Marc Stein article on Ron Artest

[adidas11]

Also include interview transcript with Artest:



Indiana forward Ron Artest, speaking to ESPN.com in a phone interview, vowed Thursday that the Pacers can count on him for the rest of the season. He likewise insisted that he requested a leave of absence to spend more time with his family and heal his body, not because he would prefer to work on his budding career as a music producer.


Artest, who turns 25 on Saturday, also revealed he has contemplated retirement to have more time at home and for off-court interests. Artest said he intends to keep playing until he wins an NBA championship, but that there's "a chance" he would retire after this season if the Pacers were to win the title.



Ron Artest, left, with Havoc, Littles and Prodigy.


"A chance," Artest said. "A nice chance."


Artest called ESPN.com to protest the fast-spreading notion that he's trying to become a rap artist at the expense of his team. The album coming out Nov. 23, which Artest referenced in interviews Wednesday night, is an R&B release from Allure. Artest is the CEO of TruWarier Records and executive producer on the Allure album.


In a wide-ranging conversation, the NBA's reigning Defensive Player of the Year blasted the media's portrayal of his time-off request, saying his motivation was never music but making himself more available to his four children, daughters Sade and Diamond and sons Ron III and Jeron. Artest also revealed that he had been "calling around the NBA" to find out the ramifications of a leave of absence or even retirement, but said that conversations in recent days with Pacers president Larry Bird and CEO Donnie Walsh convinced him to shelve those ideas for now.


Other highlights follow from the conversation with Artest, who's earning $6.2 million this season and who has four seasons left on his contract worth just over $29 million.


ESPN.com: Whom, specifically, did you ask for time off?


Artest: I did it the wrong way. I talked to a few players first and then the coach. I wish I would have done it a little bit differently. Coach told me I wouldn't be playing in two games, and he always makes good decisions. The whole team was behind his decision.


ESPN.com: Are you physically well enough to play Friday against Philadelphia?


Artest: I'm OK. I'm going to play through my injuries. I'm going to be tired for the rest of my life. I like to be tired. I like to be hurt. If I'm not tired and I'm not hurt, the game is not fun. … When we were 3-0, I wasn't even supposed to play (against Chicago). But I played. I had something wrong with my knee; my patella is slightly in the wrong spot. I hurt my shoulder and then I have a nagging foot injury. But last year, when I had surgery on my hand, I came back in 10 days. Nobody is ever back from surgery in 10 days and playing and producing. I think I'm one of the few guys who gets better every year. I'm on my way to being an MVP and champion.


ESPN.com: So why would you even think about retirement? You were off to such a good start this season.


Artest: Sometimes I think I'm in a position to do what I want. If I think I want to retire, it doesn't make me crazy. What's so crazy about being home with your family? I don't see anything so crazy about that. If people think that's crazy, maybe they don't know what it's like to be with their family. Family is more important than money.


ESPN.com: Is retirement something you're thinking about soon?


Artest: Not soon. I really, before I retire, I want to win a championship. I want to reach at least one of the things Michael Jordan reached.


ESPN.com: Do you understand why the Pacers don't want to let you take a month off?


Artest: I agree with them. They depend on me. There's not many people that make $6 million a year (who can be called) a franchise player. I'm not paid as much as a T-Mac or a Kobe or a Shaq, but they really look at me as a franchise player. When I first came into the NBA, I didn't look at myself as a franchise player. … But if they would have accepted it, I would have been gone for a month or a month and a half and not worried about the pay.


ESPN.com: How worried are you that the Pacers are going to trade you? Your name came up in trade rumors all summer.


Artest: That's life. Guys get traded for all sorts of reasons. I'm just going to do what I do. If it happens, it happens.


ESPN.com: Don't you want them to keep you?


Artest: I love the Pacers. I like the organization. I like the team. But just as much as I like Indiana, I've got to be able to show people what's me. I can't lie to people. This is Ron Artest. … I was in a (music) studio all summer and I came back and had 31 (points) in my first game (of the season against Cleveland). You have to accept Ron Artest the way he is, and if not, that's OK.


ESPN.com: Can the Pacers really count on you for the rest of the season?


Artest: I'll be here for the rest of the season. I didn't play the last two games, but I talked to who I had to talk to. I'll be playing for the rest of the season.


ESPN.com: There have also been suggestions that you and Jermaine O'Neal aren't getting along so well. What's your relationship like?


Artest: Everybody in the NBA, you don't have to be talking (off the court) to go out there and do a job. Jermaine is the MVP of our team. He should have been MVP (of the league) last year. It's a good fit between us on the court. It's perfect, along with Stephen Jackson. Stephen Jackson could easily be an All-Star this year. I'll give up my All-Star spot for Stephen Jackson.


ESPN.com: You are working on an album of your own, right?


Artest: When I have off days, I go into the studio. But I'm not really anxious to drop mine (on the public). … I'll be singing on some tracks and rapping on some tracks. I'm speaking to kids on there. There's no cursing. Kids can listen to it and adults can listen to it. … When I do (release) it, you'll be able to download it. I'm not in it to make money. But don't download Allure -- go buy that album.



END



Quote: "I agree with them. They depend on me. There's not many people that make $6 million a year (who can be called) a franchise player. I'm not paid as much as a T-Mac or a Kobe or a Shaq, but they really look at me as a franchise player."

Uh, this guy is nuts, plain and simple. :spin

[ChumpDumper]

Lithium is a hell of a drug.

[pooh]

Cool...Ronnie will go out like Robinson...with a ring.

[samikeyp]

ok...a classless nutjob like Artest should NEVER be mentioned in the same sentence as a hall of famer like Robinson. Indy may not win a ring because of his actions if he continues.

[pooh]

ok...a classless nutjob like Artest should NEVER be mentioned in the same sentence as a hall of famer like Robinson.

Why not? He would go out the same way.

[ChumpDumper]

DRob didn't leave in a straight jacket.

[GINNNNNNNNNNNNOBILI]

Ron is a nutjob... but he can flat out play.. and anyone who doesnt realize that is blind

[samikeyp]

Who said he couldn't play? I just think its stupid to compare Artest to Robinson. Artest is a hell of a player and but he is not a hall of famer and is nowhere near the person Robinson is.

[bonesinaz]

Ron Artest needs a PR guy who can get him to shut the hell up. He is manic as the day is long right now. He needs help.

[SPURS21]

I dont see anything crazy bout what dude said in that article

[T Park]

no, quitting on your team, and asking for a month off are admirable traits.

Not crazy at all right Spurs?

[SPURS21]

Artest reppin his fam....I can't argue bout that

[bonesinaz]

Delusions of grandeur, talking a mile a minute, fits of rage, hx of depression. Seeing him explain this to the press was worse than reading it. The biggest clues that he has a problem are that he sees nothing wrong at all with his actions/words and it is interfering with his day job.

[boutons]

Pushing Artest to Tune In on the Court, Not Just Off It

November 13, 2004
By LIZ ROBBINS

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 12 - The Pacers were down to their final
five players in the last minute of overtime against the
Philadelphia 76ers, and Ron Artest was one of them.

Artest, his steely eyes focused on basketball, was
reinstated Friday after the two-game benching that had
sparked a tragicomic controversy this week. On Tuesday, he
asked Pacers Coach Rick Carlisle for a month off from the
game in part because his body ached and he was burdened by
his fledgling music career.

By Friday, Carlisle and his teammates were testy and tired
of dealing with the distraction he had created. For 53
minutes - Artest scored 29 points in 50 minutes - the
Pacers had no time to think because they were battling
severe attrition from injury and foul trouble.

After the Sixers' Kyle Korver buried them with seven
3-pointers and Allen Iverson hit a buzzer-beating jumper to
give Philadelphia a 106-104 victory, Artest walked off the
Wachovia Center court wordlessly with his teammates.

But then, instead of apologizing or refusing to talk
further about the incident or even saying he was
embarrassed by the negative attention that took away from
the team, Artest, who turns 25 on Saturday, called the
furor a compliment to his stature as a player.

He said he thought the news media had blown the controversy
out of proportion.

"Nobody got hurt in this whole situation, nobody was
physically hurt," he said.

"You go out there and play basketball - you don't really
worry about the media attention," he said. "In my case it
was a little different because I'm trying to promote my
group, I'm trying to get my group out there because the
album's coming out."

He reminded his listeners that the album he is promoting
for the hip-hop group Allure is coming out Nov. 23. But
Allure, of course, is not the group on which the Pacers
want Artest to focus.

"I got a job, it's basketball, you really can't do too
much," Artest acknowledged.

Perhaps it was appropriate that Artest this season chose to
wear No. 91 - for the outlandish Dennis Rodman - in his
effort to honor the Bulls, his favorite team growing up in
Queens.

"At some point in time, he's got to deal with it himself
and move on and try to learn from it," his teammate
Jermaine O'Neal said before the game, frustrated by having
to discuss the matter. "This is a special year for us and
we don't want nothing to take away from that, and I think
that's what he has to understand.

"As far as that distracting us, we got to be professionals,
too, at the same time."

O'Neal scored a game-high 39 points and fouled out in
overtime. "Nobody's questioning his ability on the court,"
O'Neal said. "He came in and played big for us. He blocked
it out, we blocked it out. We just didn't have it at the
end."

But controversy still crept up on Artest when he was called
for a flagrant foul on a breakaway layup with the Pacers
leading by 4 with 2 minutes 47 seconds to play in the
fourth quarter.

Artest protested the flagrant foul.

Two years ago, he led the league in flagrant foul points
with 8. He missed 12 games to suspension, including a
three-game suspension and a $35,000 fine for hurling a
television monitor and smashing a camera at Madison Square
Garden.

Last season, Artest was suspended only twice. He also made
the All-Star team and was named the defensive player of the
year after his former agent worked diligently with him.

Last summer, he began concentrating more on his music
career, according to the agent Mark Bartlestein.

Bartlestein said he urged Artest not to get too involved in
the music industry or to let his focus waver from
basketball.

"I care a lot about the guy and I felt that, to have a
career in the N.B.A., he needed to devote all of his time
and energy, for his financial well-being, to basketball,"
Bartlestein said. "Ron disagreed."

The two have split amicably.

Artest's record label,
TruWarier, is taken from his Rucker Park nickname, though
Artest altered the spelling and meaning.

His Web site explains: "A TruWarier now is any individual
with the ultimate determination to accomplish anything."

The Pacers want to see his accomplishments on the
basketball court. On Friday night, saddled with injuries to
Reggie Miller and Jeff Foster, the Pacers dressed only
eight players, including Artest, who has averaged 24.3
points a game this season.

Fans greeted him with some boos. His teammates were pleased
to see him back.

"In order to win a championship, you can't have this,"
Stephen Jackson said.

"Everybody has to be on the same page and, hopefully,"
Jackson said, "we can get there."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/sports/basketball/13artest.html?ex=1101351963&ei=1&en=4486c43a79f5cad9

[bonesinaz]

boutons-
Good post, and more evidence that Artest is over the edge.

[boutons]

from hoopsworld, Steve Kyler:

"RON ARTEST: I know many of you were expecting a significant rumor mill entry on Ron Artest, and his latest moronic outburst, but honestly anyone who has spent any time with Ron wasn’t surprised to here him ask for a month off. In fact, as basketball fans, go back and look at a the media members that acted “surprised” at this, and those are the people who’ve never spoken to Ron. I can recall moments with Ron in Chicago were he would in mid-interview turn and point at a teammates naked butt and giggle. This was the same guy that applied for a job at Circuit City after being drafted because he wanted the employee discount. Ron Artest is an amazingly gifted defender, but he is several sandwiches short of a picnic, and asking for a month off is not out of character for Ron, and he’s been pimping this album for months, so this too was not news. Every time someone points to Ron Artest still being on the draft board at 16 in 1999 – he was a head case then, he’s a head case now."

[exstatic]

Every time someone points to Ron Artest still being on the draft board at 16 in 1999 – he was a head case then, he’s a head case now.

Bing, bing, bing. We have a winner.

[ducks]

artest better not hurt any nba player

[ShoogarBear]

Ron Artest has a disease, which medications can ameliorate but not cure. During the time his disease under better control, he doesn't seem to be that bad a a guy, but clearly he has pretty difficult problems.

He also (maybe unfortunately) happens to be one of the most talent basketball players on the planet. He may be smarter than anyone else by realizing at some level that the best thing for himself, his health, and his family is to NOT be a professional basketball player and have all the accompanying fanfare and attention.

I wonder if everyone who is trashing Artest as a "nutcase" also go out of their way to trash Peter Holt when he has his alcohol relapse. Holt has a lot less excuse for losing control of his disease than Artest does.

[ducks]

ron has no disease


it is called drug use

that is not a disease
it is a choice
he needs to get off of them

[ShoogarBear]

ducks that is so fucking ignorant it's hard to know where to begin.

It is known that Artest has bipolar disease.

Where's your evidence than Artest has abused drugs, other than you own addled imagination?

[Spurminator]

I think the Artest stuff is a bit overplayed. It's good talk show material, but is getting a few games off any worse than allowing yourself to get overweight and out of shape over the summer and being unable to play an entire regular season?

Artest gives 100% in every game he plays, which is more than can be said about 90% of the players in this league.

[IcemanCometh]

Ron clearly has a serious ailment, I don't think hes ever been diagnoes as being bipolar however. What he needs is treatment not ridicule, who knows if professional basketball is the best thing for him right now.

[adidas11]

Quote: "This was the same guy that applied for a job at Circuit City after being drafted because he wanted the employee discount."

:wow

[exstatic]

Sean was ragging him on the telecast tonight. Said he needs to give the game it's respect, and that no one would be interested in his music if he weren't Ron Artest, NBA player.

[JFK]

I'm waiting for him to pysically maim somebody during a game or after one. I think this guy is a serious danger to everyone in the league, he's a bona fide whack job and i'm waiting for him to bite someone or do something crazy like that.

[toosmallshoes]

I dont see anything crazy bout what dude said in that article

he thinks he's the MVP of the team but also thinks Jermaine is the MVP. He thinks he will be MVP of the league someday, but wants to give up his all star spot to Stephen Jackson. When he is selected to the eastern all star team he will not give up his spot to sjax. He will get a tattoo on his forehead right before the game advertising his new album. He wants to take a month off to be with his family conveniently forgetting that most people can't even afford to take a week off to be with their family. Won't be long before he's dying his hair crazy colors like Dennis Rodman. what is it with defensive specialists going crazy? Guess somebody needs to keep an eye on Bowen.

[toosmallshoes]

ducks may actually be onto something. Ron is displaying a level of egocentrism often seen in cocaine abusers with obsessive mental disorders. I'm not neccessarily saying he does drugs, but i am saying he is obviously in need of professional help. Could the Pacers possibly mandate that he see a councilor?

[bonesinaz]

Long term drug abuse can mimic the symptoms of mental illness.

But I think Artest is bipolar ( also known as manic depressive disorder). I am not a psychiatrist, but have done a lot of research on BP depression. The people who suffer from it are often very high achievers. They usually only seek help in the depressive phase of the illness and will try to keep from getting depressed by taking mood elevating drugs. I have no idea if Artest is self-medicating, but his behavior is, at best erratic. He does need help. I think that his former manager knows this.

Usually we hear/read about celebs having this disease post mortum. They never publicly admit to it because they don't think that anything is wrong with them.