Many posters here overreacted to the overblown "feud." It funny how Rockets fans would doubt Yao's intention while treating Artest as some sort of royal figure who should never be insulted. The fact is, we Rockets fans know what kind of a person Yao is much better than we know Artest. If anyone should get the benefit of the doubt, it would be Yao.
The thing that gets me excited is he is acting pretty humble. Now, if thats just for show because he knows his contract only has one more year and he wants a better deal, so what. It's great that he's saying he's not coming to try to take control, just to contribute. He seems like he has a great attitude, and I think its because he feels he finally has a chance to be in a winning organization. I think all the Rockets got a huge boost of confidence from this trade...I already can't wait for the 08-09 season!
The current media incident showed that the media is and will continue to take opportunity to dig into Artest past or any words said by Artest to cause locker room problems or problems with the F.O.. I think such incidents will not be one off but will pop up fromn time to time if opportunity arise. I hope Artest and everyone is wise enough to settle any matter arise privately before letting it blowing out of proportion by the media.
I forgot to mention how happy he seems to be playing for adelman again. I think the coach will keep everyone in line...it should be a great season!!
im normal and ive been in barfights. i work in an office, have a couple of degrees, the whole nine yards. its just stuff that happens man. its not nuclear war. there are many athletes who play the game with the kind of intensity we rarely see in everyday life. oddly enough these are usually the ones we talk about when we talk about the very best. sometimes that kind of intensity is difficult to reign in. did you hate on maxwell when he went to go beat up the fan that made fun of his dead daughter? i know that i sure didn't. i completely understood, even if i dont think he handled it the best way. these are human beings, who play an intense, emotional, very PUBLIC game.
Blindbury wants to be more famous than Feigen so he decided to do something dangerous now all YAO's fans know and will remember this guy
Outside of Stevie and Mutumbo, Yao does not really have any other good friends on this team. It shouldn't matter. Yao will treat Artest with respect and Adelman will keep Artest under control. Just curious, would it be not "ghetto" for Artest to eat at Yao's restaurant?
I was going to slam Yao for making those comments earlier , however is rebuttal makes me happy. Damn...i cant wait for the season to start!!!!!!!!!!!!! MMA for the win!!!!!!!
I will concur that sometimes the highlighted, quick public recap of a player is not always true...My mother use to work for USAirways...back in the early 90's she got Moses Malone, and Charles Barkleys' autograph... Now she is not a sportfan, but figured I would enjoy getting their autograpghs (which I did)...Wide eyed, I asked how Charles was thinking of the negatives, and my mother stated he was one of the nicest passengers ever,..celebrity or no celebrity... It happened to be Moses seemed the less friendly (irregardless of the friendly, public image he had)...The point is the "rift" of Yao is nothing and a lot of intelligent Rockets fans see thru it...I am glad for the addition...It will further help them (Tracy and Yao) pyschologically as well to have the proven addition.
I don't know why anyone freaked out over this news. I mean, the Rockets traded for Ron Artest, not Shane Battier, Ron Artest. We talking Ron Artest. There's gonna be episodes like this whether due to Ron being Ron or due to the media's fascination with Ron-related stories (which gets them ratings). Don't be suprised if there are more stories like this, either. Ron is probably gonna get sensitive or angry at some point this season. It's gonna make news. I'm guessing and hoping that these things will be more in the nature of annoying rather than, say, criminal. The trick is to handle the drama and keep on producing. It can happen. It's not like Rocket never had unhappy guys of late, either. Spanoulis, Bonzi, James, Francis each had their turn sulking.
Great article. I know Yao was joking but sometimes there is a time and place to joke about someone. Anyways, thanks Yao for clarifying this once and for all! I am glad now we can put this all behind us.
Typical Fox 26 calling it "EXCLUSIVE" every time they talk to Yao by phone when Fran Blinebury is over there talking to him face to face. And is he not talking to the Chinese media when he is in China and only to Fox back in Houston?? Typical media hype. Enough crap. Can we get the Olympics over and start the season soon enough?
I've seen Ron play in the Fonde summer league like he was playing in the NBA championship. He spends a significant amount of time here in the summer. Yao definitely owns him an apology as a leader of the Rockets Yao shouldn've even joked about the Detroit fight. Poor example of leadership by Yao. He needs some hoodrichness to protect him and Tmac soft A!!! If you don't now about the Fonde then don't reply.
