Former Yellow Jackets Hoop Star Javaris Crittenton Pleads Guilty To Manslaughter
Former Yellow Jackets hoop star Javaris Crittendon plead guilty to manslaughter and is going to serve 23 years in prison.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Crittendon was originally charged with murder and other crimes when he participated in a 2011 drive-by shooting that killed Julian Jones who was a 22-year-old mother of four.
His driver the night of the drive-by was his cousin Douglas Gamble who is also going to serve 20 years after pleading guilty to aggravated assault.
You hate to see people throw away opportunity and talent because they could not shake a way of life that is detrimental to their health and the health of people around them.
Javaris Crittenton was living a dream that can only be had by a select few.
He averaged 14.4 points per game in his 2006-07 season with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets before he was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 19th pick of the 2007 NBA Draft.
He was also a member of the a Los Angeles Crip street gang and for some reason proud of that while he was on the brink of making millions
His NBA dream quickly went to the wayside when he was traded from L.A. to Memphis in 2007, and then from Memphis to Washington in 2008.
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While in Washington, Crittenton got into an altercation with star point-guard Gilbert Arenas over a card game and the infamous Washington Wizards locker room gun standoff took place in 2009.
Crittenton’s career did not recover from that altercation as he toiled in the NBA Developmental League and China after his suspension from the league in 2009-2010 because of the gun incident.
According to the nydailynews.com, Crittenton was trying to get revenge on Trontavious Stephens, who was a member of the “Bloods” who Crittenton believed robbed him outside of a barber shop four months prior to the 2011 drive-by.
Crittenton, in a case of mistaken identity according to the nydailynews.com post, actually attacked Stephens’ brother at first in a separate attempt for retribution but missed with his shot.
Five days later according to the nydailynews.com piece , Crittenton ran into Trontavious Stephens and Julian Jones and started shooting randomly at them, hitting Jones and missing his intended target Stephens.
This is a classic tale that young men from urban surroundings have seen time and time again and need to really learn a lesson from.
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Whether it was Rae Carruth, Aaron Hernandez, or this case with Javaris Crittenton, the moral of the story is to not squander your gift due to lawlessness.
These young men were living a dream that few people will ever attain in life and they threw it down the gutter because of a decision to take someone’s life out of anger or to show the streets that they were down to put in work.
When you have the kind of talent these young men have, you have to leave the street life and street attitude alone.
“Thuggery” will truly get you nowhere!