From what i understood, Artest said he would report, but he did not want to go to the Kings. Once the Kings heard this, they axed the deal. IMO, Artest has not done anything wrong other than state his opinion.
I'm pretty sure a link was posted in another thread but just in case some you haven't seen it. The guy has a laundry list of incidents...so if he were going to come to the Rockets, why would that change? Artest Timeline: Ron-Ron's troubled past ESPN.com Ron Artest was almost a Sacramento King with an entire kingdom to place his baggage. Instead, he just added to his long laundry list of questionable behavior. Here's a sample: 1999-00 season Summer 1999: Before his rookie season, Artest applied for a part-time job at a Circuit City outlet in the Chicago area. But the Bulls stepped in before he could begin work ... and benefit from the employee discount. Said Artest: "I thought it would be fun. And I had a friend who worked there." October 4, 1999: Fined $5,000 and sent home from the league's rookie orientation for missing a meeting. Bulls GM Jerry Krause said Artest overslept, while also having a friend in his room when visitors weren't allowed. February 21, 2001: Suspended for one game and fined $7,500 for fighting with Glenn Robinson during Bulls-Bucks game. June 13, 2001: Broke two of Michael Jordan's ribs during a pickup game. "I'm not sure what happened," Artest said in the Chicago Daily Herald. "I was just guarding him. I was just trying to get position because he was posting me up. I don't even recall him stopping for a brief second. ... I read it in the paper and was like, 'Man, Mike's ribs got broke. How'd his ribs get broke?'" 2001-02 season February 19, 2002: Traded with Ron Mercer, Brad Miller and Kevin Ollie to Pacers for Jalen Rose, Travis Best, Norm Richardson and second-round pick. 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. 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. 2002-03 season Sept. 15, 2002: Artest, now reunited with Kimsha Hatfield, his girlfriend of eight years and mother of his two oldest children, called the police claiming that she hit and scratched him. (The two are now married.) December 19, 2002: Fined $10,000 for shoving the Mavericks' Raja Bell and failing to leave the court in a timely manner following his ejection, which occurred after he was given his second technical foul. Jan 4, 2003: Suspended three games and fined $35,000 for smashing video equipment after a loss to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. January 30, 2003: Suspended four games (costing him $84,000) after confrontation with Heat coach Pat Riley on the sidelines during the game, then flipping his middle finger at the fans in Miami. The incident boiled over in the fourth quarter when Artest scored and was fouled, and proceeded to flex his right arm while walking toward the Miami bench. Heat assistant coach Keith Askins exchanged words with Artest, who brushed against Riley. Riley, who was already hot because of an Artest flagrant foul on Caron Butler, began shouting with Artest and shoved him away. Feb. 26, 2003: Suspended one game by Pacers for smashing a framed picture of himself in Conseco Fieldhouse. March 9, 2003: Suspended one game for flagrant foul (sixth of the season, which led to automatic suspension) on Trail Blazers' Bonzi Wells. March 13, 2003: Suspended one game for flagrant foul (seventh of the season, which led to automatic suspension) on 76ers' Eric Snow. March 20, 2003: Suspended two games for flagrant foul on the Celtics' Paul Pierce five seconds into the game. Eighth flagrant foul called for automatic two game suspension. April 3, 2003: Fined $20,000 for making an obscene gesture to the crowd in Cleveland. 2003-04 season Feb. 16, 2004: Made his first All-Star appearance in style, by changing -- and mismatching -- sneakers throughout the game, in the hopes of landing a shoe contract. Said Artest's agent, Mark Bartelstein: "We've been in negotiations with several different companies for a few months now. We didn't feel it was right to just wear one brand." March 19, 2004: Suspended one game for elbowing the Trail Blazers' Derek Anderson during game. May 25, 2004: Fined $10,000 for making an obscene gesture during Eastern Conference Finals against the Pistons. June 1, 2004: Took a shot at Richard Hamilton's masked face and was called for a flagrant foul late in the fourth quarter of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, which appeared to ignite the Pistons, who would eliminate the Pacers shortly thereafter. Said Artest of the call: "(Hamilton's) so skinny that they [the referees] didn't see it," Artest said. "I just put up my hands on him." Nov. 9-10, 2004: Benched for two games after he asked for time off to promote the release of his upcoming rap album. "When I decided I wanted to leave the game or take a month off, I'm a grown man," Artest told ESPN. "It doesn't make me crazy to want to do something that I want to do. ... You can be anything you want to be. "I want to be a musician. I want to own my own label and I want to be MVP and win the championship of the NBA. I feel I can do anything I want to do. I have two goals this year. I want to go platinum or have my girls, Allure, go platinum, and win the NBA championship." Nov. 19, 2004: Charged into the stands at the Palace of Auburn Hills to attack a fan who had thrown a cup at him. Two days later, he was suspended for the remainder of the season. Artest pleaded no contest to assault and battery charges and was sentenced to a year of probation, community service, anger management counseling and a $250 fine. He missed 73 regular-season games and 13 playoff games in total, while also losing $4,995,000 in salary. 2005-06 season October 11, 2005: Said Artest on new season: "I'm going to continue playing hard and out of control, like a wild animal that needs to be caged in." October 2005: Appearing on the cover of the December issue of Penthouse, Artest said in the interview that he wanted to box Ben Wallace on pay-per-view. December 10, 2005: In a one-on-one interview with the Indianapolis Star, Artest suggests the Pacers trade him. "If the trade rumors, if there is any truth -- maybe it won't be a bad thing. They probably could win more games without me. ... If I go to the West Coast, I would come back to New York after my contract is up. ... I would go to Cleveland. I wouldn't mind coming off the bench behind LeBron James. There's a lot of players I wouldn't mind coming off the bench behind." In the interview, Artest also criticized coach Rick Carlisle, who would bench Artest for two games. "I like Coach [Carlisle] as a person, but I don't like playing for Coach. I like my team, though. ... Don't get it twisted. He's a very good coach. He knows what he's doing. I personally don't like playing for him." December 12, 2005: Placed on inactive list. December 15, 2005: Fined $10,000 for making public statements that he wanted to be traded. Said NBA senior vice president and general counsel Rick Buchanan: "Public trade demands by players was a subject discussed at length during collective bargaining negotiations this summer. The damage caused by these kind of statements was commonly understood, as was the NBA's intention to hold players accountable for such statements going forward." December 17, 2005: Has a change of heart. Said Artest in the Indianapolis Star: "I should have been a man and spoken with coach [Rick Carlisle] about my differences with him. Yes, I would like to return to the team." January 1, 2006: Ron Artest, whose self-titled CD hits stores this summer, told the New York Post that his New Year's resolution is to: "Teach math classes in elementary schools throughout the country. And, of course, I want to sell 10 million records." http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2281289
Ron's agent is trying to walk the fine line of saying that he will report but that he won't be happy in Sacto. What a jerk. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2304942 "In the last month, Ron Artest has been vehemently portrayed in an unflattering manner in the media, specifically in the aftermath of requesting a trade, even after it was made clear that he only spoke out because he believed the Pacers were going to trade him to Sacramento, a place he did not want to go to. Now it has become evident that this trade was not merely speculation but something that has been at least discussed for quite some time. "Ron Artest did not want to be traded to Sacramento weeks ago, and he does not want to be traded to Sacramento now. Basketball is Ron Artest's passion. In order for Ron to fully demonstrate his natural skills and abilities, to the best of his abilities, he not only must be in an environment that is conducive to his growth an development as a player, he must also ensure that his family is happy and content as well. Ron does not believe that will be the case if he were in Sacramento. Period. However, as mentioned earlier, Ron is deeply committed to the sport of basketball and desperately misses playing the game he loves. If the trade is made he will play for his new team, regardless of how he may feel about it." He should not be able to be in control of this.
That's the best part of the statement...he loves the sport so much he's only played 23 games in the last 2 years. He asked for a trade and is given one and now doesn't like it.... I feel for you Pacertom
Sam Cassell - The Clippers guard on Artest's complexities, to the Los Angeles Times: "I understand him. I played with Vernon Maxwell."
He said he didn't want to go there, but that he will report and play anyway. What is exactly wrong with that? Would you rather him lie and say he is thrilled about being somewhere he doesn't want to be? I would understand if he threatened not to report....
The smarter thing would have been to not say anything at all. Artest said it to screw up the deal for the Pacers in addition to him not wanting to play for the Kings
If you requested your boss to transfer you to a different department, and the one he was going to send you to was just as crappy as the one you're in now, would you sit back idle?
If I requested a transfer and I wasn't happy with it, tough. You don't always get what you ask for as an employee.
That doesn't take away your right to complain about it though....as long as you show up and do your job. Now if he refuses to report then it's a different ballgame.
It doesn't but in the real world if I were to have a track record like Artest has and then I started complaining about a "transfer", the company would probably just fire me.
Well do the Pacers have the right to sit down with Ron and negotiate a buy-out/cancellation of his contract? If so they have that same option. That won't allow them to get something in return for him though. Assume they do, then it's ok for the team to ship him off for their benefit, but it's not ok for him to complain about where he has to go play?
