The Maturation Of Ron Artest

     It takes a lifetime to build a reputation and a moment to tear it down. Seems like this statement was created for Ron Artest. In his career he has been demonized, vilified, and called everything short of the anti-christ. There are a number of instances that are pointed to to support these claims, but it all really boils down to one fateful night in Detroit.

If my memory serves me correctly (it does) Artest was actually on the receiving end of the flagrant foul, that started the whole mess. Ben Wallace, who fouled Artest approached him after the foul as if to start trouble. Ron smartly avoided the confrontation and proceeded to the score's table and lied down on the table. At this point all hell breaks loose as a cup of beer comes flying from the stands and hits Artest square in the face. What follows next is complete mayhem with players running in the stands and fans streaming onto the court. I'm not sure what most people would do but it seems likely that one's reflexes would take over after taking a cup of beer in the face. I'm not saying what Artest did was right, but under the circumstances I could understand it.

Fast forward to now. That incident has been one that Artest has been unable to shake although he has been in no major trouble since then. There were a lot of very recognizable players involved in that melee, but none suffered as much as Artest. Not only was he suspended for that entire season but he has had to carry that stigma around for his entire career. What's so sad about that is Ron has been described to a man as a good person and a great teammate.

Everyone knows Ron's story about his upbringing in the notorious Queensbridge projects in Queens NY. Most everyone knows that his relationship with his hard-driving father was serviceable at best. Surely everyone is versed in Ron-Ron's legendary temper. What we should take a minute to ponder is the enormous amount of courage and fortitude it took for Ron to rise above the trappings of his confines. I know some would say "he's a ballplayer, he had it made". I would say to those same people that we have seen it a million times, promising athlete caught up in the swoon of the streets never realizing their potential. Think of some of the can't miss projects that couldn't escape the pull of the streets.

What we have witnessed is Ron Artest coming full circle. That's not to say he doesn't act a little weird from time to time. That's also not to say that one could ever predict what might come out of his mouth at anytime. But to see how far he has come you only have to look at his recent signing with the Lakers. In this me-first version of the NBA it was refreshing to see a player put the team before himself, and he put his money where his mouth was signing for less than he could have gotten from another team. His discretion is another thing. He recognized that the best place for him to win a championship was in L.A. Not the best place to be a distraction, but the best place to win a ring. On a team full of dominant personalities Ron has a chance to create a niche for himself and really stand out. Most of the league along with the Laker haters hope that this is a doomed experiment, that Artest explodes to the detriment of the team. Here's saying that won't happen. In fact I feel that people are going to be surprised at how much Ron artest has grown up.