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Dear Ron... Authored by Andrew Perna - January 24, 2006 - 10:32 pm
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Please let this saga end.
We’ve all had enough of the drama you have created not only in Indiana, but in each of the cities you were reportedly headed. Nearly a month and a half after you told Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star that you wanted the Pacers to trade you, it appeared as though they were finally going to grant your wish.
ESPN reported Tuesday that you were going to be shipped to Sacramento in exchange for Peja Stojakovic. You would be given a fresh start, and a chance to once again be among NBA’s best players.
Then, you informed both the Pacers and the Kings that you didn’t want to play for Sacramento. Soon after the Kings decided to bow out of the deal, and the drama in Indiana continued.
As a Pacer fan, I’m disgusted. As an NBA fan, I’m disappointed. When I got word of the reported deal I was elated. Indiana would finally end the drama, and we would get to see you on the court again.
You are one of the best basketball players in the world. Your talent on both sides of the ball is extremely rare. Your offense had developed into as big of a threat as your stifling defense, and you seemed primed for a long and prestigious career.
But you ruined it for yourself. You went into the stands in Detroit, and everyone said your talent was wasted because your child-like behavior. Only a select group of people supported you following the Malice at the Palace.
Who were those people? They were the Pacer players, executives, and fans.
We backed you up, we defended your actions, and we anxiously awaited your return. With you returning this season we had championship aspirations, and things were going as planned through the first dozen games. We posted impressive wins over the Heat (twice) and Cavaliers, and seemed headed for a long postseason run.
Then in December you decided things weren’t going your way. Despite the fact that you were playing for a winning team with a legitimate shot at a title, you felt Coach Rick Carlisle wasn’t using you effectively. You said that both you and the Pacers would be better off if you were traded.
Larry Bird and Donnie Walsh took steps towards granting your request. They placed you on the team’s inactive list, and began to pursue trade offers. You left your fans, bosses, and teammates out to dry. The Pacers have struggled in your absence, and once again you have found a way to make things even worse.
We supported you unlike any other organization would. If you had disrespected the Knicks, Celtics, or 76ers the way you’ve insulted the Pacers they’re fans would have turned their backs on you long ago.
I don’t know if you knew this, but Indiana is basketball.
I grew up a Pacer fan that had a wonderful role model in Reggie Miller. He respected us, and we respected him back. He poured his heart and soul out for this franchise and his people. You have become the antithesis of Miller. It’s always been about you, and I believe no matter where you play it always will be.
The Sacramento Kings where willing to give you another chance, something I have to say if I was a Kings fan I would not have approved of. And you decided you didn’t want to play in Sacramento which immediately and rightfully scared the Kings out of the deal, and put the Pacers back at square one.
You’ve chose to screw things up in Indiana, and you have.
You wished to be traded to another team, and the Pacers agreed to accommodate you.
You finally got a chance to play basketball again, and you rejected it.
It’s really not all about basketball is it Ron? It’s simply about one three-letter word.
R-o-n.
So please go, and screw up some other organization. Who knows what would have been in Indiana the past few years had you not been there to disrupt all we could have accomplished.
On behalf of Pacers fans everywhere,
Andrew Perna
P.S. I’ll be in my backyard with a can of kerosene and all the Ron Artest memorabilia I own. If you’d like to join me bring you rap album, I’m sure it’s worth about as much to the world as your blue-and-gold number 91 jersey is to me. |
