Ron Artest: The Next MC Outta Queensbridge?

Sacramento Kings forward Ron Artest has accomplished a lot on the court: winning the 2004 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award with the Indiana Pacers and reaching the Eastern Conference finals that same year. Unfortunately, most people see Ron as a nut, and this tends to diminish his achievements.

Why would anyone see the talented baller from the Queensbridge projects this way? Let’s assemble a list of a list of Ron’s other “accomplishments”:

1. During his rookie year with Chicago, Ron applies for a job at Circuit City so he can get an employee discount.
2. At Indiana, he shows up to practice wearing a bath robe
3. Also at Indy, he asks coach for a month off so he can promote an R&B group on his record label (the group flops, and he earns a 2-game suspension).
4. At Madison Square Garden, Ronnie destroys a TV camera, earning a 3-game suspension.
5. The “Malice at the Palace” brawl (Click to watch the video). If you’ve been trapped in a closest these past couple of years, this was when Ron was hit with a cup of beer by the lovely Detroit Pistons fans. After being hit, Ron rushed into the stands, talked some smack, and punched a fan. This sparked one of the most shameful incidents in NBA history, and earned Ronnie a suspension for the rest of the year, as well as costing him over $5 million in salary and ruining his team’s chances at winning the title that year.
6. Artest begins his “fresh start” in Sacramento by threatening to KILL teammate Bonzi Wells if he won’t re-sign with the Kings. Wells left to play for the Houston Rockets, and is still alive at the time of this writing.

Now we know why the “average” fan might not like Ron, but we also know that what doesn’t fly in “mainstream” America might by embraced by the
streets. Call Artest a nut, but he’s gotta know that his street-cred is at an all-time high. Following through on his threat to Bonzi Wells is the only thing that could bring it any higher. Why not capitalize on this and cut a hip-hop record? Appropriately, Artest’s album is scheduled to drop on Halloween.

Sources: Artest looks for respect off court as he releases first rap album and Ron Artest at Wikipedia