Cant argue with the results so far. Even if he does blow up again, he still helped Bibby, Miller, and Garcia grow a set of you know what and jump started them into playing like they should have been all season long.
I think it would be safe to say the Kings would not be in the playoff hunt without the addition of Artest to the team.
Regardless of his past, and I was as critical of him as anyone, he has proven, at least so far, to be a solid leader for the Kings, who lacked any sort of leader prior to his coming to SacTown. If one criteria of a great player is his ability to make those around him better, he qualifies, because the results of his presence has been stunning on the other Kings' players.
His coming to Sacramento took much of the pressure off of Brad Miller and Mike Bibby, who were clearly uncomfortable as designated leaders of the team. He directed, and received, much of the media attention on to him, much as Chris Webber did when he was here. Neither Miller nor Bibby look particularly comfortable in front of reporters.
Guys like Bonzi Wells and Ron Artest carry so much prior luggage with them, any kind of crack in their demeanor will be exploited by the media as an "I told you so" scenario. Apparently, there will always be people out there who anticipate the future blowup and expect it to happen at some point. They have no room for error, in other words. If they are aware of this, and it would be hard for any of us to assume they aren't, they then should also be aware they have no options left to them but to concentrate on basketball and let the other stuff become their history rather then continue it into the present and future.
Sacramento is a good place for them to accomplish this. The fans are very supportive, making them comfortable, the media is not too critical, and we are far enough off the New York/ Los Angeles media capitals to not warrant constant scrutiny. The basketball style also is conducive to bringing out the best of their skills as well. From what I have heard, both Wells and Artest are very satisfied being here, and I could not believe that might have been the case prior to them coming here. Most players find it to their liking, for some reason.