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this is a quality story... your welcome if you haven't been enlightened to it yet...

i started writing a summary of the article, but you really need to read it yourself... i can't put it better words....

you have to register to read.... could you post the article please?

I went to college with some guys who were friends of Ron-Ron, needless to say they weren't the brightest. Ron is just looking for attention and he needs to feel like he is important, it's a shame because he's a hell of player. I believe the saying is you can take the man out of the ghetto, but you can't take the ghetto out of the man. He still thinks he running around Queensbrigde, playin AAU ball. He needs to realize how fortunate he is and he should cherish every moment he spends in the NBA.

you have to register to read.... could you post the article please?

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thats weird... i didn't need to when i posted it and i can't get it either ... there are many articles about this though... heres a different one:

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Artest's rap is tough to handle

The off-the-court behavior of Pacers star Ron Artest has long frustrated his teammates and coaches.

 

Originally published November 13, 2004

PHILADELPHIA - Mike Jarvis knows a little about what Rick Carlisle and the Indiana Pacers are going through these days with Ron Artest.

Long before Artest first came to the NBA as a member of the Chicago Bulls, long before the talented but behaviorally challenged forward became a poster child for the league's plethora of players who seem to be out of touch with reality, Jarvis saw the makings of the public relations nightmare that unfolded this week.

That was seven years ago, when Artest was a sophomore at St. John's and not the NBA's reigning Defensive Player of the Year and burgeoning music producer who asked his current coach, Carlisle, if he could take a couple of months off at the beginning of the season to promote a group called Allure for Artest's TruWarrior Records label.

"Ronny was a very unique individual," Jarvis, who was fired last season at St. John's, said yesterday by telephone from his home in Florida. "A lot was going on with him back then. Obviously, there are still some unresolved issues that need to be dealt with now."

Artest, whose request for time off drew a two-game benching from the Pacers, tried to bring some closure last night to what became a national story. Starting for a team that was down to eight healthy bodies at the beginning of the night and five by the end of a 106-104 overtime defeat here to the Philadelphia 76ers, Artest showed why Carlisle is willing to give him so much rope.

After missing those two games, including a 34-point home loss Wednesday to the Los Angeles Clippers, Artest scored 29 points on 10-for-15 shooting to go along with six rebounds, five assists and one flagrant foul, but watched as the 76ers came from 17 points down to win on the first game-winning buzzer-beater of Allen Iverson's career.

Asked if he would have done anything differently the past few days, Artest said, "Everything happens for a reason. If you try to do the right thing, good things happen to you. Nobody got hurt. Nobody got physically hurt."

While Artest and Carlisle tried to downplay the recent turmoil by briefly appearing together after yesterday's shoot-around at the Wachovia Center, with a smiling Carlisle saying, "Brotherly love ... brotherly love," it wasn't sure whether he was talking about this city's nickname or a newfound relationship with his troubled star.

"We've gone through a lot the last few days, but it's time to play basketball," said Carlisle, whose tense relationship with some players in Detroit cost him his job after two 50-win seasons with the Pistons in 2001-2002 and 2002-03, leading to him being hired by the Pacers last year. "It's time for our team to get as many healthy bodies as we can out there. We're moving forward."

Carlisle kept moving even after the game ended, declining to single out Artest's performance and ignoring a reporter's question about whether Artest said anything to his teammates or coaches beforehand. Artest admitted afterward that he overreacted, as did the media, and said, "I always wanted to play. Sometimes things just come to your head and you say it."

It's not certain if the rest of the Pacers have resolved their differences with Artest, who missed 12 games for an assortment of suspensions two years ago but seemed to turn around his act last season, when Indiana reached the Eastern Conference finals before losing to the eventual-champion Pistons.

"This is a special year for us, and we don't want nothin' to take away from that. I think that's what he has to understand," said center Jermaine O'Neal, who took issue with Artest leaving the bench before halftime during a recent game against the Chicago Bulls. "We have to be professionals and do what we're getting paid to do, and that's play basketball."

Said injured guard Anthony Johnson: "This is an extreme situation right here. I'm pretty sure this is the first time this might ever happened in the NBA. It's frustrating because we have a team that can contend for a championship and with the injuries we have now, you add on something like this, it's not in the best interest in the team."

Artest's unusual behavior is just the latest off-court distraction to face an NBA team, and one that ultimately can hurt the league's overall image.

From Kobe Bryant's prolonged trial for sexual assault to Carmelo Anthony grousing about his playing time with the U.S. Olympic team and a recent near-benching in Denver to Latrell Sprewell commenting about feeding his family though he makes $14.6 million, family, commissioner David Stern and his spin doctors have been forced to work overtime lately.

Philadelphia team president and general manager Billy King, who has had his own issues over the years with Iverson, said before last night's game that "every player, every coach, every owner has a responsibility to conduct themselves in a way that is respectful to our fans and the people who come to watch us play."

The reaction by the fans here in the crowd announced at 15,729 was certainly not vicious by Philadelphia standards, a smattering of boos when Artest was introduced in the starting lineup and one fan later yelling, "Hey Artest, I don't hear you rappin' ." But there was also a woman holding up a sign that read, "ARTEST IS THE BEST."

Artest has long been a league leader in technical fouls, suspensions and fines, and the fact that he changed his number from 23 last year (in honor of Michael Jordan) to 91 this year in honor of Dennis Rodman seems to be more in character for a player who was once suspended and fined for destroying a courtside television camera and monitor.

From a distance, Jarvis isn't shocked to see what has transpired with his former star, who will celebrate his 25th birthday today and admits that his recent controversy won't hurt sales when the CD is released on Nov. 23. On a St. John's team of characters that included Baltimorean Bootsy Thornton, Artest stood out.

During his last season at St. John's, and the first for Jarvis, Artest was the most challenging player on what Jarvis has called "the most challenging team I've ever coached."

The Red Storm reached the Elite Eight in 1999 by beating Maryland before losing to Ohio State, but not without what Jarvis believes was some divine intervention.

"If you don't know Ronny, you might think I was making some of this up," said Jarvis. "During practices, we would have to stop and call timeout and I would call a priest out and we would pray. If it weren't for the most divine of intervention, I don't know how we would have gotten through the year."

With two straight defeats after a 4-0 start, Carlisle might be looking for similar help before long, if he hasn't already.