Artest is really sorry!

Boneman2 · Post #1 » by **Boneman2** » Fri Jun 4, 2010 3:51 am

I didn't know if anyone has read this article by Ken Berger, but I thought it was pretty damn good and wanted to share it.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/13461732/artests-road-to-redemption-may-conclude-with-lakers-in-finals?%20tag=headlines;nba

Artest :

"The biggest regret of my life, really, is bailing out on that Pacer team," Artest said. "I mean, outside not going to church every single Sunday, bailing out on that Pacer team is my biggest regret.

Berger:

This is the first time Artest has spoken publicly about the anguish he continues to feel about letting his damaged emotions and anger -- pent up for decades -- nearly ruin his basketball career, and more to the point, dismantle an organization that seemed poised for a championship. In fact, Artest said he has not once told Walsh, Bird, Miller or anyone else how he feels.

Artest:

But I feel blessed and I think God put me in a good situation in Indiana. He put me in a beautiful situation. I got married in Indiana, it's my home, four years there, had a chance to go to the championship and I screwed it up.

Atleast I am not the only one who still feels deep disappointment.

Moooose · Post #2 » by **Moooose** » Fri Jun 4, 2010 9:12 am

If not because of a Detroit fan who loves throwing beer, we could be in a whole lot different situation now.

Starkiller · Post #3 » by **Starkiller** » Fri Jun 4, 2010 1:29 pm

Moooose wrote:If not because of a Detroit fan who loves throwing beer, we could be in a whole lot different situation now.

This. Everyone blames Ron and Jax, but if not for Ben Wallace throwing a fit over a foul and Detroit's finest, we'd never been in his situation.

MUpacersSIC · Post #4 » by **MUpacersSIC** » Fri Jun 4, 2010 1:30 pm

I truly believe that year the Pacers could have won their first NBA Championship. We had just dominated the Pistons right before all this went down. If only we could turn back time.

jarrettjackfan · Post #5 » by **jarrettjackfan** » Fri Jun 4, 2010 5:58 pm

The Pacers would definitely be in a different situation, because if Artest doesn't get in so much trouble because of "past history" according to Stern, the fans don't turn on him, they rally behind him and support him.

Every single little off the court issue after the brawl was blown up so much in Indiana, especially if it was of the players that got in trouble in Detroit. My main question to this day, why were there no major Detroit suspensions? Just seemed like Ben Wallace not being able to handle a foul (especially as a power foward/center in the NBA your going to get hit in the paint), we got in trouble for it.

Great to see Ron has matured, and I still like the guy, and wish most of the fans hadn't bailed out on our team as well. If we all rally around them as a city, Bird and Walsh don't have to trade away basically all of our best players for decent role players....but as it is, here we are.

Post #6 » by **mizzoupacers** » Fri Jun 4, 2010 6:53 pm

Here's a "Good Ron" story:

link

See, even psychopaths have their good days. Artest screwed my favorite basketball team so badly that it's going to end up taking at least a decade for it to recover, and meanwhile he's about to win his first ring with another team that's won far too many times already, but why hold a grudge? He says he's sorry!

fj20 · Post #7 » by **fj20** » Fri Jun 4, 2010 7:52 pm

i still support ron ron 100% many seem to question why i still like him since he had to do with the dismantling of our amazing squad...he has always supported indiana and would love to see him come back here sometime after he has a ring...it seems his head is back on straight...well kinda but he is an amazing basketball player

ardthomp · Post #8 » by **ardthomp** » Fri Jun 4, 2010 8:36 pm

Everyone say QUEENSBRIDGE!

Post #9 » by **Scoot McGroot** » Sat Jun 5, 2010 8:23 pm

I'm sure Tiger is really sorry, too. Doesn't mean it will stop the **** from falling.

Boneman2 · Post #10 » by **Boneman2** » Sat Jun 5, 2010 8:41 pm

It is somewhat satisfying to me because he suffers to this day.

Post #11 » by **Miller4ever** » Sun Jun 6, 2010 7:47 am

Scoot McGroot wrote:I'm sure Tiger is really sorry, too. Doesn't mean it will stop the **** from falling.

Artest has an umbrella. The Pacers are "soaked".

Post #12 » by **Charcoal Filtered** » Sun Jun 6, 2010 11:23 pm

Ron has real mental issues and I do not hold a grudge against him. We got him on the cheap from the Bulls and it was Pacer management fault for not addressing his problems.

To blame him for everything though is sort of like being the guy that blames a girl for all his problems. It was the Pacer braintrust that decided pairing Ron-Ron with Jackson was a good idea. It was Pacer management that built a team around a non-elite player like Oneal. It was Pacer management that gave Tinsley a long term deal.

I am over it and am waiting for the current chapter to be done.

Boneman2 · Post #13 » by **Boneman2** » Mon Jun 7, 2010 12:19 am

Charcoal Filtered wrote:Ron has real mental issues and I do not hold a grudge against him. We got him on the cheap from the Bulls and it was Pacer management fault for not addressing his problems.

To blame him for everything though is sort of like being the guy that blames a girl for all his problems. It was the Pacer braintrust that decided pairing Ron-Ron with Jackson was a good idea. It was Pacer management that built a team around a non-elite player like Oneal. It was Pacer management that gave Tinsley a long term deal.

I am over it and am waiting for the current chapter to be done.

CF our current disappointing chapter is due to the last, and since the Pacers still aren't over it, I sure am not. I whole-heartedly agree with you about building around JO, but I think it is much deeper than that. There seemed to be a power struggle between Ron and JO after the brawl, consequently the franchise sided with O'neal and Artest went nuts because he knew JO was reaping the rewards of his hard work. He quit!

Before Ron quit the team, I felt a rift was present, and campaigned to trade O'neal. You can't say Ron wouldn't look nice next to Granger right now.

Post #14 » by **mizzoupacers** » Mon Jun 7, 2010 2:50 pm

Charcoal Filtered wrote:It was the Pacer braintrust that decided pairing Ron-Ron with Jackson was a good idea. It was Pacer management that built a team around a non-elite player like Oneal. It was Pacer management that gave Tinsley a long term deal.

That's being a bit hard on our front office. The NBA is full of guys who are not boy scouts, and there are plenty of antisocial, irresponsible players who have won titles (including Jackson himself; guys like Rasheed Wallace also come to mind). I think there was no way to foresee just how much of a disaster Artest/Jackson/Tinsley would become, or that Jermaine O'Neal would have only a couple of elite seasons before injuries took him down. There was a lot of really bad luck involved.

Honestly, the front office's rebuilding job was one of the more amazing things I've ever seen. After the 2000 team and its aging roster had gone as far as it could go, the Pacers braintrust rebuilt on the fly and produced a youth-based sixty-win team just four years later, all without missing the playoffs even once. It had a chance to culminate in a championship at some point (and maybe save us all from endless repeats of Lakers-Celtics, which has been enough to make me wonder if in actuality the entire Pacers fan base died and was sent to hell in November 2004, and we just haven't quite realized it yet). But as with every other NBA team not named Celtics, Lakers, Spurs, Bulls or Pistons, it just didn't quite work out.

Charcoal Filtered wrote:I am over it and am waiting for the current chapter to be done.

Me too.

CircleCitysportsfan · Post #15 » by **CircleCitysportsfan** » Tue Jun 8, 2010 3:07 pm

Moooose wrote:If not because of a Detroit fan who loves throwing beer, we could be in a whole lot different situation now.

All Ron had to do is punch Ben Wallace in the face. He gets ejected, misses a few games and that's it.

Post #16 » by **Miller4ever** » Wed Jun 9, 2010 1:44 am

And Ben Wallace would look a little better, too.

fienX420 · Post #17 » by **fienX420** » Wed Jun 9, 2010 12:49 pm

I don't even blame Ron for what happened. Yeah, it was dumb. But it wasn't that big a deal. Player/fan brawls whatever. Nobody died. The Pacers' destruction was Stern's doing with the ridiculous suspension. Worst decision he ever made. Unfortunately, nobody cares because it only affected us.

pacersrule08 · Post #18 » by **pacersrule08** » Fri Jun 18, 2010 7:40 pm

rayofsunshine · Post #19 » by **rayofsunshine** » Sat Jun 19, 2010 3:19 pm

Has jax, o'neal, walsh, bird or anyone responded? This wasn't the first time Artest has said this. It's funny, because I remember hating him for bailing out on this team. I mean guys really put their careers and lives on the line by fighting and running into the stands, and that was how he paid them back. I always felt he could have stayed and made the situation right. As a laker fan, I remember that year, and I remember thinking the pacers had a legit chance at a title. Also, it destroyed Reggie's best shot at a title. Sad.

writerman · Post #20 » by **writerman** » Sat Jun 19, 2010 3:50 pm

I've got two words for you Ron--the first one begins with an F and the second one with a Y

You've got your ring, you scumbag, while you cheated Reggie out of the possibility of winning one. Because of your stupidity, all Pacer fans have is broken dreams about what might have been.

Forgive and Forget? bull!