The Ron Artest Saga: Brawl, Trade Rumor, Suspension, CD

Ron Artest, forward of the Indiana Pacers has been known for his wild behavior for several years. However, in the past two NBA seasons it has been worse then ever. We all now the story, last years incident in Detroit, the infamous brawl when a fan threw a cup a Artest, who then jumped into the stands followed by teammate Stephen Jackson to fight with Detroit fans. What most of us don't know is that the problems started before that. In the 2003-2004 season only played 73 games. Some missed sue to injury, but seven due to suspension for flagrant fouls. The NBA rule is you are allowed five flagrant fouls for the whole season. After that you are suspended five games for the first five flagrant fouls and one game for each additional foul later in the season. Artest broke the record that year for flagrant fouls. His sixth flagrant foul came five seconds into the game which he returned from his initial five game suspensions and he was ejected after only five seconds. Artest had perhaps his best statistic season of his career winning the Defensive Player of The Year Award. In the 2004-2005 seasons he was suspended for the final 73 games of the regular season, including playoffs, with out pay for the Brawl in Detroit. Earlier in that year Artest took two games off willingly because he wanted to promote his rap CD. He lost $5 Million dollars of salaries that year due to suspensions. In the 2005-2006 season thing started out great. However it soon fell apart as Artest felt that Coach Rick Carlisle was not implementing him into the offense. He felt that no small forward could guard him and that he wasn't welcome in Indiana anymore. Shortly after he requested a trade. The Pacers agreed and have discussed Artest with many teams. If they can't trade him, then they won't play him at all for the reminder of the year. As of December 17th, in a latest twist of events, he indicated that he wants to remain a Pacer. "I should have been a man and spoken with coach [Rick Carlisle] about my differences with him," Artest told the Indianapolis Star. "Yes, I would like to return". It seems as though Ron Artest has become the Terrell Owens of the NBA. This is why teams like Detroit and San Antonio have won the last two championships. There is no ego on the team, no problems, media, saga's; all they do is play basketball. Sure it may be boring, but you have to win at any cost in all sports. In conclusion if I were a GM for a team I would consider Ron Artest for a second. He is two concerned about his own life. He have basically ruined two seasons for the Pacers, why will the next season be any different.