[Chron] Ron Artest? Seriously? Is Les Alexander playing GM again?

dragonz · Jul 30, 2008

Forgive me if this has been posted
This shows you cant please everyone

Ron Artest? Seriously? Is Les Alexander playing GM again?

Just win, baby. That's the statement the Rockets sent Tuesday with the apparent acquisition of Ron Artest. Character? Not important. Potential for trouble? We'll take our chances.

The Rockets are a better team with Ron Artest. At least they're better in terms of talent, and that's clearly all that matters as the franchise desperately tries to become relevant in a market dominated by the Texans and Astros.

Those teams have been ridiculed for emphasizing character. Fans that think it's only about the bottom line now have a team to root for. I hope the Rockets don't tell us Artest's troubles have been blown out of proportion. I hope they don't think we're that dumb.

Domestic violence.

Animal neglect.

Attacking a fan.

An assortment of other tantrums, obscene gestures, etc.

Besides, if the Rockets win a championship--and they're good enough if Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming stay healthy and Morey makes a move to upgrade point guard--no one will care how they did it. No one will mention that the franchise suddenly seems diminished.

He's a wonderfully talented basketball player. He's only 29 years old. He did a terrific job with the Kings on the court. But there's a reason this is his fourth team. Not every team has considered Ron Artest worth the trouble.

Rick Adelman coached Artest for 40 games, so he certainly signed off on the deal. I want to trust Rick Adelman in personnel matters. I want to trust Daryl Morey, too. This is a tough one to swallow.

It could be another example of Les Alexander pretending to be a general manager. His last good idea was wanting Steve Francis back in uniform. That one should have taught him to stick with stocks and bonds and whatever else he does. He doesn't know basketball.

We'll eventually know whether Les forced this deal on his basketball team. It may be two or three years down the line, but someone will let it slip. They always do.

The Rockets had pursued Artest in the past even after he'd gotten into trouble. In an odd twist, once he was accused of animal cruelty, Artest seemed to disappear from the hearts and minds of the Rockets.

Come to think of it, if you can forgive Artest for all the other stuff he has done, you should be able to forgive him for neglecting an animal.

Anyway, here's a rundown of our new Rocket as detailed by ESPN:

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, according to ESPN. 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.

Nov. 9-10, 2004: Benched two games after asking for time off to promote his rap album.

Nov. 19, 2004: Went after a fan that threw a cup at him, inciting a small riot in Detroit. He was suspended for the rest of the season and pleaded no contest to assault and battery charges. He was sentenced to a year of probation, community service and counseling. He lost $5 million in salary by missing 86 regular-season and playoff games.

Dec. 12, 2005: Placed on inactive list by Pacers after criticizing coach Rick Carlisle in an interview.

Feb. 8, 2007: Dogs owned by Artest spent 77 nights at the pound because of poor care by their owner. Artest was billed $1,942 in boarding and impound fees. (According to a Sacramento columnist, Artest exceeded court-ordered sanctions and become a familiar figure at the area's animal shelters.)

March 5, 2007: Artest out indefinitely after domestic violence arrest.

March 11, 2007: Artest apologizes, rejoins team. He's eventually charged with four misdemeanors charges: battery and corporal injury to a spouse, false imprisonment and dissuading a witness from reporting a crime. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison.

March 22, 2007: Pleads not guilty to misdemeanor domestic dispute charges. He's ordered to stay at least 100 yards away from his wife and children until further notice.

He was sentenced to 20 days in jail and community service. It was reduced to 10 days in a work release program.
Click to expand...

QdoubleA · Jul 30, 2008

Watever, bring on that crazy mofo.

H-townhero · Jul 30, 2008

dragonz said:

Forgive me if this has been posted
This shows you cant please everyone

Ron Artest? Seriously? Is Les Alexander playing GM again?
Click to expand...

Justice's dumb ass should stick to baseball.

dntrwl · Jul 30, 2008

AND WE GAVE UP SO MUCH FOR HIM TOO! God, Justice, you are a true genius.

slowmustang · Jul 30, 2008

He also hated Mario Williams......

LonghornFan · Jul 30, 2008

I'll read this thread after we win it all and laugh.

H-townhero · Jul 30, 2008

dntrwl said:

AND WE GAVE UP SO MUCH FOR HIM TOO! God, Justice, you are a true genius.
Click to expand...

WE GAVE UP OUR MORALITY AS A CITY! SOUND THE ALARMS!!!!1111

flamingdts · Jul 30, 2008

This is exactly what I hate. Does this guy even know the charity work that Artest is involved in? He makes him look like a complete loose dog. Well, a effing loose dog ain't gonna hold a damn wheelchair basketball charity event.

Found this paragraph on a website about charity events held by nba players. And you will find many more on non-biased websites with writers that do research first.

RON ARTEST I OWE YOU AN APOLOGY
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been ripping on Ron Artest. And now, I offer my apologies to Artest for calling him a Mensa reject all these years. I’m not gonna offer a run-down of incidents that caused me to use the nickname, what I am gonna do is blame the media for painting a nasty image of someone who is actually a really good guy. And yes, I take full responsibility for egging-on some of the bull****

I was blown away at Artest’s eloquence and intelligence, and even more impressed with his ‘giving back to the community’ attitude. After the interview was published, I found that it had been unfairly twisted and skewed to paint a drastically different image Artest. Obviously, people love to read about the bad stuff. Tillery: “I would see tidbits of him giving back to the community and wondered if this cat is so much of a monster, then why do children all over the nation seem to love him? He’ll tell you he’s responsible for the public perception of him because of his rebellious relationship with authority early on in his career. He’s made a fair share of mistakes, but it’s not the whole story and we all know how the media runs with negativity.”
Click to expand...

LFE171 · Jul 30, 2008

<quote>
and that's clearly all that matters as the franchise desperately tries to become relevant in a market dominated by the Texans and Astros.
</quote>

Really Richard? for a team whose going to the playoff, pull off average win seasons of .646~ since 2004, having a huge icon in tmac and yao and we're just trying to be relevant?

Really dude? God...you really do work for BSPN don't you?

twhy77 · Jul 30, 2008

We should probably go back in time and trade Vernon Maxwell while we are at it.

Eddie5ball · Jul 30, 2008

Wow that Justice guy is a moron, this trade had little risk value, he sounds like a whiner more than an informant. To give all the Artest negative info, makes me look forward to not reading his columns.

tinman · Jul 30, 2008

flamingdts said:

This is exactly what I hate. Does this guy even know the charity work that Artest is involved in? He makes him look like a complete loose dog. Well, a effing loose dog ain't gonna hold a damn wheelchair basketball charity event.

Found this paragraph on a website about charity events held by nba players. And you will find many more on non-biased websites with writers that do research first.
Click to expand...

Exactly,

and Vernon Maxwell visits charity hospitals and plays with kids. FK the haters!

Watch out for the haters Ron, they are notorious in this city. If you need to do so, show them your .38MM so they won't bother you or follow you home!

saleem · Jul 30, 2008

No matter what Ron does,Les deserves praise for taking a gamble. I wish we could have kept Greene but that was impossible. If we can get a comparable player in the future I can live with it.

JD2010 · Jul 30, 2008

What a dumbass, he's not even 29 years old.
He's 28.

drich · Jul 30, 2008

WE DID NOT GIVE UP **** FOR THIS DUDE GET OVER IT

Bandwagoner · Jul 30, 2008

tinman said:

Exactly,

and Vernon Maxwell visits charity hospitals and plays with kids. FK the haters!

Watch out for the haters Ron, they are notorious in this city. If you need to do so, show them your .38MM so they won't bother you or follow you home!
Click to expand...

.38MM?

WTF is that? Pretty small.

tinman · Jul 30, 2008

CaseyH said:

.38MM?

WTF is that? Pretty small.
Click to expand...

maybe it was a 9MM. i get the guns confused, wasn't there a gun called a 38 special?

SpiffyRifi · Jul 30, 2008

I read this article before it was posted here and was just disgusted. Justice is an idiot - he acknowledges that it's a great basketball move for the Rockets but says he'd never do it! Like suddenly the Rockets are a team full of thugs because we got one person who he frowns upon. Even if Artest was as bad as he says, what about people like Mutumbo and Yao on this team - doesn't that speak volumes about the franchise too?!

rn_xw · Jul 30, 2008

CaseyH said:

.38MM?

WTF is that? Pretty small.
Click to expand...

maybe its 3.8mm...that make sense.

rn_xw · Jul 30, 2008

tinman said:

maybe it was a 9MM. i get the guns confused, wasn't there a gun called a 38 special?
Click to expand...

9MM would be a too large. smaller snipers have a stand of 7.62mm...The bigger ones that can take out helicopters are at 12.7mm.

Forums

[Chron] Ron Artest? Seriously? Is Les Alexander playing GM again?

dragonz Member

QdoubleA Member

H-townhero Member

dntrwl Member

slowmustang Member

LonghornFan Contributing Member

H-townhero Member

flamingdts Member

LFE171 Member

twhy77 Contributing Member

Eddie5ball Member

tinman Contributing Member
Supporting Member

saleem Contributing Member

JD2010 Member

drich Member

Bandwagoner Contributing Member

tinman Contributing Member
Supporting Member

SpiffyRifi Member

rn_xw Member

rn_xw Member

Share This Page

About ClutchFans

Rockets Content

Support ClutchFans!

[Chron] Ron Artest? Seriously? Is Les Alexander playing GM again?

dragonz Member

QdoubleA Member

H-townhero Member

dntrwl Member

slowmustang Member

LonghornFan Contributing Member

H-townhero Member

flamingdts Member

LFE171 Member

twhy77 Contributing Member

Eddie5ball Member

tinman Contributing Member Supporting Member

saleem Contributing Member

JD2010 Member

drich Member

Bandwagoner Contributing Member

tinman Contributing Member Supporting Member

SpiffyRifi Member

rn_xw Member

rn_xw Member

Share This Page

tinman Contributing Member
Supporting Member

tinman Contributing Member
Supporting Member