Re: Artest.
JoMal – You obviously have more insight to the day in day out goings on at Kings camp. I don't doubt that for one second. You're probably right, but there is a part of me that can't accept that it is purely coincidental that Artest is there and the team is now all of the sudden having major chemistry issues. For your sake, I hope I'm wrong, but if I were a betting man I would bet that there is at least some kind of "incident" before his tenure in SAC is over.
Like westkoast says everyone deserves a second chance and he's been good so far. I hope that he has changed, it’s not about being right or wrong, but I doubt it. I’ll use my examples from before, I could see guys like Cassell or Rod Strickland changing, but I honestly believe that Artest has serious mental problems; maybe he's bipolar or manic depressive.
The past is the past, but it's tough for me to believe that this leopard will change his spots. Lest we forget his past behaviors, here's a littler refresher.
Ron Artest Timeline (from espn.com)
1999-00 season
Summer 1999: Before his rookie season, Artest applied for a part-time job at a Circuit City outlet in the Chicago area. But the Bulls stepped in before he could begin work ... and benefit from the employee discount.
Said Artest: "I thought it would be fun. And I had a friend who worked there."
October 4, 1999: Fined $5,000 and sent home from the league's rookie orientation for missing a meeting. Bulls GM Jerry Krause said Artest overslept, while also having a friend in his room when visitors weren't allowed.
2000-01 season
February 21, 2001: Suspended for one game and fined $7,500 for fighting with Glenn Robinson during Bulls-Bucks game.
June 13, 2001: Broke two of Michael Jordan's ribs during a pickup game. "I'm not sure what happened," Artest said in the Chicago Daily Herald. "I was just guarding him. I was just trying to get position because he was posting me up. I don't even recall him stopping for a brief second. ... I read it in the paper and was like, 'Man, Mike's ribs got broke. How'd his ribs get broke?'"
2001-02 season
February 19, 2002: Traded with Ron Mercer, Brad Miller and Kevin Ollie to Pacers for Jalen Rose, Travis Best, Norm Richardson and second-round pick.
May 25, 2002: Girlfriend Jennifer Palma, mother of one of Artest's sons, accused him of grabbing her around the neck and by the arm during an argument. No charges were filed, but she was given a protective order, which Artest allegedly violated several days later by calling her. Harassment and criminal contempt charges were later dropped.
2002-03 season
Sept. 15, 2002: Artest, now reunited with Kimsha Hatfield, his girlfriend of eight years and mother of his two oldest children, called the police claiming that she hit and scratched him. (The two are now married.)
December 19, 2002: Fined $10,000 for shoving the Mavericks' Raja Bell and failing to leave the court in a timely manner following his ejection, which occurred after he was given his second technical foul.
Jan 4, 2003: Suspended three games and fined $35,000 for smashing video equipment after a loss to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
January 30, 2003: Suspended four games (costing him $84,000) after confrontation with Heat coach Pat Riley on the sidelines during the game, then flipping his middle finger at the fans in Miami.
The incident boiled over in the fourth quarter when Artest scored and was fouled, and proceeded to flex his right arm while walking toward the Miami bench. Heat assistant coach Keith Askins exchanged words with Artest, who brushed against Riley. Riley, who was already hot because of an Artest flagrant foul on Caron Butler, began shouting with Artest and shoved him away.
Feb. 26, 2003: Suspended one game by Pacers for smashing a framed picture of himself in Conseco Fieldhouse.
March 9, 2003: Suspended one game for flagrant foul (sixth of the season, which led to automatic suspension) on Trail Blazers' Bonzi Wells.
March 13, 2003: Suspended one game for flagrant foul (seventh of the season, which led to automatic suspension) on 76ers' Eric Snow.
March 20, 2003: Suspended two games for flagrant foul on the Celtics' Paul Pierce five seconds into the game. Eighth flagrant foul called for automatic two game suspension.
April 3, 2003: Fined $20,000 for making an obscene gesture to the crowd in Cleveland.
2003-04 season
Feb. 16, 2004: Made his first All-Star appearance in style, by changing -- and mismatching -- sneakers throughout the game, in the hopes of landing a shoe contract.
Said Artest's agent, Mark Bartelstein: "We've been in negotiations with several different companies for a few months now. We didn't feel it was right to just wear one brand."
March 19, 2004: Suspended one game for elbowing the Trail Blazers' Derek Anderson during game.
May 25, 2004: Fined $10,000 for making an obscene gesture during Eastern Conference Finals against the Pistons.
June 1, 2004: Took a shot at Richard Hamilton's masked face and was called for a flagrant foul late in the fourth quarter of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, which appeared to ignite the Pistons, who would eliminate the Pacers shortly thereafter.
Said Artest of the call: "(Hamilton's) so skinny that they [the referees] didn't see it," Artest said. "I just put up my hands on him."
2004-05 season
Nov. 9-10, 2004: Benched for two games after he asked for time off to promote the release of his upcoming rap album.
"When I decided I wanted to leave the game or take a month off, I'm a grown man," Artest told ESPN. "It doesn't make me crazy to want to do something that I want to do. ... You can be anything you want to be.
"I want to be a musician. I want to own my own label and I want to be MVP and win the championship of the NBA. I feel I can do anything I want to do. I have two goals this year. I want to go platinum or have my girls, Allure, go platinum, and win the NBA championship."
Nov. 19, 2004: Charged into the stands at the Palace of Auburn Hills to attack a fan who had thrown a cup at him. Two days later, he was suspended for the remainder of the season. Artest pleaded no contest to assault and battery charges and was sentenced to a year of probation, community service, anger management counseling and a $250 fine. He missed 73 regular-season games and 13 playoff games in total, while also losing $4,995,000 in salary.
2005-06 season
October 11, 2005: Said Artest on new season: "I'm going to continue playing hard and out of control, like a wild animal that needs to be caged in."
October 2005: Appearing on the cover of the December issue of Penthouse, Artest said in the interview that he wanted to box Ben Wallace on pay-per-view.
December 10, 2005: In a one-on-one interview with the Indianapolis Star, Artest suggests the Pacers trade him. "If the trade rumors, if there is any truth -- maybe it won't be a bad thing. They probably could win more games without me. ... If I go to the West Coast, I would come back to New York after my contract is up. ... I would go to Cleveland. I wouldn't mind coming off the bench behind LeBron James. There's a lot of players I wouldn't mind coming off the bench behind."
In the interview, Artest also criticized coach Rick Carlisle, who would bench Artest for two games. "I like Coach [Carlisle] as a person, but I don't like playing for Coach. I like my team, though. ... Don't get it twisted. He's a very good coach. He knows what he's doing. I personally don't like playing for him."
December 12, 2005: Placed on inactive list.
December 15, 2005: Fined $10,000 for making public statements that he wanted to be traded. Said NBA senior vice president and general counsel Rick Buchanan: "Public trade demands by players was a subject discussed at length during collective bargaining negotiations this summer. The damage caused by these kind of statements was commonly understood, as was the NBA's intention to hold players accountable for such statements going forward."
December 17, 2005: Has a change of heart. Said Artest in the Indianapolis Star: "I should have been a man and spoken with coach [Rick Carlisle] about my differences with him. Yes, I would like to return to the team."
January 1, 2006: Artest, whose self-titled CD hits stores this summer, told the New York Post that his New Year's resolution is to: "Teach math classes in elementary schools throughout the country. And, of course, I want to sell 10 million records."
January 24, 2006: Traded to Kings for Stojakovic, but trade falls through because Artest does not want to play in Sacramento.
"We waited for about an hour and half," Pacers prez Donnie Walsh told ESPN.com. "By then, I knew there was trouble. Geoff got on the phone at about 5:30 p.m. and told me that the deal was off. That Ronnie's agent [Mark Stevens] had called and told him Ronnie didn't want to play there and then called the owners. It scared them both off.
"I told Geoff that I didn't think that Ronnie meant what his agent was saying and asked him if they'd wait until the morning for us to get this sorted out. ... I wasn't happy."
