Hall of Fame

To start off I can go with a direct quote from our latest inductee's diary on pacers.com, "Hi, Pacers fans, my name is Ron Artest. I'm from the housing projects of Queens, New York. I play tough defense and every night I feel I'm the best." Queensbridge projects to be specific. He played for the St. John's Redstorm in college. In the NBA he has played for the Chicago Bulls, the Indiana Pacers, and the Sacramento Kings.



Artest was the 16th pick in the 1999 NBA Draft. Artest was named to the All-Rookie team. Artest was the 2004 NBA Defensive Player of the Year.



During his career Ron Artest has been traded for Jalen Rose, Travis Best, and Peja Stojakovic.



Artest was shoved in the face by Ben Wallace of the Detroit Pistons after a hard foul. After being shoved in the face a skirmish errupted between the Indiana Pacers team and the Detroit Pistons team. Artest laid down on the announcer's table. A fan threw a cup of beer in a perfect and amazing toss that landed on Ron Artest's chest. Artest charged into the crowd like a flash of light and pushed the side of some nerd's head into the plastic arena seat. What happened next was quite possibly the most amazing fight in professional sports history. All time.



Artest was suspended for 73 games without pay.

After the 2006 NBA Playoffs ended Ron Artest offered to donate his entire salary to keep teammate Bonzi Wells with the Kings. He even threatened to kill Wells if he didn't resign with the team. Artest also offered to donate his salary to retain the services of Rick Adelman, the coach. Wells and Adelman ended up in Houston.

Artest applied for a job at Circuit City during his rookie season. He said he got the job for the extra money, but later admitted he applied for the job for the employee discount.



Artest was suspended for two games after asking Rick Carlisle, his coach, for a month off because he was tired from promoting an R&B album for his production label, TRUWARIER Records.





Artest has worn the numbers 15, 23, 91, and most recently 93. The 93 represents where he grew up, with the 9 representing the Q in Queens and the 3 representing the B in Bridge. The number 93 is also inspired by Souls of Mischief's 1993 album 93 'til Infinity.



"He's still Michael Jordan. But I broke two of his ribs!" Artest famously broke Michael Jordan's rib with a hard hand check in a pick up game in Chicago as Michael prepared for his comeback with the Wizards. "We was playing hard, man. He was trying to post me up. I wouldn't let him do it. I went right through him."



Artest's dad is a bouncer at a bar in Manhattan.

Artest teamed with Lamar Odom, Elton Brand, and Brendan Haywood on an AAU team when they were all teenagers in New York.

Artest is the only NBA player endorsed by the German brand k1x.



Notable quotes:

"They better not put me in the All-Star Game. I won't shoot, but I'll dominate that easy game. I'll be playing hard defense. I'll be foulin'. I'll be flagrant fouling. Everyone will be like, 'What are you doing?'"

"Bonzi called me last week. I told him if he leaves, then I'm going to kill him. Unless he wants to die, he got to stay."

"I meant, last season, I was 24 going on 25. Now, I am 25 going on 26. You grow up, you make mistakes and you learn from that. I am trying not to make the same mistakes."

"It's the first time in a long time that I've been complimented on my leadership skills. Partly it was my fault that I hadn't been complimented in the past. Maybe some people just weren't recognizing."

"I feel like Ben Wallace stole it. Well, he didn't steal it, but I feel like I gave him three defensive player of the years. I gave him one that year I got in trouble...that year I was supended."

"It doesn't matter. We're family. Family's got to argue sometimes. At the end of the day, brothers still love brothers. Sisters still love sisters. But there's no girls on the team."

"I'm playing like a frog. I've got web hands."

"I've never taken medication in my life. Doctors have suggested it and I say, 'OK, give it to me.' But I throw it in the garbage immediately."

"We gave it all, considering most teams in the NBA have good enough airplanes where they don't break down." After arriving to a game city six hours before tip-off due to plane problems.

Artest knocked over two water coolers after getting angry as a teenager in AAU. Afterwords he told his coach, "I don't know what's wrong with those buckets."

On the coaching search at St. John's while he was there. "They should pay Chris Mullin like $3 million a year or pay me $4 million or hire Shawnelle Scott. Hire a player. Get a player coaching."

"If I had a player out of line, I would bench him. That's all you can do, bench him. You don't kiss nobody's rear end, because it stinks."

"I'm not a dirty player. I'm a veteran. I know some tricks. Richard Jefferson's a dirty player. Jefferson punched me in my stomach last year in the playoffs. And the ref saw it and the ref didn't say nothing. He just let him punch me in my stomach. So tell Byron Scott about his player, that Jefferson's a dirty player."

On why Richard Jefferson doesn't have a bad reputation, "Because he's sneaky. He's a sneaky guy."

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