Artest Suspended 7 Games (Merged)

#1
Seems like Ron got his punishment for his spousal abuse 'no contest' plea.

Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2936623

It says that Stephen Jackson also got suspended for 7 games.

Jackson, Artest suspended following court pleas
ESPN.com news services
Updated: July 14, 2007, 2:43 PM ET


Stephen Jackson and Ron Artest have been suspended seven games without pay by the NBA for recent scrapes with the law, the league announced Saturday.

Jackson, of the Golden State Warriors, was suspended for pleading guilty to criminal recklessness in Indiana, while Artest was suspended for pleading no contest to spousal abuse.

Both suspensions will begin with the first game of the 2007-08 NBA regular season.

Jackson pleaded guilty last month to a felony count of criminal recklessness for firing a gun outside a strip club last fall and was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and perform 100 hours of community service.

Artest was arrested and charged in March with assaulting his wife. He pleaded no contest to the charge in May and was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and a 10-day work project.

Both players were previously suspended by the league for their involvement involved in the Indiana Pacers' brawl with Detroit Pistons fans at the Palace of Auburn Hills in 2004.
 
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Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#5
Good lord. Just... *sigh*

Can we all just have a collective traditional turkish folk dance out in the streets now to celebrate the way things are going? :eek:
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#7
And exactly what some of us feared. As time goes by, I certainly understand how the Pacers fans felt - and he hasn't totally ruined a season for us...yet.
 

HndsmCelt

Hall of Famer
#8
And exactly what some of us feared. As time goes by, I certainly understand how the Pacers fans felt - and he hasn't totally ruined a season for us...yet.
Well he just could not compeet with Muss last season when it came to destroying seasons.:rolleyes:
 
#11
It has been a long hard day for me so I am sure that I am overreacting but I am sick and tired of this. I know that this is not new legal trouble from him, but I HATE having someone who exhibits this type of our behavior on our team. Really, when was the last time he made it through a season without a suspension for behavior? This may be the wrong thread for this, but I do not want him on this team next season. I would rather keep KT AND Miller. Maybe it is just too much to ask that me have players who have both talent and good character.
 

piksi

Hall of Famer
#14
What else needs to happen for people to realize that Ron needs to play somwhere else ?
Is there anyone/someone who truly believes that this won't happen again ?
We don't need Ron Artest anymore, neither as a player nor as a person on our team.
Enough is enough
 
#15
Well at least Cisco gets good PT for the first 7 games. I didn't expect much for next season, so it's not that big of a deal IMO. I kinda figured he'd get some sort of suspension.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#16
Well at least Cisco gets good PT for the first 7 games. I didn't expect much for next season, so it's not that big of a deal IMO. I kinda figured he'd get some sort of suspension.

Might make it even harder to trade him however. Ah the joy of Ron. Can't live with him, and he makes it almost impossible for anybody else to want him.
 
#17
Jackson, Artest suspended following court pleas

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2936623

Jackson

Artest
NEW YORK -- Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson are in trouble with the NBA again.

The central figures in the brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills were each suspended without pay by the league on Saturday for the first seven games of next season because of their most recent legal problems.

And their history of headaches was likely the reason they were slapped with stronger penalties than other players who have been suspended in recent years for getting in trouble with the law.

"Both were serious offenses and each are repeat violators of NBA rules," spokesman Tim Frank said.

The NBA's collective bargaining agreement calls for a minimum 10-game suspension when a player is convicted of or pleads no contest to a violent felony. While the league felt these crimes fell short of that, it came down hard on both players -- who are already used to hearing from the league office.

Artest and Jackson were Pacers' teammates in November 2004 when they were involved in a brawl with fans during a game against the Detroit Pistons. Artest was suspended for 73 games and the playoffs -- the NBA's harshest punishment for a fight -- and Jackson was suspended for 30 games.

Artest pleaded no contest in May to a misdemeanor domestic violence charge stemming from a March 5 dispute with his wife, the latest in a string of off-court problems.

Placer County Superior Court Judge Francis Kearney sentenced Artest to 100 hours of community service and a 10-day work project through the county sheriff's department. The Sacramento Kings forward also was fined $600 and ordered to get extensive counseling.

Artest was in Africa on a humanitarian mission at the time his penalty was announced. He is with union director Billy Hunter taking part in the players association's "Feeding One Million" campaign in Kenya and could be unaware of his suspension.

A response from Artest and the union, including whether they plan to appeal, might not come until they return to the United States.

Jackson of the Golden State Warriors pleaded guilty last month to a felony count of criminal recklessness for firing a gun outside an Indiana strip club last fall, when he was with the Pacers. He was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and perform 100 hours of community service.

"I accept the suspension, believe it is fair and definitely look forward to having this entire process come to a conclusion in November," Jackson said in a statement released by the Warriors. "Additionally, I apologize to my teammates, our fans, our ownership and the NBA for the negativity this has created and the poor example that I set."

Artest will lose nearly $471,000 in salary, about $50,000 more than Jackson.

The NFL has toughened its punishment of players for off-the-field conduct under commissioner Roger Goodell, but the NBA has a long list of players it has suspended for actions off the court.

For example, Ruben Patterson was hit with a five-game suspension in 2001 after he entered a modified guilty plea in Washington state to third-degree attempted rape for allegedly forcing his children's nanny to perform a sex act on him. Three years ago, Eddie Griffin was penalized three games after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge in Texas.

Former Sacramento Kings coach Eric Musselman was suspended two games by the league last season for driving under the influence. The last player punished by the NBA was new Orlando forward Rashard Lewis, who got a one-game ban in April 2006 while playing for Seattle after he pleaded guilty to reckless driving.
 
#19
And exactly what some of us feared. As time goes by, I certainly understand how the Pacers fans felt - and he hasn't totally ruined a season for us...yet.
Well considering the first 7 games are already shot to hell.....The season hasn't even started yet and we're already behind the 8 ball. He'll probably do something stupid again while he is out those 7 games and get suspened for the remainder of the season. This is what happens when millionaire owners decide they make a better GM than the GM. If I had stock in the Kings right now I'd sell it.
 

piksi

Hall of Famer
#20
Well considering the first 7 games are already shot to hell.....The season hasn't even started yet and we're already behind the 8 ball. He'll probably do something stupid again while he is out those 7 games and get suspened for the remainder of the season. This is what happens when millionaire owners decide they make a better GM than the GM. If I had stock in the Kings right now I'd sell it.

"behind the 8 ball"


Are You serious ?
 
#22
Was everyone similiarly agitated over our team's "character" and looking to run the guy out of town when CWebb missed the first 5 games of one year for smoking reefer? I don't remember. I shrugged and moved on that time, and I'm shrugging and moving on this time.

As far as I'm concerned, Ron Artest has done more for the Kings the past two years than Geoff Petrie has. I'm supporting him as long as he's a King.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#23
Correction: It was assumed CWebb had smoked marijuana because of prior allegations but there was actually speculation that he might have had steroids in his system as he was attempting to complete his rehab.

I don't understand the need to bring CWebb up in relationship to Artest. One isn't contigent upon or anything close to the same as the other. Webber may have had problems but he didn't single-handedly just about destroy a franchise.
 
#24
Correction: It was assumed CWebb had smoked marijuana because of prior allegations but there was actually speculation that he might have had steroids in his system as he was attempting to complete his rehab.

I don't understand the need to bring CWebb up in relationship to Artest. One isn't contigent upon or anything close to the same as the other. Webber may have had problems but he didn't single-handedly just about destroy a franchise.
I think they are very much close to the same, and I think all this renewed hand-wringing over Ron's suspension is hypocritical, that's all.

I also don't think Ron has singlehandedly done anything here except play his behind off and be a little eccentric like he always has been. You know I am no CWebb hater (maybe you don't know that... but the only jersey I ever paid for has #4 on it and I still wear it to most Kings games), but "team's best player missing substantial games for misbehaving" is "team's best player missing substantial games for misbehaving." Point is, the groaning about Artest's issues to me seems way out of proportion to reality. I know I am in a small minority thinking this way.
 
#25
I think they are very much close to the same, and I think all this renewed hand-wringing over Ron's suspension is hypocritical, that's all.

I also don't think Ron has singlehandedly done anything here except play his behind off and be a little eccentric like he always has been. You know I am no CWebb hater (maybe you don't know that... but the only jersey I ever paid for has #4 on it and I still wear it to most Kings games), but "team's best player missing substantial games for misbehaving" is "team's best player missing substantial games for misbehaving." Point is, the groaning about Artest's issues to me seems way out of proportion to reality. I know I am in a small minority thinking this way.
I'm in that same minority I guess. I'm all for keeping Ron. Finally a player who not even Shaq can tag as a Queen.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#26
I think they are very much close to the same, and I think all this renewed hand-wringing over Ron's suspension is hypocritical, that's all.

I also don't think Ron has singlehandedly done anything here except play his behind off and be a little eccentric like he always has been. You know I am no CWebb hater (maybe you don't know that... but the only jersey I ever paid for has #4 on it and I still wear it to most Kings games), but "team's best player missing substantial games for misbehaving" is "team's best player missing substantial games for misbehaving." Point is, the groaning about Artest's issues to me seems way out of proportion to reality. I know I am in a small minority thinking this way.
While I fully agree some of the angst over the suspension announcement seems a little excessive, I think the over-all acknowledgment that Artest is always going to be one thing after another isn't. And a part of me is sad because he had/has a lot of potential and talent. BUT he is the classic Greek tragedy in real life. And he always will be.

If the Kings are truly going to rebuild, we don't need the loose cannon. We don't need to wonder what he's going to say or do next that will create another media frenzy and distract the team, the coaches, etc.

Artest has publicly demanded a trade and then rescinded it. Artest has reportedly caused problems in the locker room. Artest has made it clear he thinks he's as valuable as Kobe, Lebron James and Tracy McGrady and he wants to be the Kings franchise player. That, I think, scares me more than anything else. Because he truly believes those things, he isn't going to be happy unless the Kings allow him to play the role.

I didn't want us to get Ron Artest and yet, once he got here, I vowed to give him the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately, it's always going to be something with Ron. And I don't want the next something to take any more of a toll on our Kings.
 
#27
yeah he definitely has strange voices in his head telling him strange things :confused: :confused: :confused:

A friend of mine said a while ago "you never know, tomorrow he could say he wants to be Spiderman, or a comedian, or who knows what else".

I guess I don't mind it much, I have a high tolerance for weirdness, and I'll kind of believe the locker room cancer stuff when I hear it from a teammate. I don't discount that it is possible, but I haven't heard it from anyone with first hand knowledge.

As a Kings fan, I sort of feel like all I've got to hang my hat on is Ron, Mike and Kevin.... so maybe I'm clinging desperately to Ron hoping the good outweighs the bad :)
 
#28
I just heard at the top of the Fox 40 News that Ron Artest left yesterday for a one week trip to Africa on an NBA sponsored humanitarian tour. The announcer implied he might not know about his suspension and seemed almost snickering that the NBA would let him loose in Africa as an official NBA good will ambassador:confused:.
 
#29
I can understand the disappointment and anger at Artest due to his recurring "acts of misbehaviour". But like some of the rest I don't want to label him as " always going to be one thing after another". Although such things do make it harder to trade him, I'd be more angry if he was being overpaid to do nothing like Brad and KT. In other words I'm judging him based on his play this season (if he's not traded), and if he once again does something stupid starting next season then perhaps I'll move to the view of the majority. I felt that some of his suspensions however, such as in the 2006 SA series, were unfair.

The news reports here (singapore, where soccer is predominant and basketball articles often have their facts wrong) are always putting Artest and Kobe in bad light. And maybe that contributes to me favouring him.
 
#30
I am not shocked or upset by his suspension. I was expecting it. What bothers me is that we have accepted his behavior as "normal" for Ron. I want him to clean up his life. I am tired of the fact the most of the national media that we get is about Artest and his off court issues. Even we were were not good in the past, at least our media coverage was that we sucked and not legal crap. It upsets me that we have a player with his talent that instead of lauding his play, we are just waiting for whatever boneheaded thing he is going to do next.

From all reports, he will be a King next season. If so, I will cheer for him on the court and hope that he has an amazing season. Equally importantly, I will be hoping that his life off the court is one with NO drama.