Artest says he'll finish his career in Sacramento
By Ian Begley
New York Daily News
NEW YORK - Ron Artest said Tuesday that he would finish his career with the Sacramento Kings, ending any possibility that the Queensbridge product would suit up for the Knicks.
But Artest joked that he knew how to fix the Knicks and could help Isiah Thomas - his former coach with the Indiana Pacers - run the team after his retirement.
"I think (the Knicks) can turn it around, but they need some rest and less partying in New York City," Artest said with a smile at a press conference at a midtown restaurant to announce that the All-Star Classic for Wheelchair Charities will be held at the Garden on Saturday, Sept. 9.
"That's my bid to be a general manager."
When asked if he could take over for Thomas, the Knicks' president and coach, Artest said he could "just help him out a little bit."
Artest, a former St. John's star, didn't offer any specifics on how he would improve the Knicks, who won just 23 games last season, but said he didn't like to see his hometown team suffer last year.
"Every time they lost I felt bad," Artest said. "I didn't want to see them lose."
Artest flew in from Detroit, where he spent last week performing community service for his role in the Nov. 19, 2004 Pacers-Pistons brawl. He said comments he made during a community service appearance, where he seemed to encourage children to fight, were taken out of context.
"Someone started trouble and I ended it," Artest said last Wednesday to a group of children at the Judge Mathis Community Center. "I would always encourage you to protect yourself. But in certain situations if you can avoid them, avoid them."
Artest said Tuesday that his overall message to the kids was to stay away from bad situations in their neighborhoods.
"The message was more about (staying away from) guns and drugs and not being around bad people," Artest said.
Artest wore a wrap around his right middle finger after suffering a cut during Monday night's Entertainer's Basketball Classic championship game at Rucker Park, in which he scored 18 points to lead Terror Squad over Black Wall Street.
He also visited with patients from Goldwater Memorial Hospital on Roosevelt Island who have benefited from Wheelchair Charities, Inc., which provides motorized wheelchairs and other equipment for disabled patients. Artest has been involved with the charity since he met founder Hank Carter as a teenager.
Theresa A-Williams, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, an inflammatory disease that causes a loss of function in the joints, has met Artest on several occasions during his visits to the hospital and was at the restaurant to talk to him. A-Williams said that she knows a different Artest than the one involved in the infamous brawl in 2004.
"On TV you see this different person that they portray," A-Williams said. "But when I see him here, he's just a nice man who takes out the time to travel here and visit us."
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/15338676.htm
By Ian Begley
New York Daily News
NEW YORK - Ron Artest said Tuesday that he would finish his career with the Sacramento Kings, ending any possibility that the Queensbridge product would suit up for the Knicks.
But Artest joked that he knew how to fix the Knicks and could help Isiah Thomas - his former coach with the Indiana Pacers - run the team after his retirement.
"I think (the Knicks) can turn it around, but they need some rest and less partying in New York City," Artest said with a smile at a press conference at a midtown restaurant to announce that the All-Star Classic for Wheelchair Charities will be held at the Garden on Saturday, Sept. 9.
"That's my bid to be a general manager."
When asked if he could take over for Thomas, the Knicks' president and coach, Artest said he could "just help him out a little bit."
Artest, a former St. John's star, didn't offer any specifics on how he would improve the Knicks, who won just 23 games last season, but said he didn't like to see his hometown team suffer last year.
"Every time they lost I felt bad," Artest said. "I didn't want to see them lose."
Artest flew in from Detroit, where he spent last week performing community service for his role in the Nov. 19, 2004 Pacers-Pistons brawl. He said comments he made during a community service appearance, where he seemed to encourage children to fight, were taken out of context.
"Someone started trouble and I ended it," Artest said last Wednesday to a group of children at the Judge Mathis Community Center. "I would always encourage you to protect yourself. But in certain situations if you can avoid them, avoid them."
Artest said Tuesday that his overall message to the kids was to stay away from bad situations in their neighborhoods.
"The message was more about (staying away from) guns and drugs and not being around bad people," Artest said.
Artest wore a wrap around his right middle finger after suffering a cut during Monday night's Entertainer's Basketball Classic championship game at Rucker Park, in which he scored 18 points to lead Terror Squad over Black Wall Street.
He also visited with patients from Goldwater Memorial Hospital on Roosevelt Island who have benefited from Wheelchair Charities, Inc., which provides motorized wheelchairs and other equipment for disabled patients. Artest has been involved with the charity since he met founder Hank Carter as a teenager.
Theresa A-Williams, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, an inflammatory disease that causes a loss of function in the joints, has met Artest on several occasions during his visits to the hospital and was at the restaurant to talk to him. A-Williams said that she knows a different Artest than the one involved in the infamous brawl in 2004.
"On TV you see this different person that they portray," A-Williams said. "But when I see him here, he's just a nice man who takes out the time to travel here and visit us."
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/15338676.htm
