Today Show: Delusional Artest Fails to Apologize, Says "It's Time to Move On"

The Today Show | governsleast governsbest

[WakeUpAndVote]

My Bad.

It was the two arrows above it. They threw me off.

In fact they made me angry, so angry I just have to rap about angry people and M&M's with different colors and....

Oh, sorry, anger management class for me. /sarcasm

[YaYa123]

no, that's what was surprising... this wasn't a replay of the TODAY Show MSNBC's blonde morning anchor did the interview.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Huh! That's very interesting. I wonder who, if anyone, is advising him. Any other additional interesting comments by Artest, or just more of the same incoherence and refusal to accept blame?

[YaYa123]

She asked the same questions you described, and at the very end, she did not object nor interrupt, when he held up his CD and gave what I'd guess to be a 20 second advertisement. After his pitch, she thanked him.

[zeaal]

Wonder what Mr. Bill Cosby has to say of the basketbrawl?

[truthseeker2]

"They seem to miss the fact that their "HERO" was dissed THREE times by Wallace and the best their "HERO" could do was to attack a drunk fan."

And he didn't even attack the fan that threw the beer cup. He went after the smaller guy with glasses. Man, he's one tough guy! Artest is nothing more than a sorry punk who thinks since he's "a man" he can do whatever he wants without consequence. I say the NBA should get rid of him permanently, and universities need to give scholarships to "student athletes" not just athletes.

[Ignatz]

What an incredible, inspiring story!. Thanks for sharing that with us.

[miele man]

As far as "guidance" and "telling his story", he apparently is getting little or none; therefore, I suspect that Jeff Feiger, Kevorkian's lawyer and the attorney for two folks that Artest allegedly assaulted in the Detroit melee, is taping all of Artest's comments to use against him in civil court. If he is getting legal advice or marketing advice telling him to "get out in front of this", then his advisors are every bit as deluded as he is.

[mhking]

From my site this afternoon:

---

Clueless Artest refuses to apologize

A semi-intelligible Ron Artest appeared on NBC's Today Show this morning, and demonstrated that he clearly has no clue of the magnitude of his wrong-doing. To hear him tell it during the interview with Matt Lauer, he didn't do anything wrong.

Artest then boasted of the fact that "I never harmed anyone." Makes you wonder what he was trying to do when he was throwing haymakers at fans in the stands?

Asked to explain why he went into the stands, Artest statede: "I was frustrated. The tape speaks for itself."

He continued, describing the situation when he was lying on a table at courtside and was hit by a cup of beer: "It was just like 'wow, a cup and a beer,' it almost hit my eye. It was like 'wow.'"

Lauer: "Did it pop into your mind that 'I've crossed a line'?"

Revealing the extent of his self-delusion, Artest replied:

"I think I'm pretty disciplined. You can answer the questions from the tape."

Artest did not apologize, and spent the latter part of the interview trying to hype his upcoming rap CD, claiming that he hoped the girls (the group Allure, who's CD he's producing) aren't hurt by this.

Artest insists that the suspension levied by NBA Commissioner David Stern was too harsh, and says the he hopes to be back by playoff time -- as if the Pacers now have anything beyond a snowball's chance in hell of making the playoffs in the first place.

He claims that once he comes back that he can "help the League improve its image."

Don't mind the cynical chuckle from me. After all, Artest only has been suspended from games every year for the period he's been in the League due to his volatility. Never mind that he was actually benched 12 games in high school due to his volatility.

It's painfully obvious that this is a man with major impulse control issues. And sadly it's painfully obvious to everyone except Ron Artest.

[1Old Pro]

Let me guess, he's kinda sorry but it's more other people's fault than his own.

[iceskater]

Wow, what a great story! Thanks for sharing it.

[NittanyLion]

Boston Bruins forward Stan Jonathan was hit in the face by an object thrown by a fan, and right wing Terry O'Reilly was harassed by a stick-wielding fan at the end of a 4-3 victory at the New York Rangers. Several Boston players, including O'Reilly and Mike Milbury, went into the stands to fight with spectators. Milbury removed a shoe from a fan and beat him with it.

Thanks for the info - I am too young to remember that game. Clearly the NBA hasn't cornered the market on bad behavior (see Todd Bertuzzi). That said, in general NHL players seem to conduct themselves with a little more humility and decorum off the ice than I see of NBA players off the court. (No doubt some may think I'm a racist, but nothing could be further from the truth.)

[Time is now]

I agree with your premise.

From your handle I would assume you have some knowledge of State College? I had an office there on East College Ave, next to Hicky distributors. What a town!!

[NittanyLion]

Yep - I spent four years there. I had friends who lived in a house right in the area where your office must've been located.

I hope to live in State College again one day. It's a fantastic place to live...

[Petronski]

Something of a bigot, aren't you?

[Capt.YankeeMike]

REF: your post #4....I had the same thought a while back...we here in Indiana love our B-Ball teams...Knight became an embarrassement...and now this...
The Capt.

[Lou L]

suspect that Jeff Feiger, Kevorkian's lawyer and the attorney for two folks that Artest allegedly assaulted in the Detroit melee, is taping all of Artest's comments to use against him in civil court.

I have no doubt that Feiger is doing just that, which makes me despise him--Feiger--even more. But that's another issue.

Perhaps Artest IS receiving counsel, and maybe some attorney's strategy is to have Artest go out and make as big a fool of himself as possible...maybe even say such outlandish comments such as, "I'm innocent!" and "Buy my new CD!"

Then, Artest's attorneys can plead insanity.

[Capt.YankeeMike]

what a great story....it reminds me of Paul D "Tony" Hinkle here at Butler University in Indy...he always asked me how my curve was coming along...he knew EVERY player, baseball, basketball, football (and Butler used to be D-I in football, so theres 40 players right there) track, golf, you name it. He came to almost everyone of ALL of the games in ALL sports..he hung out in the laundry room in the basement of Hinkle field house....

[uncitizen]

just curious: was Artests lawyer present during the KC interview?