Arenas

NEW YORK — Some of his teammates laughed when Gilbert Arenas pointed his index fingers at them, as if they were guns.

David Stern didn't.

Stern hasn't found any of Arenas' behavior funny lately, so on Wednesday he handed down a punishment he wasn't expected to deliver until later.

Arenas was suspended indefinitely without pay by the NBA commissioner, who determined the Washington Wizards guard was "not currently fit to take the court."

A day after Arenas made the gesture with his fingers toward his teammates who encircled him before a game in Philadelphia, Stern warned the former All-Star that his conduct will "ultimately result in a substantial suspension, and perhaps worse."

Arenas is under investigation by federal and local authorities after admittedly bringing guns to the Wizards' locker room. Stern said he intended to wait for that to be completed before taking action, and directed the Wizards to do the same.

He changed his mind a day after the Philadelphia game, when Arenas said he feared Stern more than the authorities because the commissioner was "mean."

"Although it is clear that the actions of Mr. Arenas will ultimately result in a substantial suspension, and perhaps worse, his ongoing conduct has led me to conclude that he is not currently fit to take the court in an NBA game," Stern said in a statement. "Accordingly, I am suspending Mr. Arenas indefinitely, without pay, effective immediately pending the completion of the investigation by the NBA."

Though Arenas first apologized Monday for his poor judgment and promised "to do better in the future," he also joked on Twitter about the incident and the media firestorm it created.

That was the wrong tack for Stern, whose league has taken another public relations hit.

"The possession of firearms by an NBA player in an NBA arena is a matter of the utmost concern to us," Stern said.

With each game he misses, Arenas will lose about $147,200 of the $16.2 million he will earn in the second season of a six-year, $111 million contract. The punishment came on his 28th birthday.

"I feel very badly that my actions have caused the NBA to suspend me, but I understand why the league took this action," Arenas said in a statement through his attorney.