Tru Warier

Ron Artest is a sociopath. This is something that is generally accepted and will not be debated.

Even if it were a debate, it would be a short one. Exhibit A: November 19, 2004 – better known as Malice in the Palace. I’ll not go back into the gory details of an event that effectively murdered my favorite basketball team, so let’s just say this: a fight broke out, and Ron Artest ended up in the stands, punching innocent people and raising hell.

I will never forget the look in his eyes. End of argument.

However, the fact that he holds the NBA record for longest non-drug-related suspension (86 games) and was convicted of assault for actions that took place on a basketball court have no bearing on his value as a basketball player. He’s always been crazy. He made it this far being crazy, and he’ll be crazy for the rest of his career.

Despite the fact that he’s fit for a straightjacket, he’s still managed an All-Star selection to go along with four years on the NBA’s All-Defensive team. He’ll never get the credit he deserves, though, mainly because he’s a sociopath who does things like confessing to drinking Hennessy during halftime of games earlier in his career. Lord only knows what secrets he chooses to keep to himself.

So when the Lakers, fresh off an NBA Championship in 2009, effectively swapped out Trevor Ariza for Ron Artest (although through free-agent signings, not a trade), it was met with the typical consternation and whining drivel typically reserved for Boston sportswriters, Keith Olbermann, or Fox News.

Why mess with something perfect in order to sign someone who once shaved Tru Warier into his head and asked his coach for an extended break from “work” because he was tired after promoting his album?

For game seven of the 2010 NBA Finals, that’s why.

No disrespect to Trevor Ariza. I’m sure he’s a nice, normal, well-adjusted member of society, but if you think the Lakers were winning that game (and, as a result, the series) with Trevor Ariza, you need to be locked up in whatever asylum houses Artest in the offseason.

Kobe Bryant shot 6-for-24. Artests 7-for-18 performance may not have been a masterpiece on any other night, but it looked like the Mona Lisa compared most of the stat lines in this atrocity of a game.

While Kobe was adding more bricks to the wall between he and Michael Jordan, Artest was making key shots, drawing key fouls, stealing passes, and basically finding all sorts of ways to kill the Celtics.

With the Lakers down 23-17 in the second quarter, he had this run of plays: offensive rebound, layup, defensive rebound, Gasol layup, steal, layup, offensive rebound, two-point shot, steal. Just like that, Los Angeles grabbed the lead. Later on, with the Celtics up three and fading fast in the fourth quarter, Artest converted a three-point play to tie the game for the first time since it was 29-29 – a score that came on an Artest three-pointer in the second quarter.

Of course, assuming he never kills anyone on the court, the play he’ll be remembered for came with exactly 1:00 left in the fourth quarter. Taking the ball after Rasheed Wallace drilled a three to cut the Lakers lead in half, Kobe found it in his heart to pass out of a double team to a wide open Artest, who promptly drilled a three-pointer that doubled the lead back to six – a margin that proved to difficult to overcome.

He lived for the moment, soaked it in. Blew kisses to the crowd.

Crazy? Yes.

Liability? Not when it mattered most.