Ron Artest: "Dancing with the Stars" Performance Not Relevant in Image Rehab

"Dancing with the Stars" fans are generally not NBA fans.

But NBA fans aren't the only ones who know about what happened in Detroit in November of 2004. The Pistons/Pacers brawl, or "Malice in the Palace", was a front page, top of the news story.

So, for a lot of these fans, that's the image that they have of Ron Artest.

NBA fans know a little better. We heard him thank his psychiatrist after winning the NBA Finals in 2010. We've seen the changes in the guy since then.

Nobody will ever forget what happened in Detroit that night, but he's gone a long way in putting that behind him.

Now, on "Dancing with the Stars", he's showing that personality off to a different demographic, and a huge viewing audience.

So, does it really matter if he wins? Sure, an extra week or two would go a long way, but it’s not too important.

The fact is that Artest has undergone significant changes, and those changes have nothing to do with his new name (Metta World Peace).

We didn’t see the engaging figure in 2004. All that we saw in 2004 was a person who went flying into the stands and attacked a fan that threw a drink on him. As it turned out, he didn’t even attack the right fan.

Before that, he was asking for time off so he could promote a rap CD.

Now we’re seeing a different side of the once-volatile player. To those who follow the game of basketball, Artest is no longer described as “A great player, but…”

That’s not him anymore. Sure, that brawl will never be past him. But now people see Artest as an engaging, caring person.

Now, even if only for a brief period of time, other people get to see that. This is a PR machine at its finest, but there is nothing wrong with that.

Artest has changed, and there is nothing wrong with him wanting to let a bigger, different audience know that.

Sure, nobody will ever forget the bad stuff, but it doesn’t really matter anymore.

Obviously, we would like to change what happened then. But unless you have access to a time machine, that’s not possible. The only thing Artest can do is his best to show that this isn’t the same person that we saw in 2004.

Showing up and participating on "Dancing with the Stars" goes a long way towards doing that.