Once known as the bad boy of the NBA, Ron Artest’s career has suffered because of the bad reputation he carries with him.
However it may be slightly unwarranted. Since he was suspended by David Stern for his role in the brawl that took place in Detroit, if you haven’t seen or heard about it look here, Artest has been relatively quiet. In Sacramento the worst he did was throw an elbow at Manu Ginobili in the play-offs, not the first player to do such a thing and not the last. He was then traded to Houston where he spent a tranquil year leading the Rockets past the first round of the play-offs in 11 years.
Artest’s basketball skills cannot be doubted, he is a fearsome competitor who likes to take on any challenge and is one of the best defenders in the league. So it may come as no surprise that the Lakers decided to sign the forward as a free agent this year.
But still many question his ability to keep his personality in check especially in such a wild city like Los Angeles. But why is he still being questioned? The fact that you have Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson there in LA makes it unlikely Artest will become a disruption and if he really wants to win a ring then his best chance is with the Lakers.
Artest seems to be at home in LA, he loves to live the glamorous life and with ambitions of becoming a musician there is no better place for him to be.
LA didn’t re-sign Trevor Ariza, one of their key players in last season’s championship run, in order to get Artest, which is why so many people have questioned his signing. But arguably even at 30 years of age Artest is still an upgrade and his intensity on defence will take the work load off Kobe Bryant, well it was supposed to anyway.
If last night’s performance against the San Antonio Spurs is anything to go by the combination of Artest and Bryant will take them a long way in the play-offs again. Kobe took care of the offense scoring 24 points on 11-16 shooting while Artest had five steals, one blocked shot, eight rebounds and contributed to the scoring with 16 points.
Artest says he is serious about winning his first NBA Championship ring, if so he then he may want to continue playing like he did against the Spurs. He has shown glimpses of what he can do throughout the season but with just 11 games left to go, the time has come for Artest to be the consistent lock down defender the Lakers thought they were getting when they signed him.
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