Agent: Artest wants to remain a Pacer
Man, just when I’d begun to thinking that professional athletes couldn’t possibly become any more conceited, self-centered, and immature…along comes Ron Artest to prove to me that this barrel really doesn’t have a bottom.
Artest, he of the spectacular basketball talent and the pin head, decided that he could no longer continue to play effectively under Coach Rick Carlisle’s system in Indiana. Never mind that the Pacers built the team around Artest and teammate Jermaine O’Neal. And never mind that Artest was one of the fools who went into the stands in Detroit in November, 2005, earning him a suspension for the remainder of the NBA season and the playoffs. You’d think that Artest would have come back this season realizing that he had some repair work to do on- both to his career and his reputation. Well, that didn’t last long, did it? No, rather than trying to fit back in with the team, Artest has had an apparent attack of conscience egomania, and he asked Pacers’ management to trade him. In response, Indian deactivated him while they try to accomodate his request to be moved (hopefully a truly horrible team…like Toronto).
INDIANAPOLIS — Ron Artest doesn’t want to be traded by the Indiana Pacers after all, his agent says.
Artest said last weekend that his past in Indiana haunts him, and he is interested in being traded to the New York Knicks or Cleveland Cavaliers.
But Mark Stevens, Artest’s agent, told The Associated Press on Saturday that Artest holds out hope he can remain with the Pacers.
“At this moment, we’re not going to put the buggy before the horse,” Stevens said. “We’re waiting to hear from [Pacers president] Donnie Walsh, the gentleman and scholar that he is, and hope this can be resolved to where there won’t have to be a trade.”
Perhaps Artest realized that when you ask for something, you should be very careful, because sometimes your prayers are answered. Perhaps he also realized that there is no guarantee that any team he is traded to will present a better situation than the one he already has in Indiana. Or, miracle of miracles, perhaps Artest has simply discovered what a complete DUMB@$$ he is. (Yo, Ron…I hear Toronto is beautiful damn cold this time of year.
Artest was a key component on a team expected to challenge for the Eastern Conference crown. He leads the league in steals and is the Pacers’ second-leading scorer at 19.4 points a game.
He said he was unhappy playing in coach Rick Carlisle’s system. Carlisle said any decision regarding Artest’s return would be left up to Walsh and Larry Bird.
“Right now, this is a franchise decision and fortunately for us it’s in the hands of Donnie Walsh and Larry Bird, who are two of the best basketball people that there’s ever been in this league,” Carlisle said. “So they’ll decide which is the best way to go.
“We built an entire system around him and Jermaine O’Neal and I’m disappointed because I’ve been one of his biggest supporters. But this situation has gotten to where it is.”
Spoiled? You bet.
Pampered? Without a doubt?
A DUMB@$$? Udamnbetcha….
If there was any justice in the world, Artest would have to get a real job…you know, 8-to-5, Monday-Friday, the sort that 99.98% of us have to go to day in and day out in order to support ourselves and our families. No, 99.98% of us aren’t as fortunate as Artest to be making untold millions to play a kid’s game with other hyperglandular men in short pants. Frankly, most of us would eagerly switch place with Artest, but then, I don’t think anyone would want to see a 6’1”, 45-year-old with no vertical jump and the footspeed of a sedated turtle lead a fast break.
It sounds as if someone is in serious need of a dose of perspective here. Then again, Ron Artest IS a DUMB@$$. Let’s hope the Pacers exile him to Toronto, where he can count on his new team winning ten games if they catch a few breaks (yes, the Raptors are that bad). He deserves nothing less.
