brandished a firearm himself, sources said. It is not known if Crittenton had his own gun with him, or if he grabbed one of several Arenas had in the locker room.
Before yesterday’s report of the showdown, the Wizards had merely claimed that Arenas had admitted bringing guns to the locker room — in violation of NBA rules — and had turned them over to security.
Arenas reportedly told the team he had brought the guns there because he didn’t want the weapons near his newborn baby in his Virginia home.
Arenas, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of carrying a concealed weapon in San Francisco in 2003, now is under criminal investigation by the Washington police for having the guns in his locker.
The NBA source noted that the Wizards could void the remainder of Arenas’ six-year contract — which he signed last summer — if he is convicted of a felony. About $100 million remains on the contract.
In stark contrast, Crittenton is owed just $1.48 million in the last year of a three-year contract.
“A team doesn’t have to void the contract. It’s their option,” the source said. “But if a player is in jail and can’t perform services, it stands to reason that the team isn’t going to pay him and will cancel the contract.”
Arenas refused to talk to a Post reporter outside his Great Falls, Va., home yesterday.
But on his Twitter page, he made several postings during the day in response to the Post’s story.
“i wake up this morning and seen i was the new JOHN WAYNE .. lmao media is too funny,” Arenas wrote.
Later, he tweeted, “i understand this is serious .. but if u ever met me you know i dont do serious things im a goof ball this story today dont sound goofy to me.”
A Washington Post reporter blogged that when he spoke to Arenas after practice yesterday, the player said, “That’s not the real story.”
Arenas later tweeted to that reporter, “I saw the story. Very compelling. Some real O.K. corral stuff.”
In a statement released yesterday, the Wizards said they “take this situation and the ongoing investigation very seriously.
“We are continuing to cooperate fully with the proper authorities and the NBA and will have no further comment at this time,” the statement read.
Additional reporting by Kathleen Miller in Great Falls, Va.