The Game – the rapper whose career has floundered because he chose a stupidly indistinct name that just confused people – might just be spending the next five years in jail now that he's been charged with threatening to kill a man with a gun.

The Game – the rapper The Game, not the Michael Douglas film The Game – has been formally charged by Los Angeles authorities with making a criminal threat and possession of a firearm in a school zone after an incident in February where he apparently pulled a gun on a competitor during a basketball match. If The Game's predicament is difficult for you to envision, the events surrounding his arrest are basically the opening credits of The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air although, instead of amusingly spraying paint into his armpits and going off to live with wealthy members of his extended family in an upscale Los Angeles community, The Game pulled a gun out of his car, threatened to kill a man with it and then got arrested. Apart from that, though, identical.

The Game – the rapper The Game not the Australian sports show The Game – has never been one to shy away from trouble in the past, and he seems to have a clear idea of upwards trajectory going on. For example, in 2005 The Game was arrested for saying a few bad words in a shopping centre, but in 2006 this had progressed to hurting policeman's feelings and pretending to be a cop. Now it's 2007 and The Game has been arrested for threatening people with a gun. Maybe in 2008 The Game will put a nuclear bomb in the Earth's core and kill everyone, since that seems to be the way he's going.

But anyway, The Game – the rapper The Game not the book about chatting up women The Game – has found himself catching up to Busta Rhymes and Snoop Dogg in the 'Rappers Do The Stupidest, Most Illegal Things' league by getting formally charged with three separate felonies; making a criminal threat, possession of a firearm in a school zone and exhibiting a firearm in the presence of an officer. E! Online reports:

The 27-year-old Game, whose real name is Jayceon Terrell Taylor, was playing hoops on Feb. 24 at the Rita Walters Educational Learning Complex in his old Compton stomping grounds when, according to prosecutors, he got into a fight with a player from the opposing team, punched him, then retrieved a pistol from his Escalade and threatened to end more than just the man's playing career.

However, it took until May 11 for The Game – the rapper The Game not the album by Queen The Game – to be arrested; following the arrest he was locked up for a few hours until he could post his $50,000 bail and since then he's pretty much just been awaiting his charges. Now he's been given them, The Game faces up to five years in jail.

Let's hope that this doesn't happen, though – the ensuing confusion from prison wardens being unsure of whether to call The Game 'The Game', 'Game' or 'The' would probably end up with some sort of mass riot. It's basically the same reason why we're eternally praying that The Edge from U2 never breaks the law.

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Game Picks Up Gun Charges - E! Online