‘Untold: Shooting Guards’ (2025) Netflix Review - A Wild Ride from Locker Room Antics to Sobering Tragedy

Netflix’s Untold series has built its reputation on unearthing overlooked or forgotten corners of the sports world — strange scandals, untold controversies, and unlikely champions. But Untold: Shooting Guards, directed by Walter Thompson-Hernandez, takes a different route. This entry focuses on an incident that, while unforgettable for many sports fans, is just as baffling today as it was in 2009. What begins as an almost comically absurd story of ego, pride, and locker-room bravado ultimately spirals into a grim meditation on fame, recklessness, and personal downfall.

The film recounts the infamous altercation between then-teammates Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton, both guards for the Washington Wizards, that occurred in the team’s locker room on Christmas Eve. What started as a petty disagreement over a card game escalated — incredibly — into a confrontation involving actual firearms. It’s the kind of story that feels too surreal to be true, and the documentary doesn’t shy away from just how over-the-top and senseless the situation was.

Early in its 85-minute runtime, Shooting Guards leans into the absurdity, using interviews, archival footage, and sharp editing to highlight just how juvenile and ego-driven the entire episode was. Arenas in particular emerges as a fascinating, if tragic, character: a supremely talented player with a flair for showmanship and a weakness for misjudging the moment. The first half of the film plays almost like a dark comedy, revealing layer after layer of bad decisions and unchecked arrogance. The viewer is left shaking their head, not just at the incident itself, but at the culture of machismo and one-upmanship that allowed it to unfold.

However, midway through the documentary, the tone shifts dramatically. What was once ridiculous becomes disturbing. The focus expands to examine the fallout of the locker room standoff, especially for Crittenton, whose post-NBA life spiraled into genuine tragedy. As the narrative darkens, the film pulls back from the incident itself to explore broader themes: the immense pressure placed on young athletes, the toxic environments that sometimes form in professional sports teams, and the consequences of unchecked fame and fortune.

In this sense, Shooting Guards shares some DNA with Untold's Malice at the Palace — another documentary about a shocking NBA incident. But where that film sought to uncover the deeper systemic issues behind a moment of chaos, Shooting Guards seems more interested in how the ridiculous veers into the tragic. It’s a cautionary tale, yes, but also a character study of two men whose lives were derailed by a moment of madness.

Ultimately, Untold: Shooting Guards is a compelling, if uneven, entry in the series. It blends humor and horror, absurdity and heartbreak, in a way that’s both entertaining and unsettling. While the early scenes may elicit disbelief or even laughter, the film ensures that its viewers leave with a deeper sense of reflection about personal responsibility, celebrity, and the cost of poor judgment in the high-stakes world of professional sports.

Final Score- [7/10]
Reviewed by - Neerja Choudhuri
Follow @NeerjaCH on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times