Yeah, taking time off to promote a rap album is dumb. Taking a month off? That's absurd!
I've liked to support Ron Artest because the guy works as hard as anybody on his game. He was the player who, after the Pacers were ousted in the playoffs two years ago, instead of going home and feeling sad about it for a week, got back on the court right after the season-ending loss and worked on his game. The following season (last year) he was much improved.
Sometimes I have a hard time condemming somebody who works so hard. On the basketball court, he sometimes sacrifices his offensive abilities to focus on as much as he can on the defensive end. That's as laudable as anything a player can do, and when I see him get a few technicals, or even when I see him smash a camera on the ground after a loss at Madison Square Garden, I think it's boneheaded as hell, but he's still an extremely positive force on the court. I still think that.
That said, you don't ever ask for time off for another promotional gain. People might see the fact that it is a rap album he is promoting, which goes hand in hand with being a "gangster," which goes hand in hand with the "me-first" bad attitude of today's NBA players, which goes hand in hand with what's wrong with today's NBA. I disagree with that; it doesn't matter what he is promoting. The fact is, he has a job to do, that he is paid to do, that he is supposed to have a loyalty to do. He has a responsibility to his teamates and to his coaches. Even if he was taking time off to promote his charity foundation, it'd still be wrong, although fundimentally easier to stomach.
Then again, there is a catch-phrase that is prevalent in the NBA these days: "The NBA is a business." Management tells it to their players and coaches all the time. So, if the NBA is just a business, so is promoting your rap album.
