Not that this is necessarily new news by any means (as the machine of new NBA news shakes and clanks as if it were built by a blind librarian and has recently been fueled like Doc’s Delorian in the second Back to the Future movie), but I just this morning (4 days late) read that Javaris Crittenton has finally made it to Atlanta to stand trial for murder.
I know that we’re all jaded to any form of shock or sympathy by the availability of information in this teenaged information age, but here’s a guy who could go to jail for a very long time. Let’s play nerdy sci-fi script writer and rewind Crittenton’s life a bit.
Just five years ago, he graduated from high school a two time state champion and moved out of his parents’ house and into (presumably) the Georgia Tech dorms. As a top college recruit (despite kind of blowing it in the tourney against UNLV), he was drafted by the Lakers in the first round.
At this moment in J-Crit’s life, how excited is he for the future? How pumped is he to meet Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson? How much has his life become the real fulfillment of his and every kid’s childhood fantasy? During the summer and fall of 2007, he has to be absolutely giddy, right? Calling old friends to gloat about what restaurant he’s at or actress he’s sitting next to, ending conversations by offering to fly them out so they can share a piece of his dream, too.
So what happened? That spring, he gets dumped by the Lakers in the Gasol heist and by Christmas Eve of the next year he’s suspended for a gun show-off with Agent Zero, effectively ending his NBA career. I remember thinking at the time that Crittenton’s part in that particular idiocy was the real tragedy, that only having been in the league a few years (and only having gotten any playing time for a few months the previous season) a mark like that could really hurt his chances of getting another contract, and it did.
A little frustrated bravado is one thing, but to kill someone, to shoot and kill another human being in an act of pure aggression (if the police report is true, he wasn’t trying to kill that lady, but he was certainly trying to kill someone) is something else entirely. Who or what could you possibly be so angry at that’s worth this? I just don’t get it and am not sure I ever will.
