Interesting if sloppy op ed from the Miami Herald:
In My Opinion
Landing Artest might be very rewarding
Posted on Fri, Aug. 24, 2007
By GREG COTE
gcote@MiamiHerald.com
Ex-FSU star Johnson will bolster front line
WEB VOTE
Should the Heat trade for Ron Artest?
Absolutely! We need it 919
73%
No way! He's a loser 109
9%
Not sure, but I trust Riles 225
18%
Total Votes: 1253
Heat coach and president Pat Riley has looked into trying to acquire Ron Artest from the Sacramento Kings, and so we would mention a few things as a public service.
Let's make clear at the outset that, to our knowledge, Artest has never been involved in dogfighting, does not condone the practice and loves animals, or at the very least, does not wish them electrocuted.
The disclaimer has become helpful when discussing athletes who are controversial in a risk vs. reward, talent vs. trouble sort of way. That's the one good thing to come of this whole Michael Vick mess: He makes formerly vilified fellows such as Artest seem almost heroic by comparison.
Granted, animal-control officers seized a female black Great Dane named Socks from Artest in February because the dog was malnourished. Still, the animal is OK. It might simply have been a diet gone awry!
Granted, too, the man Miami might be pursuing carries a somewhat greater than average amount of what we call ''baggage'' -- particularly for a guy with enough of a soft side to give his dog a name like Socks.
So, again, it would be helpful to repeat to yourself the phrase, ''Yeah, but he never made pit bulls fight to the death or then drowned the ones who wouldn't,'' when weighing Artest's basketball talent against the following:
Artest has admitted to selling cocaine as a young teen. (Points for honesty?)
He cemented his notoriety with the featured role in the 2004 Pacers-Pistons brawl that earned him a 73-game suspension.
He once attended a Pacers practice in a bathrobe.
And he was suspended for demanding a month off because he was tired from promoting an R&B album he produced.
He has been suspended several other times for flagrant fouls, but only once for destroying a TV camera at Madison Square Garden.
An arrest for domestic abuse this past spring brought him a pending seven-game NBA suspension to start the 2007-08 season.
In what we would call a felony against music, Artest last Halloween released a rap album called My World that sold 343 copies -- nationwide -- in its first week.
Almost forgot. Heat fans might recall Artest was suspended for four games in 2003 for a heated courtside confrontation with Riley.
Pat has proved himself a forgiving guy to now consider wooing Artest.
A certain amount of desperation can do that for a coach.
Desperation, and smarts.
Riley is now downplaying the possibility of getting Artest; at the same time the interest is obviously there. He has called Sacramento to inquire.
Just Thursday, Riley told Miami Herald radio partner 790 The Ticket when asked a hypothetical obviously about Artest: ``I leave things in the past. I've been able to manage players with tough backgrounds who might be thought of as disciplinary problems. I'll look at any situation.''
Artest is worth getting, baggage and all.
His controversial reputation is well-earned.
But so is his reputation as one of the game's best defenders. He's a former NBA Defensive Player of the Year who was second in the league in steals last season.
He also brings offensive pop, averaging 18.8 points last season.
He is in his prime, not yet 28. At 6-7 with some heft, he's a swingman, a versatile piece for Riley's deployment.
As a bonus, Artest shows recent signs of wanting to repair his image.
Recently, he spent an eye-opening trip to impoverished Kenya, and spent four days in Honduras last week on a pilgrimage with the group Feed the Children.
NO FEAR
He won't come cheap -- although perhaps cheaper than he should, given his reputation and how that scares away those meeker than Riley.
Certainly, Miami would have to give up Udonis Haslem, and more. It would be worth it, assuming -- as I do -- that Riley is just the right coach to harness Artest, even as ''Ron-Ron's'' proximity to South Beach conjures all sorts of combustible images.
Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O'Neal and a motivated Artest would give Miami a mighty troika in an improving Eastern Conference. It wouldn't mean Riley is returning to the thugball style of his Knicks days, but adding a hard defender not afraid to offer a judicious elbow would add balance, and also a sense of momentum for what has so far been an uninspiring offseason for Miami.
Riley has re-upped as coach, and Alonzo Mourning said he would play another year. Good and good.
But when your big free agent acquisitions are a B-list Smush Parker and a fading Penny Hardaway, you have given your East rivals little reason to fear you have improved.
STATUS QUO
It's true the teams seeded ahead of Miami in last season's playoffs (Pistons, Cavaliers, Raptors) haven't made a lot of big moves, either, nor has the Bulls team that swept Miami from the playoffs.
But Miami still must get better than them -- and also stave off the lesser East teams that have made seismic strides.
Those include the Celtics, adding Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen; the Magic, scoring coveted Rashard Lewis; the Hawks, with a big draft; and the Bobcats and Bucks re-signing players (Gerald Wallace, Mo Williams) whom the Heat went after hard.
The sense is the East will have more depth and be stronger, and that Miami must keep up to realistically hope it can reprise its '05-06 championship.
Smush Parker and Penny Hardaway don't do it.
But Ron Artest might. He would be a huge step, a matter of potential reward overwhelming perceived risk.
Yeah, he has been a jerk. Plenty.
Then again, he never robbed a freight train, or the colloquialism's modern equivalent:
Never electrocuted a pit bull.
http://www.miamiherald.com/592/story/213700.html
