| Always A Spot For Artest? Authored by Michael Melnitzky - March 12, 2007 - 2:02 am
There are two types of fans: those that occasionally watch their local team and keep up with the back page headlines, and those that won’t miss a game for their brother’s wedding.
They scrutinize draft prospects, free agent signings, and trade rumors hoping their team’s general manager will land that player who can take the team to the next level. Now if you are the latter type, what if I told you about a 6’7” 260lbs swingman; a lockdown defender capable of scoring twenty points without having a play run for him, or thirty if the team needs it.
To borrow from Martin Landau, “Is that something you might be interested in?”
It would be like telling Spurs fans that Bruce Bowen could now slash to the hoop undeterred, or Knicks and Magic fans that Jared Jeffries and Trevor Ariza can now drain 3s from all over the arch, or Sonics and Celtics fans that Rashard Lewis and Wally Sczerbiak could now check the opposing team’s leading scorer. That would be Ron Artest, and something tells me you would have to think twice now.
Not since the days of Latrell Sprewell and Isiah Rider has an NBA player the caliber of Ron Artest brought such unease to his fans. Even non-NBA fans know his name from the “Malice at the Palace,” and remember that scary image of him being restrained from attacking fans with a look in his eyes as if he just had an out-of-body experience.
It took Artest nearly two full seasons to find his role on an NBA team again after that incident; yet, now his future with that team, the Sacramento Kings, is in a precarious position due to his arrest under domestic abuse charges. It’s too early to tell if the charge will amount to anything, but if they do the Kings will most likely try to void Artest’s contract and Commissioner David Stern could throw him out of the NBA. Even if nothing comes of this event, once again Artest has let his actions outside of basketball detract from his play on the court. While many traditionalist fans might hope to see Artest thrown out of NBA arenas, and maybe even locked up, this event would just further paint him as the tragic sports figure he is.
Ron Artest is such an enigma because he’s NOT just the embodiment of everything wrong with the modern professional athlete, but also of everything the modern professional athlete should be.
Artest competes with a rare level of intensity, and cares about his performance like every fan wishes a few particular players on his/her favorite team did. He’s completely unselfish, and doesn’t care if he scores five or twenty-five points as long as he leads his team to a victory in some fashion.
Off the court, the many first-hand accounts of his character that have surfaced since the brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills have described him as genuine, friendly, and humble. He is extremely active in his community of Queensbridge, New York, especially with that area’s children as he is determined to help them escape from the life he knows all too well. In some ways he is exactly the type of a player an old-time conservative fan would root for.
On the other hand, Artest seems to act without any logic, and displays his immaturity and disregard for authority at every opportunity. Simply looking him up on Wikipedia yields a list of transgressions that seem to defy normal behavior. As a rookie Artest once applied for a job at Circuit City to enjoy the employee discount. He once showed up to practice in a bathrobe. He asked for time off from the Indiana Pacers to promote an R&B album he produced. He destroyed camera equipment at Madison Square Garden after a loss to the Knicks. He had his pet dogs taken by the authorities because he neglected their most basic needs. When completing his community service as a result of his role in the brawl, he told a group of inner-city youth that he used to sell cocaine at the age of 13. All of these actions suggest there is something wrong with the way Ron Artest thinks.
It’s hard for sports fans or for anybody looking at a person of stature from a distance to realize the subject’s flaws, but with Ron Artest they are hard to ignore. In 1993 Charles Barkley said, “I am not a role model” and sparked a debate about the responsibilities of athletes in the public eye in relation to their place in the minds of children. The question back then was whether athletes should be thrust forward into the spotlight and used as examples for children to follow. Now the question is whether athletes such as Artest, boxer Mike Tyson, and football player Adam “Pacman” Jones should even be allowed to participate in their sport. Where should the NBA and other leagues have to step in and stop a player from earning a livelihood by using his natural talents because of incidents off the field of play? Certainly Artest’s role in any brawls on the court should be dealt with by the NBA, but should his mental health and everyday actions be within Commissioner Stern’s jurisdiction, or that of the legal system?
When the recent news broke that Tom Brady will soon father a baby out of wedlock with his ex-girlfriend, several sports pundits asked if this would tarnish his image. Essentially they were asking if his fans would care. If I were a New England Patriots fan, would I really care? Brady still gives my team the chance to win every time he walks onto the field, so you can be sure I wouldn’t want him to be traded. Of course I’m not comparing Brady’s “Golden Boy” legacy with Artest’s long list of off the court problems, but Artest is also a special player that makes his team better.
He single-handedly turned the Kings around last year from a lottery-bound season to inches from upsetting the San Antonio Spurs. If the Kings released him today, do you really think the Lakers, Knicks, or Heat would hesitate to sign him immediately and bolster their playoff hopes? Professional sports are a business, and winning equates to money. His play on the court will always claim a spot on an NBA roster no matter his antics. His recent arrest is unfortunate, but as much as his fans want to place their faith in him, it probably won’t be the last event to add to his bad reputation. Ron Artest will be around for a while. There’s no question he’ll be hitting that jump shot to put a dagger into the other team. He’ll be driving to the basket for a big dunk to quiet the other team’s fans. He’ll make whoever he is guarding that night sorry they didn’t fake an ankle injury. The real question is what else will he do? |
