NBA: YARAT: Ron Artest's anger issues told by Ron Artest Sr.

[iamme]

now, let's try not to turn this into a Piston/Pacer thread. You can talk about that here

this is a good read for the non-sports/non-NBA fans who saw what happened at the Pistons/Pacers game. also for anyone else who didn't really know much about Artest:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1929385

a few snippets:

Ron Sr. is a Navy vet and a former Golden Gloves boxer out of Philadelphia. He taught his son to box in the hope that sports might keep him out of trouble. Ron Sr. has always feared that his son's temper would be his downfall. He hoped boxing could help him avoid the drugs and violence around every corner in Queensbridge. Ron Sr. sent his son to anger management therapy when he was 8 after Ron put his hands around another boy's throat in a school cafeteria. The counselor suggested basketball as an outlet for Ron's emotions.

Artest has struggled with his temper all his life. Events such as his parents' divorce in 1992 and the death of his baby sister Quanisha from SIDS in 1995 only made it worse. Ron even saw his dad hit his mother once. He offered to lie to the cops, but Ron Sr. told him never to lie.

So Artest took his emotions out on the basketball court, molding himself into one of the most physical players ever to come out of New York. He became a hero in Queens, willing St. John's to the Elite Eight as a sophomore. He turned pro at 19, but gave most of his money to friends and family until he was nearly broke.

after reading the article, Mike Tyson comes to mind. Artest has tons of talent, but it seems that there are very important issues he needs to deal with. for his sake (and those around him), i hope he really gets proper help.

 

[ThePresence]

He obviously has some issues to work out, but I don't need to hear excuses. There are many people who lost loved ones and who's parents got divorced that don't deal with it by attacking people. He is a great talent, but he needs to work out his issues.

 

[imported_Mike]

Has anyone seen the MSN video from the Today show? Ron has got to be one of the most unintelligent human beings ever.

 

[iamme]

Originally posted by: ThePresence
He obviously has some issues to work out, but I don't need to hear excuses. There are many people who lost loved ones and who's parents got divorced that don't deal with it by attacking people. He is a great talent, but he needs to work out his issues.

i know none of that is justification for what he did, but in a weird way i almost feel bad for him. sort of like when i watched a few Mike Tyson specials about his life. Tyson seemed to be a super-gifted athlete,really in need of emotional help. but since he was gifted physically and kept bringing in the cash, no one around them really cared. hopefully, Artest doesn't follow the same path.