Ron Artest - #15

Ron Artest
#15
Guard-Forward
Los Angeles Lakers
Height: 6-7
Weight: 260
Born: Nov 13, 1979 - Queens, New York
College: St. John's
Draft: 1999 - 1st round (16th pick) by the Chicago Bulls


Ron Artest wears crazy neon pants and drives giant go-karts around L.A. -- but that doesn't mean dude doesn't understand the importance of mental health.
Artest still views himself as an incomplete project, a man in "transition." The direction at the moment, however, couldn't be better.

One of the best things about a football match is when whole crowd holds its breath and rises to its feet as one in anticipation of a goal. That doesn’t happen at a basketball match, and only partially because the seats are more comfortable. People cheer when their team scores, but because points are chalked up in roughly half of all the attacking moves, celebrations are far more muted. There’s no feeling of collective release when the balls wrinkles the net. The biggest cheers come from turn-overs, when the defending team intercepts a pass and turns defence into attack.

I found the game entertaining. Basketball is all about passing and movement; it flows from end to end, much like a football match would if there was no midfield. A few weeks ago the Kings made a player swap with the Indiana Pacers which brought small forward Ron Artest to the club. He’s a versatile player, but he’s as well known for his exploits off-court as for his play on it. In 2004 he started a brawl between players and fans, which led to 73 game suspension and eventually his move to Sacramento. He’s a big signing for the Kings, and a big draw, but on the day he was not their star player. Team captain and point guard Mike Bibby out-scored all his team mates and was pivotal in most of their attacking moves, which is very impressive for a defensive player. The Kings won the game 96-78.

As it became clear that there was no way back into the game for the Jazz, good numbers of Kings fans started leaving the arena. Why didn’t they stay until the final whistle to celebrate the win? Tom informed me that it is quite normal for fans to leave when they feel the job is done. I told him that the only time you leave a footy match is when your team is three goals down – never when you’re winning! When the match finished the PA triumphantly blasted “Song 2″ at us all, but I suspect that even if the Kings had lost the song would have been the same.

I could come to like basketball, but I find the atmosphere utterly bewildering. Maybe given time I’ll come to understand it, but what I will never comprehend is why the Utah team, coming from a state that is predominantly white and Mormon, calls itself the Jazz. Quite apart from naming one, can you even imagine a white Mormon jazz musician?

Best of all is that the match was on Superbowl Sunday. By going to the basketball I effectively absolved myself from sitting in front of three hours of intensely boring American Football. Thank you, Kings! Thank you, Tom!
 

Below is an excerpt:

"Just being able to see every situation clearly," says Artest of the benefits of therapy. "I'm not as quick to judge somebody. I'm not always as quick to say I'm right about something. I criticize myself a lot or just look at things from all angles. If something's going wrong or something I can't deal with, I'm trying to figure out a way where I can deal with it relaxed."

"The most stable person in the world needs someone to talk to," Odom says. "It's really happens a lot more than what people think, probably, as far as someone needing someone to talk to. It's very normal. The everyday person sometimes is not willing to admit it. It was good that he got some help. We all need to know what makes us tick."

That doesn't necessarily make going public any easier.

"I talked about it three years ago," Artest says. "I told people I was going through therapy and some people was like, 'What?' I was weird. It caught people off-guard. But I kinda knew, like, I knew people were gonna call me crazy, but I kind of thought that if I tell people about this, it can have an impact on certain people."

Last season, when he admitted to drinking Hennessy at halftime during his days as a Chicago Bull, most people treated it like another outrageous tale from Ron-Ron and missed his intention, which was to bring his mistake to light.

"I was very upset about that," Artest says. But he kept talking, thanking his therapist during the postgame news conference after the Lakers won the title, and appearing alongside Rep. Grace Napolitano to advocate for H.R. 2531, a measure to "provide access to school-based comprehensive mental health programs."

The more he speaks out for those without a voice, the more people can put a face to their own issues. The solidarity works in reverse, too. The more Artest talks about his own issues, the less self-conscious he becomes about having them.

In his own words, it makes him feel "normal."
After about four minutes of play a time-out was called. Immediately the court was invaded by dancers, a lion mascot and three video cameras. Every time out featured a similar invasion. The dancers appeared four times, and did an extended routine at half time. The lion mascot clowned about. One time he was launched from bungee ropes into inflatable oversized bowling pins, another time he threw American football passes into the crowd, or shot rolled-up t-shirts from a gun into the top tier. Twice during breaks ThunderStix were dropped from the ceiling into the arms of clamouring fans. At times like this the TV screens would ask people to refrain from strong language or exhort the crowd to “Make Noise” or “Get Loud.” I found it bizarre that the crowd should make most noise when the game wasn’t actually happening. At times it felt as if the warm-up routine got more attention than the game.

One of the best things about a football match is when whole crowd holds its breath and rises to its feet as one in anticipation of a goal. That doesn’t happen at a basketball match, and only partially because the seats are more comfortable. People cheer when their team scores, but because points are chalked up in roughly half of all the attacking moves, celebrations are far more muted. There’s no feeling of collective release when the balls wrinkles the net. The biggest cheers come from turn-overs, when the defending team intercepts a pass and turns defence into attack.

I found the game entertaining. Basketball is all about passing and movement; it flows from end to end, much like a football match would if there was no midfield. A few weeks ago the Kings made a player swap with the Indiana Pacers which brought small forward Ron Artest to the club. He’s a versatile player, but he’s as well known for his exploits off-court as for his play on it. In 2004 he started a brawl between players and fans, which led to 73 game suspension and eventually his move to Sacramento. He’s a big signing for the Kings, and a big draw, but on the day he was not their star player. Team captain and point guard Mike Bibby out-scored all his team mates and was pivotal in most of their attacking moves, which is very impressive for a defensive player. The Kings won the game 96-78.

As it became clear that there was no way back into the game for the Jazz, good numbers of Kings fans started leaving the arena. Why didn’t they stay until the final whistle to celebrate the win? Tom informed me that it is quite normal for fans to leave when they feel the job is done. I told him that the only time you leave a footy match is when your team is three goals down – never when you’re winning! When the match finished the PA triumphantly blasted “Song 2″ at us all, but I suspect that even if the Kings had lost the song would have been the same.

I could come to like basketball, but I find the atmosphere utterly bewildering. Maybe given time I’ll come to understand it, but what I will never comprehend is why the Utah team, coming from a state that is predominantly white and Mormon, calls itself the Jazz. Quite apart from naming one, can you even imagine a white Mormon jazz musician?

Best of all is that the match was on Superbowl Sunday. By going to the basketball I effectively absolved myself from sitting in front of three hours of intensely boring American Football. Thank you, Kings! Thank you, Tom!