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Artest joking around after 20-point spanking

After the Lakers lost  got spanked by Charlotte on Monday night, Ron Artest seemed to not care. As a KCAL reporter approaches him to ask questions postgame, he jokingly sniffs some "Unbreakable" cologne. Or perfume. Or whatever that crap is supposed to be.

If I was a Laker fan, I'd be pretty disgusted by this. Actually, if I was a Laker fan I'd hang myself first, and then I'd be disgusted by this.

 

Oh sure, NOW Ron Artest is being disruptive

Via ESPN

The Lakers have been so uncharacteristically public about the potential benefits of an injection of new blood because they know, with a league-high $90.4 million payroll and such limited trade assets, that threatening this locker room with a shakeup move is a far simpler gamble to execute than shaking things up with an actual deal before the Feb. 24 trading deadline. 

However ... 

I'm told that there's at least one prominent Laker who hopes he's the guy who gets shipped out in the next 20-odd days. 

One source close to the situation insists that Ron Artest wants out.

Asked to react to that, Artest's agent David Bauman declined comment. 

This is where I'm obligated to remind you that no one in the NBA can change his mind faster than the famously fickle Ron-Ron. Another pertinent disclaimer: Artest's play has been sufficiently sluggish in the second season of a five-year deal that whatever he wants is bound to be greeted by shrugs and scoffs, no matter how much he gave the Lakers in the epic final game of last season.

I've nonetheless been assured this week that Artest -- though he hasn't outright demanded a trade and is likely to publicly deny it -- is serious about wanting to be dealt somewhere "he can have fun again" less than a year removed from the pivotal role he played in that ring-clinching Game 7 with Boston that the Lakers so nearly squandered.

Yeah Ron... NOW you wanna start making a stink and disrupting the Lakers?  You're a little late on that, buddy. 

Ron just turned 31 and he's under contract for three more seasons past this one.  He's making $6.3 million this season and he'll make $7.7 in the last year of his contract.  Meanwhile, any team that gets him will get a guy averaging 8 points and 3 rebounds per game.

So who'll take Ron?  That's a great question.  Who wants this guy through 2013/14?  Contenders will be skeptical of taking on his attitude.  Rebuilding teams will be weary of taking on all those years.  And after it all, what kind of player will the Lakers get in return?  This may well be bit of addition by subtraction by the Lakers, but it will probably not be the magical trade Lakers fans are looking for.

Ron Artest pisses all over LeBron James

Hey LeBron, add Ron Artest to your motivational list.

If you ask the Los Angeles Lakers' Ron Artest, the biggest NBA signing of the summer wasn't LeBron James leaving Cleveland to go to Miami as a free agent; it was Kevin Durant extending his contract with the Thunder to stay in Oklahoma City.

"He's the second best player in the NBA," Artest said of Durant, ranking the youngest scoring champion in league history behind only teammate Kobe Bryant.

"Kobe's got five rings, six game winners [last season], 23-straight points in [Game 5 of the Finals] off mostly jump shots," Artest elaborated. "[He's] the biggest shot maker, big shot maker. So, that said, Durant's the second best player in the NBA."

When asked where James ranks on his list, Artest excluded the back-to-back MVP from consideration.

"I only count to two," Artest said. "I've been out of school 15 years, so I only count to two."

ESPN Los Angeles

A truly spectacular dig by Ron-Ron. He wouldn't even mention LeBron's name.

Bahahahahaha! 

Editor's Note: An alternate headline was considered for this post. Here's the editorial discussion between John and myself on IM: 

Your Morning Dump... Where Ron Artest wants to help

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

Artest finally won a title in June after 11 regular seasons of trying ... and now he's planning to sell the championship ring as a fundraiser to put more psychologists, psychiatrists and therapists in schools.

"I'm never going to put it on," he said.

Artest plans to soon announce details of what he hopes will become a worldwide auction, and he takes possession of the jewelry in an Oct. 26 pre-game ceremony before the Lakers open against the Rockets. It's an incredible gesture. But it's even more meaningful as a statement.

"You work so hard to get a ring, and now you have a chance to help more people than just yourself, instead of just satisfying yourself," he said. "What's better than that? For me, this is very important."

NBA.com

Kudos to Ron Artest for putting his heart (and ring) behind an important cause.

But... why give away a precious symbol like a championship ring when you can just write a check for 1, 2 or 5 million dollars? I'm guessing the auction will fetch, at the most, six figures.

Speaking of the Lakers, the newly signed Matt Barnes was arrested on felony domestic assault charges. The 6-7, 225 pound Barnes says he was the victim.

The rest of the links:

WEEI - Celtics Countdown - Tony Leaves | Yahoo! - Melo prefers Bulls, Knicks | Russian coach fires back at Coach K |

Ron Artest responds to Doc Rivers

Doc Rivers continues to preach his favorite phrase... that the Celtics starting 5 still hasn't lost a playoff series.  While Doc is correct... it's not exactly something Ron Artest wants to hear.  So Ron Ron fired back on Twitter:

Boston lost to lakers because of Kendrick Perkins injury. What about in 08 when Bynum was injured. What about this year Bynum was injured ..

And

What about Kobe played with a broke finger .... What about Ron artest defense When the Boston staff said Ron artest was too slow

And

Doc got one million excuses.. Just come back this season a take what you want.

And

The lakers with Bynum in the playoffs healthy has not lost The same way whoever whatever hasn't Let's not mention the stats on lock down

You get the point.  You can check out his whole twitter page cuz it goes on and on.  

You can join us tonight at 9pm on Boston & That Sports Babe... where this is SURE to be a huge topic of conversation as I the Celtics fan go head to head with Jackie the Lakers fan. 

Elbowing people in the jaw is now apparently legal

I'm not asking for much here, I don't think.  All I want is when a guy puts an elbow up and it connects with a guy's jaw... that a whistle be blown. 

Just a thought.

Can Artest slow Big Baby Davis?

Forum Blue and Gold explores some options for the Lakers if Bynum cannot go extensive minutes the rest of the way. One of them involves playing Ron Artest on Glen Davis.

3). Play Ron more at PF against Davis.  If Bynum really is going to be limited, those extra front court minutes have to go somewhere.  And with all apologies to Mbenga and Powell, I’d rather it be Ron matching up with Big Baby than those two.  Ron has the foot speed and the strength to battle Davis on his drives and the length to contest his jumper and still rebound effectively.  Before the series started, Phil said that Davis is the type of player that Ron can play some PF against and I think he should see if his first instinct was right about that.  I know we just got done talking about what Odom can do to effectively play Davis, but the C’s have four player rotation and there will be plenty of minutes to go around to match up with all of these players.  If the Lakers hope to not wear out Odom and Gasol, they’ll need another player that they can trust in this PF rotation.  And if Walton does see more minutes (as mentioned above), then Ron can be moved around a bit more and used in places where he’s most useful – which may just be matched up on Baby.

As physical as Ron Artest is, I'm not sure he has the strength to keep Davis out of the paint and off the offensive boards.

If the Lakers do try this, Doc could create a match-up problem by substituting Paul Pierce for Ray Allen on the second unit (TA plays the 2 and Nate at the 1). Who covers Pierce then? Odom? Luke Walton?

Your Morning Dump... Pierce hit by Ron Artest's chinese death blow

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

“I don’t really see anything he’s doing special that any other teams haven’t done throughout the course of the playoffs,’’ Pierce said. “That’s it.’’

“I’ve got to get better, obviously,’’ Artest said. “I’m not doing nothing, obviously. Obviously, my defense, obviously it’s not affecting anybody, obviously. So I’ve got to go out there and try to make it affect somebody.’’

“I’ve dominated a game defensively, but you really don’t see it,’’ Artest said. “It’s like that death blow, the Chinese blow, when you hit but you don’t really feel it until it’s in you. Five seconds later, you kind of die.’’

Globe - Pierce can't cash in

My fears about this match-up are coming to fruition. Ron Artest has the right blend of quickness and physicality to effectively guard Paul Pierce. The Celtics cannot hand Pierce the ball and expect him to be productive in 1-on-1 situations. While Doc Rivers says it's simply a matter of Pierce missing open shots, I'm not buying it.

I'm not surprised at Pierce's comments. The egos of NBA players don't permit them to admit someone is getting the best of them. Engaging Artest in a war of words might be a good tactic. We all know it won't take much to push Ron over the edge. 

On Page 2, proof the officiating hasn't changed much.

8 hours till game time... time to start the crazy train?

This guy... this is one of the keys to the LA Lakers.

Ron Artest has shown a propensity for losing it a horrible time over his career.  Yet, he hasn't lost it yet this year. 

Is Ron Artest due for an ill-timed meltdown?

I asked Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski that during last night's episode of Boston & That Sports Babe.  You can take a listen below.

Listen to internet radio with Red's Army on Blog Talk Radio

We're going to be doing our own show tonight at 8.  The 2 Man Game will be an hour long pregame show leading into Game 1.  Visit our show page to listen in.

Who is the league's dirtiest player?

According to a Sports Illustrated poll of 173 players, Raptors forward Reggie Evans is the NBA's dirtiest player.

Here are the poll results:

Reggie Evans, Raptors F 21%

Ron Artest, Lakers F 13%

Andres Nocioni, Kings F 6%

Anderson Varejao, Cavs C 5%

Kobe Bryant, Lakers G 4%

FAST FACTS

Only Varejao (85th, 5.2 fouls) and Nocioni (89th, 5.1) are among the top 100 in fouls per 48 minutes. Evans has been injured and doesn't have enough playing time to qualify.... Three of the top six vote-getters, including Hawks center Zaza Pachulia (4%), have played internationally.... The NBA's leading fouler, Wizards forward-center Fabricio Oberto (9.1 per 48 minutes), received zero votes.

While BDL says this is no-brainer, I didn't realize Evans had this type of reputation. I also had no clue he once tugged on Chris Kaman's testicles.

I'm not surprised to see Artest, Nocioni and Varejao on the list. It pains me to see a high quality guy like Kobe Bryant labeled as dirty. He just loves to compete so darn much...