Posted on 12/02/2009 1:18:49 PM PST by Bad~Rodeo
Some athletes drink Gatorade, others prefer water. Ron Artest once had his own unique halftime beverage of choice.
"I used to drink Hennessy at halftime," Artest says in the interview. "I(kept it)in my locker. I'd just walk to the liquor store (near the stadium) and get it."
In addition to the drinking revelation, Artest — who also called himself "one of the best defenders to ever play basketball" — opened up on a wide variety of topics, including past alcohol and marijuana use while in college at St. John's, the infamous brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills in 2004, why he was traded from the Indiana Pacers in 2006 and his belief that NBA referee Joey Crawford cost the Houston Rockets in their seven-game playoff series last season.
No members of the Bulls organization, past or present, were reached for comment in the article.
Artest's former head coach at St. John's, Fran Fraschilla (currently an ESPN college basketball analyst), expressed surprise at Artest's comments about his alcohol and drug abuse while in school.
"It's a surprise because every day at practice, he came out in a mood to play. He came out in a basketball rage," said Fraschilla. "He was fully committed; he wanted to let our upperclassmen know that he was the alpha male. It never came up that he had any sort of a problem with alcohol.
Artest also shared his thoughts candidly on many other topics:
On why his marriage with the Pacers (where Artest played from 2002-06) never worked out: "I could've stayed at Indiana my whole career, but I said I wanted to be traded. I was getting more stable, but I was still unstable and I was a bad teammate. They had to get rid of me."
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.foxsports.com ...
That's the Hennessy talk'n, Ronny.
Well NOW we know why he got in a fight in Detroit.
Now, THAT'S keepin' it real!
(Word.)
Was that when he beat up the hundred thousand dollar tv camera?
I am surprised it wasn’t Crown Royal he drank! LOL.
Hennessy and Coke, I’d bet.
“and there’s no smell.” - Kramer
And not that I consider Hennessy to be a good brandy, but brandy is meant to be experienced neat, and straight up in a snifter.
That's nothing compared to what Bobby Layne used to drink at halftime.
Y’know, I don’t know at what point Hennessy went downscale. It was touted as one of James Bond’s favorite alcoholic beverages (”On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”), to by the ‘80s, there was no Black neighborhood in Nashville I could go into that didn’t have a huge “Hennessy” billboard overhead, and then often heard referenced in rap lyrics.
Still. I wish Bulls never traded him.
I think Hennessey’s top of the line is considered pretty decent but it’s a fad thing for blacks...like doo rags and surgery caps and cornrows and etc..
when I was a boy it was floppy hats, platform shoes and bright shiney weird colored cars..and malt liquor
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