Note: A lot of this stuff has already been posted in various forms but I'm just going to put each of this morning's articles from the Bee out there for people to read...
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/14247528p-15065122c.html
Artest takes another hit
He's suspended for tonight's game because of an elbow to Ginobili's head
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Tuesday, April 25, 2006
SAN ANTONIO - Ron-Ron is gone-gone for Game 2.
In a move that surprised the Kings, the San Antonio Spurs and most of the NBA world, Kings forward Ron Artest received a one-game suspension Monday for his elbow to the head of guard Manu Ginobili in the third quarter of the Spurs' Game 1 win Saturday.
The decision came from Stu Jackson, the NBA's senior vice president of basketball operations. He said Artest's history coupled with his physical play left him no choice but to discipline the player who was suspended for 73 games and the playoffs last season for his role in the Detroit fan-player brawl.
Artest - whose upper lip was swollen and was later stitched because of an inadvertent elbow from Ginobili in the first quarter - caught Ginobili on the side of the head with 9:07 left in the third quarter and was called for a personal foul. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich argued for a flagrant-foul call with the officials, then exchanged words with Artest, who pointed to his lip as they went back and forth. Artest also had put physical shots on Tim Duncan and Tony Parker earlier in the game, leading to speculation that those plays may have influenced Jackson's thinking.
Artest, who gave a short statement to the media after practice but fielded no questions, broke his three-day silence even further in an exclusive interview Monday afternoon with The Bee. He insisted that he wasn't retaliating against Ginobili.
"It wasn't even a payback shot," Artest said by phone. "It was just like defensive aggressive awareness. I'm in the paint, and it's just, You're not going to be into my lane. Both elbows were pulled back. I pulled them back so they wouldn't hit anybody, you know what I'm saying?"
Jackson didn't buy it. The league's disciplinarian was candid about the logic behind his decision, saying a player's past offenses are always factored into such a choice.
"It was not a basketball play," Jackson said. "It's a type of play that endangers other players, and we just can't allow that type of non-basketball play in our game."
The repeat offender took offense to the logic behind the decision, which only supports his opinion that the NBA is on a headhunt of its own.
"No, I wasn't headhunting," Artest said. "You know, it's like another good excuse (for them) to take things away from me that I've worked so hard to achieve."
The game's second half was filled by garbage time. But Jackson said it wasn't the Spurs who dug through the rubbish to complain about what they saw as trash. The league, which chose a suspension over a retroactive flagrant foul, reviewed the play on its own accord.
The news surprised both teams, with Kings point guard Mike Bibby saying he was "amazed." Kings coach Rick Adelman was no different, though he wasted no time in looking ahead. Adelman will start shooting guard Kevin Martin and move Bonzi Wells to Artest's small forward position.
"All I know is I don't have Ron, so the rest of these guys have to be ready to play (tonight)," Adelman said. "It'd be no different than if he turned his ankle and was going to miss the next game as far as I'm concerned. (But) it definitely changes it."
Ginobili, who stayed upright while his head and body were put off-balance by the blow, wouldn't say if he thought Artest deserved a suspension.
"I saw that he raised his arm, but the league makes its own decision," Ginobili said. "Sometimes you are playing, and you don't see exactly what happened. It's not me who has to say anything about it ... . The league (looks) a lot into what you're trying to do. I think that (Artest) had made a couple other dangerous plays (earlier)."
But Artest doesn't see it that way. He said he's simply too hard for a game gone soft. Monday afternoon, he sat in his hotel room watching an old playoff game on ESPN Classic, noting the differences between then and now.
"The game's changed a lot," he said. "It's very soft, but it's hard to understand what they're trying to accomplish with the changes in the game. (On the ESPN Classic game), guys are fighting each other and stuff. Nobody got kicked out. That's a long time ago. And this is just a minor, minor, minor incident. And they could've given me a flagrant one (penalty) and a fine, but they want to take a whole game. It's very disappointing."
Artest, a quasi-NBA historian who routinely cites legends of old, prefers the old days.
"It's a new game," he said. "All the records that everybody's setting, like LeBron James and all these new stars. They're very good, but it's not like it was back in the day. All the scoring titles and everything; it's easier to score now. The whole game is so soft now."
The Kings' challenge, meanwhile, just got harder.
"I would've been really upset if it was like Game 4, or Game 7," Artest said. "I just look at it as, we've got more games left. But it's still a disappointment. It's disappointing for me, for Sacramento, for the whole organization."
Ron Artest's troubles
• Summer 2002: Ordered to undergo anger-management counseling after harassment and criminal-contempt charges brought by a former girlfriend were dropped.
• January 2003: Suspended for three games and fined $35,000 for destroying a camera and television equipment after a game against New York at Madison Square Garden.
• January 2003: Suspended for four games without pay after a confrontation with Miami coaches, players and fans.
• February 2003: Pacers coach Isiah Thomas ordered Artest to stay home and not to travel with the team to Boston for "disciplinary reasons," allegedly for breaking a framed picture of himself in the locker room at Conseco Fieldhouse.
• February 2003: Called to speak with league officials in New York, where Artest was told he would incur more suspensions if his behavior did not change.
• March 2003: Suspended two games for a flagrant foul against Boston.
• March 2003: Suspended one game for a flagrant foul against Philadelphia.
• March 2003: Suspended one game for a flagrant foul against Portland.
• April 2003: Fined $20,000 for making an obscene gesture at fans in Cleveland.
• March 2004: Suspended one game for hitting Portland's Derek Anderson in the head with a forearm.
• April 2004: Suspended one game for leaving the bench during a game with Boston.
• May 2004: Fined $10,000 for making an obscene gesture during a game with Detroit.
• November 2004: Benched for two games for requesting time off at the beginning of the season to promote an album for his Truwarier Records label.
• November 2004: Suspended for the remainder of the season (73 games) for his involvement in a brawl at the Pistons-Pacers game (harshest penalty in league history for an on-court incident).
• December 2005: Publicly asked to be traded; made inactive until the Pacers traded him to the Kings on Jan. 25.
• Monday: Suspended for Game 2 of the first-round playoff series against San Antonio for making contact with Manu Ginobili's head.
Source: News wires. Bee research: Sheila A. Kern.
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at (916) 326-5582 or samick@sacbee.com.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/14247528p-15065122c.html
Artest takes another hit
He's suspended for tonight's game because of an elbow to Ginobili's head
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Tuesday, April 25, 2006
SAN ANTONIO - Ron-Ron is gone-gone for Game 2.
In a move that surprised the Kings, the San Antonio Spurs and most of the NBA world, Kings forward Ron Artest received a one-game suspension Monday for his elbow to the head of guard Manu Ginobili in the third quarter of the Spurs' Game 1 win Saturday.
The decision came from Stu Jackson, the NBA's senior vice president of basketball operations. He said Artest's history coupled with his physical play left him no choice but to discipline the player who was suspended for 73 games and the playoffs last season for his role in the Detroit fan-player brawl.
Artest - whose upper lip was swollen and was later stitched because of an inadvertent elbow from Ginobili in the first quarter - caught Ginobili on the side of the head with 9:07 left in the third quarter and was called for a personal foul. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich argued for a flagrant-foul call with the officials, then exchanged words with Artest, who pointed to his lip as they went back and forth. Artest also had put physical shots on Tim Duncan and Tony Parker earlier in the game, leading to speculation that those plays may have influenced Jackson's thinking.
Artest, who gave a short statement to the media after practice but fielded no questions, broke his three-day silence even further in an exclusive interview Monday afternoon with The Bee. He insisted that he wasn't retaliating against Ginobili.
"It wasn't even a payback shot," Artest said by phone. "It was just like defensive aggressive awareness. I'm in the paint, and it's just, You're not going to be into my lane. Both elbows were pulled back. I pulled them back so they wouldn't hit anybody, you know what I'm saying?"
Jackson didn't buy it. The league's disciplinarian was candid about the logic behind his decision, saying a player's past offenses are always factored into such a choice.
"It was not a basketball play," Jackson said. "It's a type of play that endangers other players, and we just can't allow that type of non-basketball play in our game."
The repeat offender took offense to the logic behind the decision, which only supports his opinion that the NBA is on a headhunt of its own.
"No, I wasn't headhunting," Artest said. "You know, it's like another good excuse (for them) to take things away from me that I've worked so hard to achieve."
The game's second half was filled by garbage time. But Jackson said it wasn't the Spurs who dug through the rubbish to complain about what they saw as trash. The league, which chose a suspension over a retroactive flagrant foul, reviewed the play on its own accord.
The news surprised both teams, with Kings point guard Mike Bibby saying he was "amazed." Kings coach Rick Adelman was no different, though he wasted no time in looking ahead. Adelman will start shooting guard Kevin Martin and move Bonzi Wells to Artest's small forward position.
"All I know is I don't have Ron, so the rest of these guys have to be ready to play (tonight)," Adelman said. "It'd be no different than if he turned his ankle and was going to miss the next game as far as I'm concerned. (But) it definitely changes it."
Ginobili, who stayed upright while his head and body were put off-balance by the blow, wouldn't say if he thought Artest deserved a suspension.
"I saw that he raised his arm, but the league makes its own decision," Ginobili said. "Sometimes you are playing, and you don't see exactly what happened. It's not me who has to say anything about it ... . The league (looks) a lot into what you're trying to do. I think that (Artest) had made a couple other dangerous plays (earlier)."
But Artest doesn't see it that way. He said he's simply too hard for a game gone soft. Monday afternoon, he sat in his hotel room watching an old playoff game on ESPN Classic, noting the differences between then and now.
"The game's changed a lot," he said. "It's very soft, but it's hard to understand what they're trying to accomplish with the changes in the game. (On the ESPN Classic game), guys are fighting each other and stuff. Nobody got kicked out. That's a long time ago. And this is just a minor, minor, minor incident. And they could've given me a flagrant one (penalty) and a fine, but they want to take a whole game. It's very disappointing."
Artest, a quasi-NBA historian who routinely cites legends of old, prefers the old days.
"It's a new game," he said. "All the records that everybody's setting, like LeBron James and all these new stars. They're very good, but it's not like it was back in the day. All the scoring titles and everything; it's easier to score now. The whole game is so soft now."
The Kings' challenge, meanwhile, just got harder.
"I would've been really upset if it was like Game 4, or Game 7," Artest said. "I just look at it as, we've got more games left. But it's still a disappointment. It's disappointing for me, for Sacramento, for the whole organization."
Ron Artest's troubles
• Summer 2002: Ordered to undergo anger-management counseling after harassment and criminal-contempt charges brought by a former girlfriend were dropped.
• January 2003: Suspended for three games and fined $35,000 for destroying a camera and television equipment after a game against New York at Madison Square Garden.
• January 2003: Suspended for four games without pay after a confrontation with Miami coaches, players and fans.
• February 2003: Pacers coach Isiah Thomas ordered Artest to stay home and not to travel with the team to Boston for "disciplinary reasons," allegedly for breaking a framed picture of himself in the locker room at Conseco Fieldhouse.
• February 2003: Called to speak with league officials in New York, where Artest was told he would incur more suspensions if his behavior did not change.
• March 2003: Suspended two games for a flagrant foul against Boston.
• March 2003: Suspended one game for a flagrant foul against Philadelphia.
• March 2003: Suspended one game for a flagrant foul against Portland.
• April 2003: Fined $20,000 for making an obscene gesture at fans in Cleveland.
• March 2004: Suspended one game for hitting Portland's Derek Anderson in the head with a forearm.
• April 2004: Suspended one game for leaving the bench during a game with Boston.
• May 2004: Fined $10,000 for making an obscene gesture during a game with Detroit.
• November 2004: Benched for two games for requesting time off at the beginning of the season to promote an album for his Truwarier Records label.
• November 2004: Suspended for the remainder of the season (73 games) for his involvement in a brawl at the Pistons-Pacers game (harshest penalty in league history for an on-court incident).
• December 2005: Publicly asked to be traded; made inactive until the Pacers traded him to the Kings on Jan. 25.
• Monday: Suspended for Game 2 of the first-round playoff series against San Antonio for making contact with Manu Ginobili's head.
Source: News wires. Bee research: Sheila A. Kern.
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at (916) 326-5582 or samick@sacbee.com.
