Ron Artest claims to have handled actual on-court murder, so Wednesday against Kobe and the Lakers was no biggie
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Remember the scene in Anchorman where Brick Tamlin stabs a man in the heart with a trident?
Apparently that could have been based on Ron Artest’s childhood.
After being ejected against the Lakers on Wednesday night, the Houston Rockets forward told reporters that he had a friend killed during a game ‘back home in the neighborhood.’
‘It was so competitive, they broke a leg from a table and they threw it,’ said the Queens native. ‘It went right through his heart and he died right on the court. So I’m accustomed to playing basketball really rough.’
No shock. This wasn’t Artest’s first time around the block. He was once suspended for 86 games after a brawl between the Pacers and Pistons. During that incident, he went into the stands to fight with a fan.
Artest claims his intentions were much more innocent this time around. After being hit in the neck by Kobe Bryant’s elbow, he claims he got in Bryant’s face simply to say, ‘You gotta’ relax. You’re hitting the wrong person. Don’t you know you’re hitting Ron Artest?’
Nobody’s mixing him up with Anderson Silva.
Check out Artest’s full comments above, along with other postgame reactions captured by L.A. Times reporter Mark Medina and Lakers bloggers Andrew and Brian Kamenetzky:
- Derek Fisher, on his ejection from LAL-HOU Game 2
- Kobe Bryant, on Ron Artest’s ejection
- Luis Scola on chippy play in Rockets Game 2 loss to Lakers
- Rockets’ Shane Battier on Game 2 loss to Lakers
-- Adam Rose