(NYTimes) Artest's Talk Therapy

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/sports/basketball/10rockets.html?_r=1&ref=sports

A Bit of Talk Therapy Helps Rockets’ Artest Transform

By HOWARD BECK
Published: May 9, 2009
HOUSTON — The warning signs were all there: the snarl, the darting eyes, the gesturing, the frustration and finally the mad dash across the court. Ron Artest was in motion, a 260-pound freight train heading straight at Kobe Bryant.


Ron Artest and Kobe Bryant have been in each other’s faces during the conference semifinals.
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With Ron Artest, people have come to expect the unexpected, and to brace for violence.
It is possible that the entire basketball-watching world gasped simultaneously last Wednesday. When Artest charges, bad things usually follow. What happened next, then, was almost surprising: nothing.

Artest, the Houston Rockets’ brawny forward, was furious that Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers’ star guard, had elbowed him near his neck. He jawed angrily at Bryant, at close range. Then, having made his point — and having been ejected by the referees — Artest calmly walked off the Staples Center court.

A year or two ago, the incident almost surely would have ended in fisticuffs or some other form of all-out mayhem. Yet the Rockets, who are playing the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals, had no such concerns.

“I never worry about Ron,” the Rockets’ Shane Battier said. “He wasn’t going to do anything that would seriously jeopardize himself for this team. He had a valid point. He got hit with a quick one and he just wanted to let people know he wasn’t going to take it.”

With Artest, people have come to expect the unexpected, and to brace for violence.

But the Ron Artest who charged across the court last week in Los Angeles is not the same Ron Artest who charged into the stands and brawled with fans four and a half years ago at Detroit. He might not even be the same Ron Artest who arrived in Houston last summer.

He is still a bruiser in the paint, with an unpredictable biorhythm and an occasionally short fuse. But Artest’s powerful aggression has been channeled and slightly refined. His jaw is clenched, but his fists are not.

An evolution is under way, and it was never more evident than in that brief and heated moment last week. Indeed, Artest has been working on how to cope with these sorts of situations since joining the Rockets. It has been a season-long effort, steered and assisted by Shawn Respert, the Rockets’ director of player programs.

A former N.B.A. guard, the 37-year-old Respert now works with players on personal development and a wide range of life skills. He is a mentor, a sounding board and a confidant. And he has never been more proud of Artest.

“Ron throughout his lifetime has been a brawler,” Respert said of the Queens-raised Artest. “I think what he’s polished into is a fighter now. He understands to be more creative about how to confront the battle, versus just clawing and fighting his way. I think he has a technique, and it works for him this year.”

The technique is fairly simple. Artest now talks his way through emotionally intense moments, sometimes demonstrably, but always under control. The Rockets’ approach has been to give Artest the latitude to do so.

“He’s going to confront it anyway,” Respert said, “but he confronts it and tries to mentally and psychologically understand what just happened before he physically lashes out at the event. By that time, I think as he’s talking, he kind of brings his emotions down by talking.”

That is what happened last week, in Game 2 of a best-of-seven series that the Lakers lead the Rockets, 2-1. Artest was furious that Bryant had thrown an elbow in a vulnerable area, and that no foul had been called. The confrontation, while alarming, allowed Artest to release his frustration.

“I was going over with the intentions of letting him know, if he gets out of line again, then I’m going to get out of line,” Artest said.

A similar situation arose Friday night, when Artest was called for a second-degree flagrant foul, and ejected, in the final minute of the Rockets’ Game 3 defeat. It was a questionable call, but rather than come unraveled, Artest approached Steve Javie, the lead official, and had a conversation. When it was over, Artest patted Javie on the rear and left the court. (On Saturday, the league downgraded it to a first-degree foul, which would not have warranted ejection.)

Perhaps the greatest testament to Artest’s evolution is that, until this series, he had not been involved in a single incident of any kind, on or off the court, all season. He earned three technical fouls in the regular season and no flagrants, while averaging 17.1 points and 5.2 rebounds for a 53-win team.

“It was great, I just played basketball,” Artest said. “I looked at it at the end of the season, I’m like, ‘Wow, I made it a full season, first in a long time.’ I was really happy.”

He added, “I focused on staying in check; I focused on not letting anything bother me.”

A week ago, when the Rockets eliminated Portland in the first round, Artest chased a loose ball into the baseline seats at the Toyota Center, once again finding himself surrounded by fans — albeit friendly ones.

“I’ve been in the stands before,” Artest said afterward, with a sheepish smile.

The self-awareness and the self-deprecating humor indicate a new comfort level for the 29-year-old Artest. Things are stable in his personal life and his professional life. In Houston, where he joined a veteran team led by two All-Stars, Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, he has been afforded a chance to blend in.

Artest’s turbulent past — a blur of technical fouls, scuffles, a smashed television camera and a domestic violence arrest — is fading but not forgotten. The consensus among the Rockets was that the Game 2 ejection stemmed not from Artest’s actions but his résumé.

Artest joked that it was akin to racial profiling — “past history profiling,” he said with a chuckle.

“The thing about Ron is, he will never get the benefit of the doubt again,” Battier said. “Any questionable situation, people will automatically stereotype and refuse to give him the benefit of the doubt.”

The public outbursts and anger-management problems have always obscured Artest’s softer personal side. Friends and teammates have long known him as a generous, big-hearted person. He recently donated $35,000 to help build an HIV testing clinic in Kenya and gave financial assistance for a 7-year-old Kenyan boy’s operation. He has become a spokesman for the local PETA chapter in Houston.

“He seems to have the balance with being a husband, being a father and being a teammate,” Respert said. “And it’s done wonders for him this year.”

With Artest, an elite defender and capable scorer, the Rockets hoped to become championship contenders this season. When they lost McGrady to season-ending knee surgery in February, those hopes seemed to diminish. Artest, who came here to blend in, was forced into a prominent role. He merely led the Rockets to their first playoff series victory in 12 years and into an intensely competitive second-round series with the Lakers.

“Ron has done a great job of leading this team,” Battier said. “There’s no question: We wouldn’t be here without Ron.”

 

I see it as a non-issue. Ron - Ron signs here, or Ron - Ron SnT's.

McGrady comes back and recreates value, or McGrady's expiring is valuable.

The Rox will be fine. I just hope Yao is fine, for himself - and for the team (meaning me as a Believing fan).

 

If (when) the Rox win it all there will be a lot of thinking to do. There's always a lot of thinking to do. What, you think McHale is running this team?