Artest Regrets The Way Things Ended With The Pacers
In each person’s life we all have regrets about things that we have done that we know we should not have. Then we have to deal with the consequences of our actions. You have one of two choices when that happens. You can resolve the situation and get on with the rest of your life. Or you can take the other road and just walk away from the situation. Now that situation never gets fixed and like an infected wound it just festers and gets worse. And the longer you wait to resolve it the harder it then becomes for everything to end up nice and tidy to every one’s satisfaction.
In New York Vinnie’s opinion it takes a big man to admit when they are wrong; and that is why when ever I am proven wrong about an article I wrote I always admit the error. In New York Vinnie’s mind if that did not happen then I would have absolutely no credibility! So New York Vinnie will crow about something when I call it right. However New York Vinnie is also the first to admit when the facts prove me wrong. Too many Frickin people try to pass the buck or push the blame elsewhere. Those people in New York Vinnie’s mind have zero credibility!
The reason that is being brought up is that New York Vinnie just gained a whole lot of respect for Los Angeles Lakers forward Ron Artest. On Monday “CBS SPORTS.com“ printed an interview with the veteran as his team gets ready to take on the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals this Thursday. Although Artest talked some about being on the Lakers and getting ready to take on Boston. However the part of the conversation that truly interested New York Vinnie was when Artest talked about his days playing for the Indiana Pacers.
It was back in 2004 when Artest and his teammates got involved in “The Malice At The Palace“ as a riot broke out during a game between the Pacers and their hosts the Detroit Pistons. To summarize things a Detroit fan poured a beer on Artest which prompted he and teammate Stephen Jackson to go into the stands and start wailing on some fans. Artest would be suspended for the rest of the season and for a while he was the poster child for all that was wrong with the NBA.
The following season instead of being grateful that the Pacers would take him back on the roster after a 73 game suspension; Artest demanded to be traded. The Lakers forward during the interview admitted that not only leaving the Pacers but in the manner in which he did it are the biggest regrets of his career in the NBA. And he also regrets leaving former teammates such as Reggie Miller, Jamaal Tinsley, Jermaine O’Neal and Jackson in the lurch.
Artest told the reporter “The biggest regret of my life, really, is bailing out on that Pacer team. I mean, outside not going to church every single Sunday, bailing out on that Pacer team is my biggest regret. Every time I see Jermaine, every time I see Steve and Jamaal … I get a little bit of a feeling when I see Bird, because he was such a great player and I respect him so much. So I get that feeling when I see Bird. I feel like a coward. I feel like I don’t even belong in their presence, really. When I saw Jermaine, I felt like I didn’t even belong in the same room as him. I felt like a coward. I don’t like feeling like a coward, and I feel like a coward. That’s the biggest regret of my life. Steve Jackson, Jermaine, Jamaal, even Jeff (Foster); a blue-collar guy like him, put his life on the line for us on the court, and I totally disrespected him. And of course Reggie. I was in a position to win a championship, Reggie was in position, and I bailed out on Reggie. I feel like a coward. A big-time coward. It’s hard for me to even speak to them, hard for me to see them.”
The Pacers had won 61 games the season before Artest was suspended and were looked at as an elite team in the Eastern Conference and the entire NBA. They of course took a major step backwards the year that Artest pulled his stunt but were expected to come back and be contenders again with the forward’s return to the squad. But he never came back.
New York Vinnie has to give Artest his propers as his admission of doing wrong makes me respect him more. Artest still has other issues to clear up such as his exit from the Sacramento Kings; but you have to start somewhere if you catch New York Vinnie’s drift.
