Background and career
Javaris Cortez Crittenton (born December 31, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player. During his four year career, Crittenton played for the Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, and Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Zhejiang Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association, and the Dakota Wizards of the NBA D-League. He played college basketball for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. On August 26, 2011, Crittenton was charged with the murder of Jullian Jones, a 22-year-old mother of four. After pleading guilty to manslaughter in 2015, he was sentenced to 23 years in prison, though it was later reduced to 10 years. He was released from prison on April 21, 2023.
Crittenton was born to Sonya Dixon in Atlanta, Georgia. He attended Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, where, as a high school sophomore, he played alongside Dwight Howard, who was a senior at the time. Crittenton and Howard led Southwest Atlanta to victory in the GHSA class A state championship that season. As a junior, in 2005, Crittenton averaged 28.4 points, 7.5 assists, and 8.2 rebounds. He once again led Southwest Atlanta to the GHSA class A state finals, where they lost to powerhouse Randolph-Clay. As a senior, Crittenton averaged 29 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds, and led Southwest Atlanta to the GHSA class A semi-finals against Randolph-Clay. After dismissing Randolph-Clay they headed to the championship game once again. This time they were successful in beating rivals Whitefield Academy to become state champions. Following the season he was named a McDonald's All American. He was also named Mr. Georgia Basketball by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Crittenton carried a 3.5 GPA in high school, and was a member of the Future Business Leaders of America and the Senior Beta Club.
While at Georgia Tech, Crittenton excelled and was considered a team leader, a rare accolade for a freshman. Tech coach Paul Hewitt urged Crittenton to take over a leadership role on the team after his play in several games in February 2007. He recorded a career high of 29 points in a February 13 game against Florida State. After a single season, he left school to go pro.
Crittenton was drafted with the 19th pick in the first round of the 2007 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. During an NBA Summer League game on July 8, 2007, he had 18 points, including a game winning jump-shot with 1.6 seconds left in the game. In the Lakers' first preseason game against the Golden State Warriors in Honolulu, Crittenton had 18 points along with one assist in a 111–110 loss.
On February 1, 2008, Crittenton was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies along with Kwame Brown, Aaron McKie, rights to Marc Gasol and 2008 and 2010 first round draft picks for Pau Gasol and a 2010 second round draft pick. On April 2, 2008, Crittenton had a career high of 23 points in a 130–114 win over the New York Knicks.
On December 10, 2008, Crittenton was part of a three-team trade that sent him to the Washington Wizards along with Mike James from the New Orleans Hornets. In exchange, the Wizards sent a conditional first-round draft pick to the Memphis Grizzlies and Antonio Daniels to the Hornets. On December 21, 2009, Crittenton and teammate Gilbert Arenas were involved in a locker room confrontation involving unloaded guns. In a 2010 interview, former Washington Wizards teammate Caron Butler stated that "you never know, and that's the crazy thing about it" when questioned if there was going to be a trigger pulled in the incident between Crittenton and Arenas. On January 25, 2010, Crittenton pleaded guilty and was given a year of probation on a misdemeanor gun possession charge stemming from this incident. Two days later, Crittenton and Arenas were suspended for the rest of the season by NBA commissioner David Stern. He was released by the Wizards following the suspension, while Arenas rejoined the team.
