Artest Clarifies His Halftime Drinking
SportingNews
You know that Artest’s now-infamous Hennessey interview wasn’t just going to vanish after one day. Today, Artest took to the airwaves to clear up what he meant. Mostly because there were some out there who felt this was just another publicity stunt meant to attract attention. Just like Auburn Hills, right?
From ESPN Chicago:
"The whole point of it was to let people know I was not proud of how I was as a youngster, and how immature I was," Artest said. "I think the guy released the part of the story that was going to sell the newspapers.
"I think when the story comes out, it will show how I was not proud of how I was during my younger days in the NBA. But I think in order to get everybody interested in actually buying the paper, I think they just released all these power points, so to speak."
Full disclosure: "the guy" in question is SN.com, and yes, the full story is on newsstands now. Clearly, though, Artest feels his story was presented without context, thus sensationalizing it instead of getting across why he was coming forward with the drinking stuff.
But wait, he then turned around and elaborated on what direction his post-hoops career in boxing might take:
"I don’t want to fight Ben Wallace in no street. I don’t want to fight Ben Wallace on no basketball court. But after our careers are over, I will fight Ben Wallace in the boxing ring. But not out of hatred. But out of it would be a good boxing match. So don’t look forward to me fighting Ben on a basketball court, because that’s not going to happen."
So there you have it, the new Ron-Ron we must all live with. Sometimes, he’s baring his soul to keep others from going down the same dark path. Then there are times when he’ll just come up with something outrageous because that’s the kind of public figure he is. Whether it’s up to him or us to draw a distinction remains to be seen.
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