Ron Artest’s Reputation Precedes Him

In Game 2 in L.A., Ron Artest didn’t deserve to be ejected for reacting to a Kobe Bryant elbow by getting in Kobe’s face. The two rapid-fire technicals called, though, did make sense given the context of the game. There was no real backlash against the ejection. In Game 3, Ron-Ron got booted from a decided game for this.
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↵Apparently, when you trail by eight points you aren’t allowed to defend the paint on a fast break. That’s all Artest did -- the contact to Gasol’s head clearly came in the motion of a play on the ball. You can tell Ron played the ball because, um, he knocked the ball away before touching Pau’s torso.
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↵But clearly the referees are on edge in this series, especially after the Kobe/Ron incident and Derek Fisher’s Bret Hart impersonation. Ron, of course, has a reputation he’ll never shake. His hard fouls will always seem more dangerous than those of anyone else. He will always look like a villain to the refs and most fans at home.
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↵Artest dealt with a 73-game suspension for his role in The Brawl. But he’s still paying the price for that crime (and others). There’s even the suggestion Artest could miss Game 4 -- I’m sure the league will bump this back down to a flagrant-1, and Steve Javie probably wouldn’t have booted Ron in a close game. But that very inconsistency is making the league’s disciplinary methods look bush. When someone like Kobe -- who wants nothing more than to win a title this year -- publicly states Artest shouldn’t have been ejected in either game, you know we have a problem.↵