"He’s shooting me in front of everybody": Nick Young shockingly discloses Gilbert Arenas' BB gun shooting incident during an NBA gun safety meeting

Former Washington Wizards teammates Gilbert Arenas and Nick Young have told countless humorous stories about their friendship over the years. But perhaps the funniest story came in 2019 when Young spoke about the time Arenas shot him with a BB gun at a gun safety meeting.

During an episode of the “Certified Buckets” podcast, Young first spoke about how he and some of his Washington teammates once sneak-attacked Arenas with paintball guns. According to Young, they ran into Arenas’ house and caught him off guard while he was sleeping:

“There’s stuff he did to me that nobody could get away with, only Gilbert Arenas,” Young said.

“We had a meeting, right? I guess the night before we were playing around. Me, Dominique McGuire and Andray Blatche. We run up on the house while he’s asleep. We got paintball guns and regular fun stuff. He’s asleep. We knock on the window; we see the chef he had. We were like, ‘Come on, let us in, Gil’s expecting us.’

“So, we run through the house looking for Gil with paintball guns. We go upstairs, he’s asleep. So, we wake him up with a couple of shots.”

However, Young and his teammates were later concerned that Arenas would seek retaliation. So, the next day, Young brought a BB gun to the team’s practice facility to defend himself:

“Everybody was like, ‘You know, he’s crazy. He’s gonna come back for us tomorrow in practice,’” Young said.

“Next day comes, I brought a BB gun because I was trying to scare him. I was like, ‘Man, he’s going to try to go to extremes.’ I had to come strapped.”

However, the team was conducting a gun awareness meeting for players that day. So, Young opted to leave the BB gun in his locker:

“We got a gun awareness meeting. The NBA had a gun awareness meeting. So, I’m thinking he ain’t gonna do nothing,” Young said.

According to Young, Arenas then went into his locker, grabbed the BB gun, and started shooting him in the middle of the gun awareness meeting. Young then called for help. However, nobody intervened, as they instead went on with their meeting:

“We’re inside the meeting, Gil goes in my locker … he brings the gun inside the meeting with the whole team, the NBA people. He’s shooting me in front of everybody,” Young said.

“I’m looking at the people like, ‘Y’all ain’t gonna do nothing?’ They’re acting like nothing is happening.”

Nick Young said Gilbert Arenas was like a brother to him in their playing days

Former Washington Wizards teammates Nick Young and Gilbert Arenas

While Nick Young and Gilbert Arenas have gone back and forth over the years, it’s clear that it's all just in lighthearted fun. During an interview with VladTV in 2022, Young retold his story about his and Arenas’ BB gun incident. Young added that Arenas was always like a big brother to him in their playing days. This came as Arenas always did his best to pick him up when he was feeling down:

“He was trying to be like a big brother to me,” Young said.

“When I was down, he would do things to cheer me up. He took me shopping, let me go through his closet. I would steal his shoes and all that.”

It seems like the friendship between Arenas and Nick Young goes deep and exemplifies the bond they share right from their playing days in the NBA.