Ron Artest Says Kings Made Him A Team Player

There are a lot of things that come to mind when I think of Ron Artest. Rap music. Crappy rap music. Psychiatrists. Questionable dog feeding habits. Ability to dodge flying frying pans WHILE sitting in your SUV (talk about the wrong career – hello dodgeball championship!). Beer. Flying beer. Actually, there are a ton of things that come to mind when thinking of Ron-Ron. However, being an NCAA or NBA coach is not one. Well, at least not to a sane person. Which is exactly why Ron feels he’s a wonderful candidate to eventually coach his alma mater, the Saint John’s Red Storm. Or even better, the Knicks. Where is Isiah when you need him?!

Artest told ESPN Magazine:

"“I want to be a coach, bad.I’d love to coach the Knicks or St. John’s, but I’d go anywhere. I want to coach immediately after I retire. I’d be good for a bunch of reasons. I know the little things, like how important spacing is. I also understand how to deal with players, so I’m able to coach a player like me now.I’m 100% sure this coaching thing will work. All I need is a good staff, and to watch more tape. One thing I don’t do is watch tape. I gotta start if I want to coach.”"

Interesting, to say the least.

But by now, you’re probably wondering a) where did he come up with this and b) how is this remotely involved with the Sacramento Kings. Well, I’m glad you asked my precious little snowflakes. Artest felt that during his stint in California’s Capitol city, he learned how to be a leader.

"“Outside of Mike Bibby, I was the go-to guy there,” Artest recalled. “Every play was going through me. But we had Bonzi Wells, too, and he was playing well. So I said, “Coach, we should play through Bonzi.” And what did Bonzi do in the playoffs? Averaged 23 and 12. Right there, I realized I cared a lot about winning. I also learned I’d be a good coach someday.”"

Listen. I like Ron. I like Ron a lot. In fact, outside of anybody wearing purple and black, he just might be my favorite NBA player. And that stands before his time in Sac-town. But he’s crazier than chicken shit on a warm summer day. The only thing I saw during Ron’s stint in Sacto was a bunch of one dimensional (more or less), overpriced, cry babies. Yes, I’m looking at you Micheal and Bradley. Especially you, Bradley. The one massive complaint during that short span was the lack of a leader from the head coach on down. I’m not saying Ron wasn’t magnificent at times on the floor – he certainly was. But I found it mildly amusing that of all the times Ron felt like he became a leader, it was with us. And, that well, Ron thinks he’s coach material of any sort.