Ron Artest, also known as Metta World Peace, might not be an NBA legend, but he is certainly one of the more well-known NBA players of the 2000s, both for his on court accomplishments and his rather eccentric personality.
Artest was born and raised in New York, and went to his hometown St. John’s University, where he played from 1997-1999. After declaring for the 1999 Draft, the Chicago Bulls selected him with the 16th overall pick in the draft. Artest’s hometown New York Knicks passed on him to select Frédéric Weis, a French center. Weis would never play in the NBA and is remembered for being on the wrong end of Vince Carter’s ‘Dunk of Death’ at the 2000 Olympics.
From 1999 to 2002, Artest would play for the Chicago Bulls. He was thrust into a starting role in Chicago and made the All-Rookie 2nd team in his first year. During the 2001-02 season, Artest was traded to the Indiana Pacers for a package headlined by Jalen Rose. In Indiana, Artest would reach his peak, winning the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2004, also making the All-Star team, All-NBA Third team and making the All-Defensive First team the same year. In 2004-05, the Pacers were considered front runners for the Eastern Conference title, along with the Detroit Pistons. Along with Artest, the Pacers had Jermaine O’Neal, Stephen Jackson and Reggie Miller, who would retire at the end of the season. After a 6-2 start, a matchup with the defending champion Pistons loomed.
This matchup would all but decide the fate of the Pacers and is now known as the infamous ‘Malice at the Palace’. In Detroit’s Palace of Auburn Hills, the Pacers were leading 97-82 when Ben Wallace was fouled hard by Artest while attempting a lay-up. This devolved into a minor skirmish and the situation was quickly defused. Artest went to lay down on the scorer’s table when a fan threw a cup of beer at him. This enraged Artest, who went to fight the fan in the stands, with fellow Pacers and Pistons players either going to stop the brawl or partaking in some fighting themselves. When the fight was finally stopped, the game could not be resumed, and all the players had to be escorted out of the stadium, while they were being pelted with soda, popcorn and even a folding chair. When all was said and done, Artest was suspended for the remainder of the season, and requested a trade at the end of the season.
The Sacramento Kings would trade for Artest, and after two and a half seasons with them, he would be traded to the Houston Rockets in 2008. In the 2009 off season, Artest would sign a five-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he would win a championship in 2010. After four seasons with the Lakers, he would be waived and would sign with the New York Knicks. After being waived by the Knicks in 2014, he would briefly play in China and Italy before re-joining the Lakers in 2015, with whom he would retire in 2017. Artest would also play in Ice Cube’s BIG3 League.
Artest is a complicated player and a layered person, and he will always be remembered, both for his on-court accomplishments and his off-court eccentricities.
Guess all basketball fans will remember where they were when this happened...glued to their tellies, no doubt! A bad day for basketball, you might well say.
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