INDIANAPOLIS -- Ron Artest's days with the Indiana Pacers
appear to be over.
Artest, suspended most of last season for his role in one of the
worst brawls in American sports, said over the weekend that he
wants out, his past haunts him in Indianapolis and the team would
be better off without him.
Team president and chief executive Donnie Walsh said Monday he
didn't like Artest taking the issue to the media first, but he
would try to work out a trade.
After the NBA suspended him for triggering a brawl with fans in
Detroit, Artest missed 73 games and the playoffs.
Pacers leader scorer Jermaine O'Neal said his primary concern is
playing Boston on Wednesday.
"I'm not going to answer any more questions about Ron Artest,"
he said. "Ron doesn't want to be here, so Ron doesn't matter
anymore."
Artest remains on the roster but is inactive with pay for the
rest of the week. By then, Walsh expects to have a better idea what
he can get in exchange for his star.
Artest was a key component to a team that was expected to
challenge for the Eastern Conference crown. He leads the league in
steals and is the Pacers' second-leading scorer at 19.4 points per
game. He became an All-Star and was once the defensive player of
the year in his five years with the Pacers. But he's best
remembered for the brawl, and he hasn't been able to escape the
reminders.
"He's always living down his past in this franchise, and so are
we," Walsh said. "So I do think it's a time to kind of break
apart and see if he can get a new start somewhere else. I think
it's very important for us to put our past behind us and to stop
these distractions so that what I think is a fine basketball team
can go on."
He added Artest's desire to move on wasn't the only factor
involved.
"This is kind of the last straw of a lot of issues," Walsh
said.
Stephen Jackson still calls Artest a friend and said the team
will miss his play.
"Ron's an All-Star," Jackson said. "It's definitely going to
hurt us not to have him here, but we've got games to play. We can't
dwell on who's not here, who's here."
In an interview with The Indianapolis Star published Sunday,
Artest said, "I still think my past haunts me here. 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."
Artest told the Star he wouldn't mind playing for New York or
Cleveland. He's from Long Island City, N.Y., and former Pacers
assistant Mike Brown is Cleveland's head coach.
"If I go to the West Coast, I would come back to New York after
my contract is up," Artest told the Star. "I would go to
Cleveland. I wouldn't mind coming off the bench behind LeBron
James. There's a lot of players I wouldn't mind coming off the
bench behind."
James appreciated Artest's interest. Artest shut him down in
Indiana's 98-76 win on Thanksgiving Day.
"You've got to be flattered because he knows we're an up and
coming team," James said. "Any team in this league could use a
guy like Ron Artest."
Jackson said the Pacers didn't foresee Artest's desire to leave.
"I think it shocked us all," Jackson said. "Ron's his own
man. You really can't tell what's going through his mind ... I'll
see him down the line, I'll still give him a hug and still tell him
he's my boy."
Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said the Pacers will recover, in
part because they got used to playing without him last season.
"You're never going to be as good a team in terms of manpower
without a guy like Ron Artest," he said, "but the reality right
now is we don't have him. We've been through situations where we
had to adjust before and we'll do it again."
O'Neal said he expects the Pacers to remain among the league's
elite. The Pacers (12-7) have the second-best record in the Eastern
Conference.
"You're putting too much emphasis on this situation," O'Neal
told reporters. "Our team is not going to falter. We're not going
to fall into a lottery team. We're going to keep winning."
The Pacers now will need more from their newest players, guard
Sarunas Jasikevicius and forward Danny Granger.
Jasikevicius, a 29-year-old rookie guard from Lithuania, has
averaged 9.4 points and 2.9 assists. He is among the league's
leaders in free-throw percentage and shoots 48 percent from 3-point
range.
Carlisle said Granger, the 17th pick in the draft, will be
expected to grow up quickly. His 15 minutes per game will increase.
"Right now, he's a guy who's going to have to step to the
forefront," Carlisle said. "It'll be an opportunity for him, and
we're counting on him to come through for us."
Artest has missed the last two games with a sore right wrist.
The Pacers defeated Washington 111-87 and Memphis 80-66 last week
without him.
Walsh said the fact that Artest went public before talking to
management might scare some teams off.
"I think Ronnie is a guy who acts first and thinks later,"
Walsh said. "If he were to do it over again, he might do it
differently."