Artest Returns to Rucker Park

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">There's really nothing like this in American sports. You can't stumble past some sandlot and see Derek Jeter lining a single to left. You can't watch flag football in Central Park and find Tiki Barber outrunning the linebackers.
But if you visit Rucker Park on the right summer night, you just might see the most dangerous man in the NBA today.

"You just hit Ron Artest," said the motor-mouthed announcer last Tuesday, after Queensbridge's finest got fouled. "He's going to get you. He ain't got no suspensions here!"

"Here" is the Entertainers Basketball Classic, the famed summer league at 155th Street in Harlem. At a time when top athletes have become detached from the rest of society, it's one of the last places one can watch well-known players perform for free. Kenny Satterfield, Richie Parker, Kareem Reid and Chudney Gray all played Tuesday.

A word of caution: Player attendance is not as reliable as, say, in the NBA. In this sense you get what you pay for. J.R. Smith, who played for the Hornets last year, was expected to play for Jadakiss' D Block team against Artest but never showed. Artest is on Fat Joe's Terror Squad (with ex-St. John's teammate Anthony Glover), but he said he plans to play only a few games.

Artest was there last week, though - just one day after playing on the opposite end of the map against the Knicks in the Vegas Summer League. His jumper was in order - he hit a three-pointer immediately after the opening tip - but he wasn't in top form: with the packed crowd eager for a thrill, he clanged a one-handed dunk on a breakaway.

"I just play to get ready," he said. "Before I played for my respect. I just play to stay in shape. I like to be in basketball shape, and at the same time I get to have fun."

Artest seems as motivated as ever. After another season rife with turmoil - Artest asked to be traded by the Pacers, and at one point was pining to come to New York before landing with the Kings - he has been prepping himself in summer leagues, which stars don't have to do. He was recently quoted as saying Sacramento is going to win a title next season.

"We're going to be good," he said. The Kings lost in six in the first round to San Antonio. "Last year we proved a lot. A lot of things didn't go our way in the playoffs - suspensions and injuries (including a Game 2 ban for Artest, plus a Game 6 ankle injury). Hopefully next year, God willing, everybody stays suspension -and injury-free and we have a good season." </div>

Source

Artest is basketball junkie. Summer leagues, Rucker's Park, you have to love his competitive nature.

"Everything is still at a high pace," he said. "I like the high-pace life."