Thanks for the links Micro Man, what an idiot. That guy is a total flake. Carlisle is going to have his hands full this year, and no Reggie Miller to help in the locker room. "I get a chance to promote my album," Artest said. "Jay-Z pays millions for promotion. I get it for free." Uh, actually Ronnie, you don't get it for free. "Artest, who lost $5 million in salary because of his ban, doesn't appear to be too worried about being sports' premier bad boy." It cost you $5 million.
ron ron Right after the whole cup incident I went to an Indy fan site and they were saying that Ben should have been arrested and suspended for the year as well. The problem with that logic is Ben did not go nuts and try to take on a whole arena. The NBA should have made him go to counseling or anger-management but thought he would learn his lesson if they took away the game and some loot. If I was Stern I would have suspended him for saying he is not going to change. Ron Ron wants the refs to decide well Stern should do it for them.
What's interesting is Indy Fan's point-of-view. Indy Fan is more upset over Ron's performance during game #1 of the preseason, moreso than they are about his comments. In 12 minutes he took 8 shots, mostly bad shots, leading Cola to call Artest's performance "disappointing." Indy Fan is starting to see no evidence that Artest is a changed man, and THAT worries them. On the court, he's a bad decision maker who sometimes seems more concerned with himself than the team. Off the court...well...he's a moron, still. I'm wondering, truly, if Artest is mentally stable enough to play in the NBA? I like the comparison to Mike Tyson. Of course, Tyson's a boxer - he's supposed to hurt his opponents.
Mad dogs Looks like Artest kicked some butt today with 23 points and a nice stat sheet. Also, Jascevisious (sp?) looks very dangerous. We are gonna have some battles with Indiana this year!
Artest Is supposed to be the guy that propels the Pacers over the Pistons in many eyes. Kind of seems like he is losing interest in bball.
Yes Ben didn't pull off anthing bad enough to get him arrested or suspended the whole year. The only thing I remember Ben doing is pushing Artest (in a normal game that would only be a tech0, and throwing rowels which would get him suspended 1 or 2 games. Which is exactly what happened.
I want to see how Lorbek does if he makes the team. I was very impressed with him when he was at MSU. I thought he really hurt his career when he left. He lost out on his education too, but I guess his father convinced him he needed to return to his country because they needed help financially at the time.
yeah he also hurt MSU's chances when leaving, was mad at that. the guy could play and flat-out shoot.
With his history, it may be more. That was a vicious hit. And stupidly impulsive on Artest's part. The guy is nuts.
At first it looked like he was just excited and it was an inadvertent elbow, but I am sure he could feel Harden's body right next to him when he decided to put his lethal weapon elbow in motion. It definitely changed the outcome of the game as without Harden, Russell Westbrick took too many jumpers when he was clearly cold (3-22). The game was close when the incident occurred, but this was definitely a game the Lakers needed more than Thunder and they proved it too getting the key Kobe and Blake shots and the two bad ref calls in the OT . So the Lakers probably get the Pacific crown unless they lose to the Kings Thursdays and the Clips win their last 2 games on the road with the Hawks and Knicks. Neither the Clippers nor Lakers want to play the Grizzlies in the first round. So even though it was not a planned hit, some local fans were glad that the real Ron Artest showed up for a second and in the end it gave the Lakers a probable Pacific Division crown ....the thought of the Clippers winning the crown would upset Lakers pysche in the playoffs.. Artest MWP probably gets at least first round suspension and the Lakers can probably survive if they play the Mavs.
The league could also go nuclear and shut him down for the year. It's kind of hard to imagine he didn't know it was a Thunder player he was swinging at.
If I were the commissioner, I would do exactly that. If he would have punched him in the side of the head, there would be no question. To me, this was just as vicious and dangerous. Would even consider a 1 year suspension, which would essentially be a career ender.
