Artest: Team will be better off without me
FOXSports.com
Posted: 4 hours ago // front-end hack to remove postedTime from Rumors page until a better way can be determined if (document.URL.indexOf("/name/FS/rumors") != -1) document.getElementById("postedTime").style.display = 'none';
if(fanid.length > 0 && typeof(nflDefaultLeague)!= "undefined") { leagueId = nflDefaultLeague; //find teamId of default league (if exists) for(var i=0; i < teamsInfo.length; i++){ if(teamsInfo[4] == leagueId){ defaultTeamId = teamsInfo[0]; } } var fantasyLeaguePlayerJsPath = 'http://msnfantasy.foxsports.com' + '/nugget/200002_' + leagueId + '|||' + fanid; document.write(''); } Ron Artest caught the Pacers off-guard on Saturday, telling the Indianapolis Star that he wants to be traded.
"I still think my past haunts me here," Artest told the newspaper in an exclusive interview. "I think somewhere else I'm starting fresh. I'm coming in with baggage, but people already know about it and how I'm going to be. Either they're going to be for me or they're not going to trade for me. Here I think my past haunts me."I think they will be a better team without me."
They weren't last season, when the Pacers lost Artest for 73 games for his role in a Nov. 19 brawl with the Pistons, in which Artest went into the stands after a fan.
"I think I cause a lot of problems here," Artest said. "If the trade rumors, if there is any truth — maybe it won't be a bad thing. They probably could win more games without me."
Coach Rick Carlisle seemed to disagree, calling Artest "one of the elite talents in the league" and saying, "You never want to lose someone like that."
Carlisle's praise notwithstanding, the Pacers coach appears to be one of the reasons Artest wants out of town.
"I'm so demanding of the ball. It's not my fault," he said. "Every time somebody is on me it's a mismatch. It messes up the offense. I like Coach (Carlisle) as a person, but I don't like playing for Coach. I like my team, though.
"Don't get it twisted. He's a very good coach," Artest said. "He knows what he's doing. I personally don't like playing for him. I would not want to see him get fired for me after all the immaturity I've been through with this organization."
Artest went on to say that "in a perfect world" he'd end up playing for his hometown Knicks.
The demand seemed to surprise Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh, who reportedly called the demand a distraction and ripped Artest's handling of the situation.
"I've never heard him say anything before," Walsh said. "He hasn't talked to me, and I see him every day.
"He can always come up and talk to me or Larry Bird," Walsh said. "From here on out, I expect Ronnie to be a professional. . . . (This) isn't the best way to get a trade done."
It'll be tough to get a trade done, period. Or at least, a trade that brings something of value back to the Pacers. Artest's public trade demand and his history of earning season-crippling suspensions are bad enough. But then there's his contract. Artest makes just $6.5 million per year, which means it'll be difficult finding a comparable player with a salary that matches up.
