Is artest on drugs?

[pauls931]

Let's not go overboard on this Artest lovefest because he is embarrassing Kobe and the Lakers at this point.

His comments about taking a leave to pursue a rap career while the Pacers stood by him for over a year was for at the very least irresponsible

His treatment of his dogs (whatever happened to that anyways?)

Domestic abuse claims.

Artest probably isn't that bad of a person if he's on meds, but let's not make him out to be some saint. Most people would NOT go into the stands to confront a fan if someone threw a beer at him. People got throw water bottles, coins, lighters and the bit all the time. Artest was the only one who ever got in the stands.

Artest kills offensive momentum on his team by pounding the ball non-stop, and he jacks up crazy 3 pointers. He is probably one of the best two-way players in the league over the last 5 years, though. Too bad it's not a game of 1-1.

Only in utah....

[urunobili]

Xanax

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

Only in utah....

That would really suck. If a player on the opposing team got in a fight with the fans in Utah he would also have to worry about the refs considering their allegiance to Utah fans.

[stretch]

Let's not go overboard on this Artest lovefest because he is embarrassing Kobe and the Lakers at this point.

His comments about taking a leave to pursue a rap career while the Pacers stood by him for over a year was for at the very least irresponsible

His treatment of his dogs (whatever happened to that anyways?)

Domestic abuse claims.

Artest probably isn't that bad of a person if he's on meds, but let's not make him out to be some saint. Most people would NOT go into the stands to confront a fan if someone threw a beer at him. People got throw water bottles, coins, lighters and the bit all the time. Artest was the only one who ever got in the stands.

Artest kills offensive momentum on his team by pounding the ball non-stop, and he jacks up crazy 3 pointers. He is probably one of the best two-way players in the league over the last 5 years, though. Too bad it's not a game of 1-1.

I don't think anyone here said anything about him being a saint or anything like that. All that was said is he is a good basketball player, and a good person at heart that deals with some unfortunate medical and mental conditions.

And I'd like record of all the times that an NBA player was at a game, minding his own business, when suddenly having a beer thrown in his face, and didn't bother to confront the fan about it, since according to you, most people have dealt with that and wouldn't do such a thing. Antonio Daniels jumped into the stands during a game just because he saw someone arguing with his wife.

[TampaDude]

When people mention Artest, the first thing everyone thinks of is the Malice in the Palace. He has a "reputation" that takes time to shake off. He's one of the top players in the NBA, no doubt, and even though he's calmed down a lot, he's still a badass mother er...Kobe don't want none of that, trust me!

[coldsweat]

contract year

[ambchang]

I don't think anyone here said anything about him being a saint or anything like that. All that was said is he is a good basketball player, and a good person at heart that deals with some unfortunate medical and mental conditions.

And I'd like record of all the times that an NBA player was at a game, minding his own business, when suddenly having a beer thrown in his face, and didn't bother to confront the fan about it, since according to you, most people have dealt with that and wouldn't do such a thing. Antonio Daniels jumped into the stands during a game just because he saw someone arguing with his wife.

Antonio Daniels was checking out whether his wife was OK, not throwing punches.

And I take it back, it was Artest and Vernon Maxwell. Even though the heckler in the Maxwell case deserved every punch he got, it still doesn't change the fact that Maxwell was a nutcase and one of the only two players to go into the stands and punching out people.

[mingus]

Seriously, how many of us wouldn't have done the same thing in that situation?

umm ... Ron Artest went into the stands and went after the wrong guy . i don't think many people at all would go into a crowd and start punching someone if they didn't know for certain who they were punching ...

[E20]

Artest is pretty ing badass.

I'd take him on the Spurs. His soundbytes would just be worth it.

[mingus]

I don't think anyone here said anything about him being a saint or anything like that. All that was said is he is a good basketball player, and a good person at heart that deals with some unfortunate medical and mental conditions.

i don't know what you mean when you say "good person at heart," but just read his Wikipedia page under "Legal Troubles." ... he was charged with dometic abuse as recently as '07 ... hard to call someone who abuses his wife a "good person."

And I'd like record of all the times that an NBA player was at a game, minding his own business, when suddenly having a beer thrown in his face, and didn't bother to confront the fan about it, since according to you, most people have dealt with that and wouldn't do such a thing. Antonio Daniels jumped into the stands during a game just because he saw someone arguing with his wife.

his intentions weren't necessarily wrong (i think anyone who throws a beer at you should get his ass beat) , but his execution was bad (he went after the wrong guy , plus the fact that he excaberated the situation into something that it didn't have to be) ... Detroit , drunk fans , blowout loss , Stephen Jackson - he should have realized that when these four ingredients are present , nothing good could come from going into the stands ...

[E20]

he was charged with dometic abuse as recently as '07 ... hard to call someone who abuses his wife a "good person."

He was mentally unstable then.

Artest has gone on the record saying that he doesn't like taking his meds because they affect how he plays in a basketball game lowering his game and how he goes on binges where he doesn't take anything. He was then scolded by the Kings for not taking them and now he takes them regularly.

[E20]

In 2008, Artest appeared in a video promoting companion animal spaying and neutering for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals en led "Have the balls to spay and neuter your dog." lol

[mingus]

He was mentally unstable then.

Artest has gone on the record saying that he doesn't like taking his meds because they affect how he plays in a basketball game lowering his game and how he goes on binges where he doesn't take anything. He was then scolded by the Kings for not taking them and now he takes them regularly.

mentally ill or not , i'm not about to call him a "good person." he beat his ing wife ... it would take something profound for me to change my mind ... wife beaters are not in my circle of friends ...

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

Artest seems to be pretty okay. He seriously has a mental disability/imbalance so he's just misunderstood and has a bad reputation, so it's hard to knock him completely. He's actually lucky to be in the NBA, to have coaches, team staff watching over his meds, etc.

, I think even Dirk would have went into the stands, and confronted the fan in some way or another, and he's like the nicest guy in the league.

I agree with this post completely. It would be no different than if you were at work, and a buyer came and threw a cup of beer in your face. Sure, as a worker for that company, you are supposed to be held to a high standard, especially when its dealing with buyers. Fact is, you would still wanna beat their ass, and most likely would confront them in one way or another. I can't stand how people talk so much about how Ron Artest had no reason to be up there, bla bla bla. Yeah, it was wrong, but pretty much any ordinary person would have reacted in a similar manner.

I remember after the brawl I didn't give Artest the benefit of the doubt. But now I sympathize less with the fans in retrospect.

Regardless, the fans treated the players as if they were at the zoo or something. Like you said, a buyer taking advantage of their "customer" status.

Although didn't ARtest punch the wrong guy???

[E20]

mentally ill or not , i'm not about to call him a "good person." he beat his ing wife ... it would take something profound for me to change my mind ... wife beaters are not in my circle of friends ...

Can't expect a mentally unstable guy to be a 'good person' all the time.

[Ice009]

I don't know about Ron as a person, but I love his game. He is my type of player and I actually wanted the Spurs to trade for him last season at the trade deadline.

Anyway, game 7 I think is the time for Ron to break out with his best game of the series and have a huge game offensively and defensively.

[Caltex2]

You know he was too emotional and crazy to think clearly.....no one able to think clearly would run into a crowd full of Detroit people and start throwing punches.