There are going to be 5 NBA storylines this season:
1) Where is LeBron going?
2) Is Ron Artest going do something crazy this season?
3) Where is LeBron going?
4) Who’s going to win the title?
5) Where is LeBron going?
We have all season to discuss LeBron’s destination, so to ease you in, I’m going to focus on question 2.
This summer the Lakers signed Ron Artest to replace influential swingman Trevor Ariza.
Ron Artest is of course infamous for his involvement in the brawl at Detroit a few years ago while with the Pacers. We’ll never forget the images of him wading into the stands swinging at anything that moved. The incident is 2nd only behind the Tim Donaghy scandal in terms of black marks under David Stern’s regime.
It became so passé to jump on the bandwagon and condemn him to torture, that we’ve now come full circle and people are too quick to defend him. These people list the fact that he is no longer crazy, is the best 1-on-1 defender in the league and so the Lakers are a shoe-in for a repeat.
These are myths that I am only too happy to dispel:
Myth 1: Ron Artest is the best 1-on-1 defender in the league
Not only was Artest not the best defender in the league last season, he wasn’t even the best defender on his team (Battier). Players don’t fear Artest anymore, and he’s quicker guards just blow by him now.
Myth 2: Ron Artest is no longer crazy
This is like saying Jordan is no longer an exhibitionist. Both false, it just happens so often that you’re immunized to it. Stories that have emerged about Artest since signing for the Lakers:
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- Artest first expressed his “pining” to join the Lakers after the 2008 Finals when he walked in to the losing Lakers locker room and told Kobe…while Kobe was in the shower. But don’t worry, Ron was quick to point out that “I’m not a homosexual or nothing like that, but Kobe had no clothes on”. Well that’s ok then…..
- He’s wearing number 37 in LA as a tribute to Michael Jackson because it’s the number of weeks that Thriller was number 1 in the charts.
- Whilst with the Rockets, Ron Artest routinely walked around in just his underwear. The team bus, hotels, practice facilities. Everywhere. Only the Rockets managed to keep it quiet for the entire 2 years he was with them. It finally emerged the day of the Game 7 against the Lakers. Artest missed the first two team buses and had to ride the 3rd one, again, just in his underwear. The thing is, the 3rd bus was for the owners, business staff and sponsors.
- He regularly broke plays on offence, usually opting to take really bad shots instead.
Myth 3: The Lakers are a shoe-in for a repeatSee Myth 2. After witnessing the incident on the bus first hand, Houston didn’t make any offers to Artest to stay in Houston. They were so embarrassed that even if Artest was willing to play for nothing, the Rockets would not have returned his calls.
So to answer that Question 2, “It’s a case of “when”, not “if”. He’s probably doing something crazy right now.
