Pancakes and Ron Artest: The Bad Boys of the NBA

The other night my son was watching the Cavaliers playoff game. His attitude seems to mirror that of quite a few Americans. Those arm-chair players who shout plays, curse the refs as if any could hear from the boob-tube. (If you are wondering where pancakes in the title come into play well… you will just have to read the whole article to find out!)

I began to wonder what his and other NBA fanatic's thoughts were towards the players who have been dubbed the Bad Boys of the NBA, in particular Ron Artest of the Sacramento Kings. Why Ron Artest? Well…my son and I have been watching most of the games and he made mention of Ron Artest's one game suspension. This immediately brought to mind Artest's year-long suspension during the 2004-2005 season. Who can forget the bedlam that went on during the Pacers and Pistons game last year, the NBA's tragic day of infamy.

Ironically this mayhem happened with of all teams, the Detroit Pistons. The team whom everyone back in the 1990's dubbed The Bad Boys of the NBA. To this day the Detroit fans proudly wear that label.

I remember Isaiah Thomas, Rick Mahorn, Bill Lambier and last but not least Dennis Rodman. Back in those days dirty play was an everyday occurrence when you played these guys. During a game when the Cavaliers had Mark Price, Craig Ehlo, Larry Nance, Hot-Rod Williams and Brad Daughtery, they played the Pistons up in Detroit. Mark Price had taken an elbow to the head from either Mahorn or Lambier I am not quite sure which one. Mark never seemed to play the same after that. Yet, no heavy fines or multi-game suspensions were levied. This was back in the 90s. So how long should it take for the powers-at-be to understand that there is a problem? Someone had to wait 15-16 years to finally implement punishment for bad behavior or attempt to bring civility to the game; I believe that is a bit ridiculous.

Researching the Internet I did not find much (then again maybe I did not look hard enough) had been written about The Bad Boys of Round-ball. There was a blurb here and there but nothing of significance. It seems that no in-depth studies have been done on the subject.

At NBA.com I found Ron Artest's stats, for all you non-athletes you can find any player's stats there. You will also find excerpts of biographies.

Ron Artest:

1.His full name is Ronald William Artest Jr.
2.Born November 13, 1979
3.He attended High School at LaSalle Academy
4.His nickname is Pakman - ( I wonder what was behind that name)
5.He was a mathematics major at St. John's University.
6.He has a record label named Tru Warier ( Is this meant to be an off-shoot spelling of warrior )
7.He was born in Queensbridge New York and holds basketball tournaments at the Queensbridge projects.
8.He is married and has four children.

For all you hardcore fans go to http://www.nba.com to read up on any stats you would like.

In 1999 the Chicago Bulls acquired Ron Artest in the first round of the draft. In 2002 he was traded to Indiana who later traded him to the Sacramento Kings. Logic has it that when a player is traded every couple of years there must be some internal problem. Maybe no continuity with the team and organization. It seems players continually traded every two years need to do a bit of soul searching.

In the 2006 Play-offs Artest was again suspended without pay for making forearm contact to the head of Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs during game one. This makes me wonder if Artest learned anything during his year long hiatus. It also makes me wonder if he understands the type of influence he has on his children and the other children he meets in the Queensbridge Projects.

Now the NBA has a campaign to cleaning up its reputation. Their motto is: The NBA Cares, which anyone who watches the games can see during commercials. The NBA has always had players who have given back to their respective communities and have carried themselves accordingly, Kevin Johnson of the Phoenix Suns, Mark Price of the Cavs, LeBron James of the Cavs (who by the way is from my old neighborhood, I will write a story about this sweet young man later), Shaq of the Miami Heat, Alonzo Mourning of the Miami Heat, just to name a few of my favorites.

There has been players through out the history of the NBA who have done damage to its reputation. The sex scandals of Kolbe Bryant and now his team mate Kwame Brown's alleged rape trouble. Let us not forget Wilt Chamblerlain's sexual bragging. In my opinion, these fore mentioned cases moral character comes into question. In reference to Artest's suspension, I was wondering how long it would take Commissioner Stern to put his foot down on thuggery - "The line is drawn, and my guess is that won't happen again - certainly not by anybody who wants to be associated with our league," - David Stern Commissioner ( http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6549074 ). Well... BRAVO Mr. Stern it is about time!

I wonder if there is anything the NBA does internally for players who seem to be socially bankrupt. There is no room in this writer's mind for the apologists excuses. I have no tolerance for the alibi he/she did not have a father in the house or he/she came from a bad neighborhood. It is not just the "I apologize, that is an excuse to do it again - it is the excuse itself that is an excuse to do it again".

About those pancakes, while researching for this article, I was also making my son's favorite breakfast. I became a bit enthralled at how there is little information written about The Bad Boys of Round-ball. I let the pancakes get a little brown, I said brown not burnt!

My son detests food that is...well, a little brown. Rest assured he did not swing elbows or throw chairs or have a temper tantrum in retaliation. Mr. Artest could learn a lesson or two from him.