Failing Artest (Updated)

Comments by Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest have raised questions about his respect for the game: "They probably expected a little more; expected me to play every game. Everybody's different. It's early in the season, so I feel like I could take some time off early and be ready for the long stretch."

For the vast majority of people, going to work every day is a source of pride. To work only when one feels best is a privilege reserved for no one.

I briefly rooted for Artest when he was at St. John's. The consensus was he left college too early, and his immaturity has proven that true.

Indiana should invalidate his contract.

Here's what Yahoo! Sports's Larry Beil had to say:

Beil's spiel: I need a break
by Larry Beil, Yahoo! Sports
November 13, 2004

You'll have to forgive me if this column isn't as good as some of my earlier ones, but I'm flat out exhausted. In fact, I was thinking of asking my Yahoo! Sports bosses for a couple of months off because promoting my new rap album is wearing me out.

Unlike Ron Artest, I don't have a guaranteed six-year, $42 million dollar contract in my back pocket, so unless "The New Vanilla Ice" goes platinum, I'll have to keep dragging my tired fingers across the keyboard indefinitely.

Seriously, we've known for a while that Artest was, shall we say, "a little different." Just look at his technical fouls, on-court rage, or the episode of him busting up a TV camera. Clearly lots of anger management issues there. But with every new quote, I think more and more that this guy is lost in space.

"I've been doing a little bit too much music, just needed the rest. I've still got my album coming out Nov. 23. After the album comes out, I'm going to make sure all of my time is focused on winning a championship," said Artest on Wednesday.

These words surely must have comforted Pacers president Larry Bird. Hey, we all know the first month of the season is meaningless anyway, right?

When Artest was asked if his actions jeopardized the integrity of the team, he said he didn't know what the word "integrity" meant. So much for that St. John's education. I guess Artest was enrolled mostly in music classes.

On Thursday, Artest tried to explain his unexplainable self again in a stream-of-consciousness rant that included his love of basketball, his desire to retire, his drive to win a championship and last but not least, his desire for the album to go platinum.

The notion that a team would pay $6 million this year in the hope that you might be able to squeeze some hoops into your rugged recording schedule is bizarre enough. The fact that Artest thinks his priorities are just fine tells you he's flying up there where the oxygen is thin.

What makes this situation even more absurd is that the Pacers need Rap-master Ron on the court so badly, they can't come down on him too hard. "This isn't the Cuban missile crisis," said Indiana coach Rick Carlisle. "It's not life or death."

Spoken like a man whose Pacers lost at home 102-68 to the Clippers with Artest on the bench Wednesday night.

Maybe the Pacers can trade Artest to the Sacramento Kings for Peja Stojakovic or to the Boston Pops for a cellist to be named later.

Who knows where Artest ends up, but when Nov. 23 rolls around, that had better be a damn good album.