I guess he shouldn't be. He's still a whiny punk-ass bitch though. Karma's will catch up with him. Those that don't play the game the right way will have it come back and elbow you in the face. Oh, and I became a bigger fan of Artest's last night. I'm not saying I'd want him on OUR team (although the thought became more palatable now), but he's a misunderstood dude I think. I get the feeling he's learned from his past mistakes and truly has bettered himself as teammate and person.
Suspended or not this series is playing into the hands of Houston. They have rattled the Lakers and got them fighting now. Houston will be up 3-1 by next week and this series in my mind is over. Kobe had to get 40 much like B Roy had to against the Rockets to get a win, and he got equally spent doing it. Can he do it three more times with that cast of soft Euro players around him? I really don't know... I think Artest is now really going to get into Kobe and on home court this could get wild. Artest is CRAZY and now Kobe has given him a bone to go after. You saw Kobe wanted NO PART of Artest when ran up to him. That was very telling to me! Houston has done everything right, even in losing last night they won, cause the Lakers stand to lose Fisher for a game and Kobe knows he's got a war coming with Artest. The last person you want to piss off on a basketball court. Gonna be interesting, the playoffs just got good!
I'm all for criminalizing every elbow, shove, jab step, three pointer and snot rocket Kobe does, but I just can't get excited about this. Just two guys fighting for a rebound under the hoop. Artest took an elbow, but in the grand scale of NBA elbows, I'd say Artest has given far more than he's taken. Move along. Now the Derek Fisher foul was just plain bad ass. I wish Oden would've done a foul or two like that in the first round. Sure he would've been suspended, but that bastard Scola would be in the hospital. If we lost Oden and they lost Scola, we win that series. There's just not enough blatant disregard for safety in this game. We get all the "fixing" of the WWF, with so little of the satisfying violence.
Listening to Artest in the post game interview had to raise some eyebrows. I think this guy is crazy as a hell. Very talented, great defense, and has matured enough to not have the Staples floor crew still scouring the court looking for Kobe's teeth but damn Artest has an insane look about him! It's like a pitbull that just might go nuts for no reason. The story about his friend dying on the street court as a result of a peace of pipe going through him was just odd! How he ties that into a gentler Ron Artest these days and speaks about himself in the third person, WOW!!! Kobe just needs to play hoops, and not piss this guy off any further.
I don't know. I got the exact opposite feeling. He seems real to me. Very personable. He speaks his mind. I like it and I don't think he's certifiable or anything. I think his intensity might give off a crazy persona and he might not be the greatest storyteller, but his relating of that story did fit in with what he was saying. He seemed to want to make it known that "Ron Artest" knows tough. He's lived it and that's what he wanted to explain to the people out there. That's my take.
That may be true Crimson and maybe I misread it but damnnnnnnn he's got a crazy look about him. Not in the classic straight jacket way, but the kind of look a pitbull has when it doesn't know if it should attack or not. Charles said it best... Houston knew Yao wasn't tough enough, so they put pitbulls all around him and Ron is the King of that pound!
I hear ya. But, like Chuck said, he's a foxhole guy. Someone you'd rather have with you than against you. Shit I'm becoming a fan of Artest. Just a week ago, I would never have imagined that. Weird.
Nah, I don't think Kobe will get suspended. But it was obvious he was trying to clear Artest out with a hard elbow intentionally. Fisher's shot to Scola could be suspension-worthy though. I thought what was more despicable from Kobe was every time he'd make a hoop, he'd stare down at Artest or Battier, shake his head and keep telling him "You can't guard me!" "He can't fucking guard me!" Nice to show up your opponent asshole, stay classy. No wonder no one likes you, and thinks LeBron is better than you. This series is going to get good!
i would love to see them actually fight oh wait kobe cant and would ran or cry....busted jar and eat artest and kobe out for the series....kobe is like the prince that can do anything he wants and he acts like it....even if it was to the head blood pour they would suspend kobe no way stern needs kobe..... rondo and kobe....celtakers go figure they are under section 78 sub section 23 paragraph 2 " No matter what a star from said celtakers does ye caltakers' star shall not be fined or suspended. To suspend said stars would harm the celtakers thus hurt the league...it is the job of all management and officals to protect."
Elbow to the chest fighting for position under the hoop, nothing more nothing less. Like Darizzle said, should have been a personal foul, but definitely not suspension worthy. As for Fisher ... I hope he enjoys his day off.
I wonder what Kobe was thinking when he saw Artest make a bee line to him. If there is anyone that I wouldn't want to see coming right at me on a basketball floor without any regard to consequences, it's that dude.
Kobe will not be suspended. He wouldn't be suspended if he had pulled a gun and shot Artest in the head, so the elbow isn't going to get it done. I do believe that Artest shouldn't have been thrown out of the game. All he did was get in Kobe's face. He didn't put his hands on him. Kobe is very lucky that the league goes out of it's way to protect him. If he had played 20 years ago Barkley would beat the living shit out of his cheap shot ass. BTW, fuck that bunch of whinny bitches known as the Lakers. Every time I see them I think I couldn't hate them more, and every time I am proven wrong.
Well, Dwight Howard is a star, but Kobe Bryant is a megastar. As was said, if he got a gun and shot Artest, he'd probably get away with it. Remember the infamous Barkley/Laimbeer fight? I don't advocate fighting by any means. But at least those guys did not throw a punch and then run away to daddy. I have special contempt for those who dish it out but can't/won't take it.
News game down, no suspension for the Rapist, one game for Fisher. Way to go, Stern. Jordan Rules still in full effect.
