I love Billy Hunter's (of the NBA Players Union) comment at the end... "It's obvious Ron isn't very articulate..." LOL!
I would pay money to hear Lauer's after the cameras cut off. How many times did Artest say positive in that 10 minute span? I think the under is 89 times. What a moron. The shamless grinning CD plugs cement it. If I'm right, the Pacers could terminate his contract over the incident if they wanted. Latrell Sprewell clause. Evan
I wish they would and I personally would like to never see him on an NBA floor again. Then I think it may just hit him that he screwed up, but then again maybe not.
I love how everyone here can judge a guy they know absolutely nothing about. He doesnt have the off the court problems of many NBA players (Maxwell, Eddie G., Sheed, JKidd, etc..) but is still regarded as 'the worst thing that ever happened to the NBA'. He plays with a passion for the game that most cant understand and will never understand (MJ did).
I have never questioned or spoken about his game on the court. The guy is clearly a nut job, like he said "just watch the video". Watch the brawl and then watch the interview and tell me if that is something the NBA should be proud of?
I may know very little about Artest but when the guy shamelessly went on and promoted his CD after something as severe as this just happened tell me a lot about his character and how he feels about the whole thing. No remorse whatsoever. Noone said he was the only one at fault but he clearly played a part. He still has no idea or cares.
i'm not a big fan of Artest either... i didn't like how he disrespected Pat Riley, and I learned to hate him when he stuck his middle fingers in the air in that other game??? i think it was at Boston. but i TOTALLY back him in this whole incident and I hope his suspension gets reduced. he's a weirdo and a nut-case. but the single fact is, he did what just about any average person would do in this situation. someone throws something at you, you go up to them and confront them. from the tape, he DID NOT throw one punch while in the crowd. even the victim said himself that he didn't throw a punch and kept asking if it was him that threw it. Artest could have easily stayed in the crowd and punched out guys w/ Stephen Jackson... but after he was getting sucker-punched from behind, and pulled apart from the crowd, he went back onto the court and it looked like the incident was over until two other jerks went up to him. the detroit fans just pissed me off more. they started the whole thing and should get worse punishment. Artest is weird, but shouldn't be punished so severly for what happened.
But, he's not just an average joe, he's also an entertainer, paid millions to perform with dedication and put up with the draw backs of his job description, being in the public eye, heckling, criticism and so on and so on. Being thrown something, not harmful to him physically or emotionally= heckling. Enough with the "average joe" crap! It's getting tiresome, with the bar brawls comparisons and "if it was me!" and "what if it was you!" mumbo jumbo. I am in no way in favor of the fans behaviour, but that's not gonna make me go on how "wronged" Artest was over something that didn't put him in any danger or inflict any harm on his person, and that he's expected to put up with as part of his career and job. And get's well paid for his pluses and minuses, more than enough for his troubles and dedication.
RUDY T. said he doesn't read the newspaper, and admitted, as a result, sometimes he doesn't know what's going on in the world. Asked whether he had heard about Artest, he said, "I heard he's got a good CD out."
