The fact that Ron Artest says outlandish stuff is not really noteworthy. For the man called "Crazy Pills" to actually say something which shocks the NBA world means it's pretty far out there. He'd have to say something which strikes right at concerns over safety, or respect for the game, or substance abuse ... And look! He managed all three! In an interview being published this week by Sporting News Magazine, Artest discusses a number of things including the Malice at the Palace (which he says he doesn't know what he could have done differently -- Ron, we have a suggestion. How's about deciding not to run into the stands and hit some guy?), his immaturity as a player, and his role on the Lakers. But the big gun is his admission that during halftime of games when he was with the Bulls between 1999 and 2002, he would drink alcohol. Hennessy, to be exact. To most cynical sports fans, this won't be any terrible shock. And to old school fans, this may even harken back to the days where athletes were a little more rough around the edges. But there still has to be a level of concern here. Artest is admitting to being under the influence of alcohol, no matter how small, during an NBA game he was playing in. Nevermind the disrespect this shows to the game, the fans, and the team who paid quite a bit of money for Artest to specifically not come to play after a few drinks. There are health risks. I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure most doctors would tell you that after drinking alcohol you should probably avoid things which involve running, contact with other people, and cardiovascular exertion. The NBA is handing out fines for athletes using Twitter during halftime and Artest is talking about drinking during them? And it's not as if the article says "Oh, this one time, I took a sip." Artest talks about it as a regular occurrence! There can't be any sort of punishment for this; it was almost a decade ago. But at the very least, the league should follow up to make sure Artest understands how serious this is. Not that he'll care, seeing as how he's Crazy Pills, but still. Make the effort. Of course, after this, seeing his shot selection doesn't seem so baffling anymore. -------------------------------------- http://nba.fanhouse.com/2009/12/02/ron-artest-used-to-drink-hennessy-at-halftime/?icid=main|aim|dl4|link5|http%3A%2F%2Fnba.fanhouse.com%2F2009%2F12%2F02%2Fron-artest-used-to-drink-hennessy-at-halftime%2F lol I love the line at the end. Cheap shot at Ron.
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