Ron Artest is legitimately insane. We've all known this for a few years now. Yet, unlike his crazy NBA predecessors, he has displayed an uncanny knack for disrupting the entire league with his behavior. It's quite impressive. No current or pre-vious player in any professional league, Terrell Owens included, has been able to change the entire direction of the league with off-the-court antics like Artest does. The past week's discussions between the Indiana Pacers and Sacramento Kings showed the extent of the grasp that he has managed to obtain over the league.
When Artest decided back in December that he didn't want to play for the Pacers anymore, he immediately turned a champ-ionship contender into a team that might be able to fight for the eighth playoff spot. The Pacers have been in limbo over the past month, clearly distracted by the trade rumors and controversy surrounding the team. Yet, this controversy has not been limited to the Pacers. This weekend, after a tentative agreement with Sacramento was reached to swap the troubled star with Peja Stojakovic, Artest let it be known through his agent that he was reluctant to play for the Kings.
The only problem here was that Peja had already been told that the deal had been completed. He sat sulking in his hotel room Tuesday night, while the Kings took the court, believing the organization had mistreated and betrayed him. This created a fun fix for the Maloof brothers who own the Kings, as they were left with no choice other than to continue seeking other trades for their star. Since Peja is a free agent this summer, the Kings were desperate to avoid letting him go for zero value. The aborted trade forced Sacramento's hand and gave potential suitors a chance to acquire a disgruntled superstar for less than he was worth. In other words, Artest successfully threw two NBA organizations - including one that he didn't even play for - into complete disarray. How many athletes can list that on their resume?
Of course, there has certainly been a precedent for some of Artest's notorious behavior. When he carved the promotional rap label "Tru Warier" into the back of his head, it was a throwback tribute to Anthony Mason, the original shaved-messages-on-the-head promoter. When he attacked a fan in the stands last year, he was simply fulfilling the legacy that J.R. Rider created by spitting at a fan in November of 1997 and then charging the stands in March of 1999. When he smashed a camera in the locker room (and adopted number 91 for his jersey), he was giving a shout-out to his hero, Dennis Rodman, who has a long history of violence toward cameras and cameramen. When he badmouthed his team and requested a trade mid-season, he was cementing his reputation as the NBA equivalent of Owens.
Yet, Artest also has his share of unprecedented behavior. No athlete has ever asked for time off from playing to promote his rap album. No athlete has been suspended for smashing a framed picture of himself in the locker room. No athlete has attempted to supplement his professional athlete's salary by simultaneously working for Circuit City, as an elementary school math teacher and as a rap artist. No athlete has ever committed eight flagrant fouls in one season, or challenged a rival to a pay-per-view boxing match in a nationally published magazine. Most significantly, no athlete has so effectively thrown two teams separated by half a continent into total chaos at the same time.
The reason teams keep coming back to Artest? He's that good. A two-dimensional player and former Defensive Player of the Year, he is absolutely killer on the court. He describes his own behavior better than I can: "I'm going to continue playing hard and out of control, like a wild animal that needs to be caged in." Artest is obviously crazy, but he's very relevant in the world of professional basketball on and off the court. Now that he's officially a Sacramento King, let's hope he doesn't sabotage any more innocent franchises in the meantime.
Marc Lanza '06 is killer on the keyboard. He's just that good.
