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♪dramatic synth
drone♪

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The entire Ron Artest
story is the story of America.

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It is the story of endless
possibility and endless...

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ability to recover from
complete failure.

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And that is the ultimate
test of humanity.

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00:01:08,917 --> 00:01:14,417
And Ron Artest, wow, who would
have ever thought?

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This is like a movie.

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[Kobe] The only time I had ever
had to have a conversation

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with Metta World Peace was we
got finished playing the game.

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He wasn't as physical
as he normally is.

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So after the game, I'm out at
dinner and I'm eating,

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and Metta comes walking in.

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And I said -- I said, "Metta!"
He comes over and I said,

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"Wh-- What's...Where's the
physicality?

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Where's the -- the toughness?"
He was like, "Oh, man.

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You know, I'm not trying to,
you know, upset anybody

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or do anything like this, you
know?" I said, "Your name

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is Metta World Peace, right?"

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He said, "Yeah." I said,
"How do you think peace

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is accomplished?" He
goes, "I don't know."

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I said, "Through war.
[laughs]

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Win the war and then you have
peace. Got it? All right."

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[announcer] Final minute of
the season

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00:02:04,291 --> 00:02:06,583
for the Indiana Pacers.

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00:02:06,583 --> 00:02:09,375
The Celtics have ...
of the Pacers...

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The Celtics advance to the
second round.

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You're not gonna do anything.

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-Come on, my nigga!
-Get the fucking security!

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Get your motherfucking
security right now!

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[man] It was like a tornado
Or a hurricane.

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And that was Ron. He'd be
quiet before the storm,

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and then he'd be quiet after
the storm.

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[man] Ronnie seemed to go from
one to 100 real quick.

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You know, you weren't gonna
get a lot of warning.

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[man] I never questioned Ron's
ability. Never.

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Where he was mentally. Every
single day, I questioned.

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[man] I always remember
somebody telling me,

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"This would be the last guy
you'd wanna fight."

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[commentator] Artest is
in the stands!

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Oh, this is awful. Fans
are getting involved.

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When Ron-Ron ran in the
stands, like, I was just, aww,

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just...

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[commentator] This is a
disgrace.

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Because that is Queensbridge

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♪"Quiet Storm (Remix)" by
Mobb Deep♪

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[thunder rumbling]

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♪It's the real

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♪Hip-hop
hip-hop♪

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[Donnie] Ron's helped a lot
of people revealing his

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demons.

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His disease.

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♪"Life's a Bitch" by Nas

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♪Life's a bitch and then you
die, that's why we puff lye♪

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♪'Cause you never know
when you're gonna go♪

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♪Life's a bitch and then you
die, that's why we get high...♪

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[officer] Police, open up!
We've got a warrant.

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Police, open the door!

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♪Life's a bitch and
then you die♪

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The idea of a criminal
enterprise in New York

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had been basically
limited to the mafia.

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It was contained. Bad
people, you know,

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doing bad things
to other bad people.

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And then crack came.

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[VO] Crack, the most
addictive form of cocaine,

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is now sweeping New York.

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[Mark] And it completely
democratized the idea

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of what an illicit enterprise
was. So instead of having

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to be initiated into some
secret society,

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all of a sudden, all you
needed was baking soda,

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coke, a microwave, and a 9mm.

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You were in business,
you were a gangster.

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[man] Federal drug enforcement
agents have been saying

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for a long time that the crack
situation in New York

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is out-of-control.

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[Fredro] That was the home of
guys like the Supreme Team.

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You know, those were the guys
when I was

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comin' up in Queens.

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When crack hit, it was a way
out for some,

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and then for some people, it
was a way to hell,

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you know what I'm sayin'?
Because you might sell crack

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to your uncle, to your aunt,
to your mother.

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Like, that's how the
epidemic hit.

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A lot of people got killed.

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Crack affected a lot of
people around me,

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a lot of family members.

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[boy cries]

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[crying] Don't take my
mother, please!

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[Mark] It destroyed families,
it destroyed countless lives.

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And it was an incessant level
of violence which you had

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in those days in New York, was
the normalization of violence.

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[Mr. Cheeks] One night back
in the late 80s, you know,

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my man got killed right in
front of me.

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At the corner store, we were
usually around the corner,

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and the dude shot him and...

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That was something that I
wouldn't...

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I mean, I'm thinking about it
everyday.

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Everything was for crack. You
know, everything was about

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hustling. The crime
levels just shot up.

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If you disrespected somebody
and, you know,

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a guy might be a hustler
or whatever

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and you come up short, you
might get shot in the ass.

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[Havoc] Queensbridge was one
of the grimiest places

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that you could grow up in.

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And you could ask anybody
from anywhere else,

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from any other borough that
ever came out there

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and they'll let you know,
like, "Yeah.

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Queensbridge is crazy."

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It reflected in everything
that we did, whether it was

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you know, the music
that we was writing

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to the ball that we was
playing on the block

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or, you know, how we
acted in school.

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You know, we -- we took
Queensbridge with us.

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We wore it with pride.

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Just the whole atmosphere
just -- It really --

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It just brought out
the beast in us.

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It was the first time
in New York...

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that...

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Queens took the front
pages for crime.

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Queens was where cops were
being assassinated.

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[man] Four young men accused
of executing

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rookie cop Edward Burn. He was
gunned down while guarding

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a witness in a drug case. It
happened in Jamaica, Queens.

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The same neighborhood
where three

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of the four suspects...

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[Mark] Queens was where
the most notorious

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kingpin crack dealers
held court.

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They controlled everything.

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Basketball and the violent
life of New York

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became enmeshed.

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Your mother would tell you,
"When the lights get down,

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you know, I don't care who's
playing. Bring your ass home,"

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'cause nine times out of ten,
they was gonna start shooting.

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[man] Six blocks and
96 buildings.

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The Queensbridge Houses is the
largest housing development

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in North America, and for
years, its reputation sullied

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by gang violence and shootings.

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Queensbridge, if you can
imagine the, um...

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[inhales deeply] ...the
poverty because of people

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living, um, in low-income
circumstances,

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like, living on top
of each other.

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[N.O.R.E.] You could live in
Queensbridge

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and go to a certain part
of Astoria that is beautiful.

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But you can also turn the
wrong corner and you will die.

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This is the part that people
don't understand.

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Queensbridge is divided by
North side and South side.

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And each side is composed of
three blocks.

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You got 12th Street, 10th
Street, and Vernon

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to make up the North side.
Then on the South side,

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you've got 12th Street, 10th
Street, and Vernon,

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and it's separated like that.

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Ron grew up on 10th Street.
grew up directly

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across from me.

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[Ron] That was my original
apartment.

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And that's the apartment I --
I had the most memories of

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as a child.

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And, um... [chuckles]

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That kind of welcomed me to
Queensbridge.

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Fun times, you know, bad times.

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Father and mother fought a lot
in that house.

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Obviously, a man should never
hit a woman, right?

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But they would fight.
They hit each other.

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It was times where, you know,
police would come

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and my parents, they tell each
side of the story,

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and they're back in bed with
each other.

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As a child, when you see the
first argument,

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it's very shocking.

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You're just like,
"What happened?"

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And then as it continuously
happens,

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and then all you want
is the best for both parents.

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I really never took sides
when my parents would

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argue or fight.

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I was just like, "Can this
be over already?"

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He was, like, eight years old
the the summer of 1988

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and me and his mother
were separated

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at that time.

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I remember my dad
coming to 41-08

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telling me he's never
coming back. [chuckles]

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And I was like, "Are
you ever gonna come

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back to see us?"

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[Ron Sr.] I did stay close by.

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Close by. I saw him
everyday, uh,

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as long as we
were separated.

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It helped -- it helped
him set

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on the right track.

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[Ron] A lot of that stuff
really scarred me.

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And then I alw-- I always
walked around

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with this chip, you know, on --

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on my shoulder.

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I just couldn't get over
the fact that

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my parents and mom
were separated.

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At school, he was having
difficulty with anxiety problems

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the way he was feeling
after the separation.

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And he would get in
trouble a lot.

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[Ron] I was suspended
every year for fighting.

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Kindergarten, first grade,
second grade, every grade.

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All fighting.

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It was probably the dumbest
reasons, quite honestly

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00:11:05,458 --> 00:11:07,291
It was, um...

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00:11:07,291 --> 00:11:09,709
Somebody'd say something,
somebody'd brush you,

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00:11:09,709 --> 00:11:12,250
skip in front of the
lunch line. [laughs]

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00:11:12,250 --> 00:11:13,750
All that type of stuff.

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00:11:13,750 --> 00:11:15,750
I had to get after him
a few times.

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00:11:15,750 --> 00:11:17,917
You know, the old-school
discipline way.

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I never felt nothing
wrong with that.

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00:11:20,500 --> 00:11:23,458
So, uh, I kind of kept him
in line a little bit.

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00:11:24,083 --> 00:11:29,625
My mom sent me to a service
that they had counseling

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00:11:29,625 --> 00:11:32,333
inside one of the apartments.

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A free service.

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A lot of the kids from the
neighborhood was there.

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Um, some kids had autism,

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00:11:38,417 --> 00:11:41,417
some kids had --
was bipolar.

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Some was on medication.

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00:11:43,709 --> 00:11:45,375
It was like two of us in
there that had, like,

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00:11:45,375 --> 00:11:48,583
anger problems like me,
but the counselor was in there

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00:11:48,583 --> 00:11:50,417
trying to figure things out.

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She used to advise him
to take up a sport

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and he chose basketball

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and that helped him
out tremendously

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'cause while he was
on the court, he'd

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00:11:58,208 --> 00:12:00,625
channel all his energies
to basketball,

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00:12:00,625 --> 00:12:02,583
and that kind of helped
him out a lot.

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♪tense music

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00:12:12,750 --> 00:12:14,625
[Capone] Me and Ron's dad
always had a close,

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00:12:14,625 --> 00:12:15,792
close relationship.

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You'd see him coming,
and he'd be like,

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00:12:17,667 --> 00:12:18,792
"What's up?"

227
00:12:18,792 --> 00:12:20,458
And he'd scare you
with his "What's up?"

228
00:12:20,458 --> 00:12:21,125
You know what I'm sayin'?

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00:12:21,125 --> 00:12:22,625
Ron's dad was tough.

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When Ron started playing ball

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00:12:24,625 --> 00:12:26,625
I seen a different side of him.

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00:12:26,625 --> 00:12:29,291
I seen, like, his toughness
wasn't like

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00:12:29,291 --> 00:12:32,000
an abusive father toughness,
but it was

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00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:34,625
"You gonna make something
out yourself" toughness.

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[N.O.R.E.] One of my earliest
memories of Queensbridge,

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00:12:37,500 --> 00:12:38,667
it's snowing.

237
00:12:38,667 --> 00:12:41,333
And I remember
Ron-Ron out there

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00:12:41,333 --> 00:12:45,000
with his father, and him
just running drills on him.

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00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:47,667
I remember seeing
that on 12th Street.

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00:12:47,667 --> 00:12:49,625
On motherfuckin'
12th Street.

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00:12:49,625 --> 00:12:52,000
That's one of my greatest
memories is just

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00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:54,041
going out there with seeing
Havoc, you know,

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00:12:54,041 --> 00:12:56,542
drinking E&J and
falling out.

244
00:12:56,542 --> 00:12:58,542
And Ron-Ron, you know,

245
00:12:58,542 --> 00:13:01,667
playing defense on his pops.

246
00:13:01,667 --> 00:13:04,834
[Havoc] It could be 10
degrees outside,

247
00:13:04,834 --> 00:13:07,041
and they would be the
only two outside

248
00:13:07,041 --> 00:13:09,208
on the basketball
court playing.

249
00:13:09,208 --> 00:13:11,166
And, you know, his father
didn't treat him

250
00:13:11,166 --> 00:13:11,917
like a little kid.

251
00:13:11,917 --> 00:13:13,333
His father used
to be like...

252
00:13:13,333 --> 00:13:14,166
You know what
I'm sayin'?

253
00:13:14,166 --> 00:13:16,333
Elbowing him, pushing him.

254
00:13:16,333 --> 00:13:19,667
I probably had some
hate towards him,

255
00:13:19,667 --> 00:13:21,000
because I would
go at him.

256
00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:26,250
And he would push me
down, not let me score,

257
00:13:26,250 --> 00:13:30,667
be playing one-on-one
full-court,

258
00:13:30,667 --> 00:13:32,792
and me and my
dad all night.

259
00:13:32,792 --> 00:13:34,625
I think that's why I build
my endurance up.

260
00:13:34,625 --> 00:13:37,542
It wasn't scientific,
it wasn't planned.

261
00:13:37,542 --> 00:13:39,500
He might feel like that.

262
00:13:39,500 --> 00:13:41,000
Just me out there
playing with him

263
00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:42,458
and being a little
rough with him.

264
00:13:42,458 --> 00:13:43,667
Not dirty, nothing
to hurt him,

265
00:13:43,667 --> 00:13:44,792
but just being a
little rough

266
00:13:44,792 --> 00:13:47,083
or doing things that
they all call a foul

267
00:13:47,083 --> 00:13:48,875
if you did in a game.

268
00:13:48,875 --> 00:13:51,542
At the end of the day,
it was nothing that

269
00:13:51,542 --> 00:13:53,500
that was stopping
their process.

270
00:13:53,500 --> 00:13:56,041
It was nothing that was
stopping Big Ron's focus

271
00:13:56,041 --> 00:14:00,625
on making Ron-Ron the best
ball player he could be,

272
00:14:00,625 --> 00:14:01,709
the strongest he can be.

273
00:14:01,709 --> 00:14:04,250
And if shots rang
off, cool,

274
00:14:04,250 --> 00:14:05,709
they know they ain't
getting shot at.

275
00:14:05,709 --> 00:14:07,291
They catch a
stray bullet?

276
00:14:07,291 --> 00:14:09,709
Go to the hospital,
get taped up,

277
00:14:09,709 --> 00:14:11,375
and come right back
out to the court.

278
00:14:11,375 --> 00:14:12,542
That's how it was.

279
00:14:12,542 --> 00:14:13,917
It was like nothing's easy,

280
00:14:13,917 --> 00:14:15,500
and that's how we play it.

281
00:14:15,500 --> 00:14:18,333
I started beating my
dad when I was 15.

282
00:14:18,333 --> 00:14:20,208
That's when he couldn't
beat me no more.

283
00:14:20,208 --> 00:14:21,667
And then when I was
able to beat him, I'm like,

284
00:14:21,667 --> 00:14:24,834
"This is how I gotta play
[chuckles] to win."

285
00:14:25,667 --> 00:14:28,125
[man] That's it. So the
bottom line is the win,

286
00:14:28,125 --> 00:14:29,750
- so I'm winning...
- Leave the refs alone.

287
00:14:29,750 --> 00:14:31,000
[ man] The bottom
line is a win,

288
00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:32,959
and that's what we're tryin'
to do on three, win.

289
00:14:32,959 --> 00:14:36,375
[Havoc] The pickup games
in Queensbridge,

290
00:14:36,375 --> 00:14:39,917
they was equally as brutal
as me watching

291
00:14:39,917 --> 00:14:42,417
Ron and his dad
on the court,

292
00:14:42,417 --> 00:14:43,375
if not worse.

293
00:14:43,375 --> 00:14:45,166
When you playin' against
dudes, you know,

294
00:14:45,166 --> 00:14:48,083
on a court that's not
your family, you know,

295
00:14:48,083 --> 00:14:51,000
you could get an elbow,
you could lose a tooth.

296
00:14:51,458 --> 00:14:54,917
[Ron] On my block, it was
no layups. [laughs]

297
00:14:54,917 --> 00:14:55,834
My block was very
intense, you know?

298
00:14:55,834 --> 00:14:57,208
We had a guy
named Yammy

299
00:14:57,208 --> 00:14:58,750
and when he would lose,
he would bring out his gun.

300
00:14:58,750 --> 00:15:02,291
[chuckles]
Really simple.

301
00:15:02,291 --> 00:15:05,458
I remember Lloyd
Newton being killed.

302
00:15:05,458 --> 00:15:06,750
He was a idol of ours,

303
00:15:06,750 --> 00:15:08,583
really smart point guard,

304
00:15:08,583 --> 00:15:09,750
tall point guard.

305
00:15:09,750 --> 00:15:11,917
Somebody just pulled a
chair leg from a table

306
00:15:11,917 --> 00:15:13,375
and threw it and it went
through his heart.

307
00:15:13,375 --> 00:15:16,583
I wasn't there, but when
that happened,

308
00:15:16,583 --> 00:15:19,792
it changed the whole
complexity of

309
00:15:19,792 --> 00:15:21,542
of neighborhood basketball.

310
00:15:22,291 --> 00:15:26,834
The street culture had
come in with the game,

311
00:15:26,834 --> 00:15:28,417
and it had perverted
the game,

312
00:15:28,417 --> 00:15:30,625
and -- and it -- it had
infected the game

313
00:15:30,625 --> 00:15:32,333
with its violence.

314
00:15:33,208 --> 00:15:35,834
As Ron got older, it was
either drugs or sports

315
00:15:35,834 --> 00:15:37,291
then, you know
what I'm sayin'?

316
00:15:37,291 --> 00:15:40,333
You was either slinging
crack or you was playin' ball.

317
00:15:41,125 --> 00:15:44,125
Hustling was something
that was very intriguing.

318
00:15:44,125 --> 00:15:47,458
I learned how to cook crack,
learned how to cut up

319
00:15:47,458 --> 00:15:48,792
the cookies and stuff.

320
00:15:48,792 --> 00:15:51,375
It's like, "A'ight,
cool, here we go."

321
00:15:51,375 --> 00:15:53,083
I remember making
my first sale.

322
00:15:53,083 --> 00:15:57,375
It was a crackhead

323
00:15:58,709 --> 00:16:02,959
who would always come
and buy it from my family.

324
00:16:02,959 --> 00:16:05,166
I remember giving the
crackhead the money

325
00:16:05,166 --> 00:16:08,041
and just running
back in the house.

326
00:16:08,041 --> 00:16:09,166
I didn't even take
the money

327
00:16:09,166 --> 00:16:11,542
and my cousin was like,
"Yo, where the money at?"

328
00:16:11,542 --> 00:16:13,375
I'm like, "Yo...

329
00:16:13,375 --> 00:16:16,250
I--I--I didn't have time
to take the money."

330
00:16:16,917 --> 00:16:19,166
[thunder crashing]

331
00:16:19,166 --> 00:16:21,375
I was scared. I was
scared to selling --

332
00:16:21,375 --> 00:16:23,834
to be selling drugs,
quite honestly, you know.

333
00:16:23,834 --> 00:16:27,250
I didn't like it, I didn't
like feeling, you know?

334
00:16:27,250 --> 00:16:30,166
Um, it just was not for me.

335
00:16:30,166 --> 00:16:31,792
It was that simple. I knew
right then and there

336
00:16:31,792 --> 00:16:33,834
I was not gonna be
a drug dealer.

337
00:16:40,667 --> 00:16:44,166
[thunder rolls]

338
00:16:51,166 --> 00:16:53,750
[N.O.R.E.] KRS made this song
called "The Bridge is Over."

339
00:16:53,750 --> 00:16:56,166
♪The Bridge is over
the Bridge is over...♪

340
00:16:56,166 --> 00:16:58,875
And you wanted to hate
every word he said

341
00:16:58,875 --> 00:17:01,667
when he said "The
Bridge is over."

342
00:17:01,667 --> 00:17:04,917
But the record was
so fuckin' hot!

343
00:17:04,917 --> 00:17:07,500
♪Manhattan keeps on makin' it
Brooklyn keeps on takin' it♪

344
00:17:07,500 --> 00:17:10,333
♪Bronx keeps creatin' it and
Queens keeps on fakin' it♪

345
00:17:10,333 --> 00:17:12,166
♪Yeah

346
00:17:12,166 --> 00:17:13,625
[Fredro] That was a hit
record KRS-ONE had,

347
00:17:13,625 --> 00:17:14,500
and every time
they played it,

348
00:17:14,500 --> 00:17:16,000
"Queens keeps on fakin' it,"

349
00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,125
that was just like a blow
to the whole Queens.

350
00:17:18,125 --> 00:17:20,750
Wherever you was from in
Queens... [record scratch]

351
00:17:20,750 --> 00:17:22,333
that -- that was a dis.

352
00:17:22,333 --> 00:17:24,917
Damn...

353
00:17:24,917 --> 00:17:28,375
But it also pumped
something in every

354
00:17:28,375 --> 00:17:31,959
Queens kid's heart.

355
00:17:31,959 --> 00:17:34,542
And it said, "Nobody
will ever say

356
00:17:34,542 --> 00:17:38,583
'Queens is
fakin' it' again."

357
00:17:39,041 --> 00:17:41,375
♪"Made You Look"
by Nas♪

358
00:17:44,041 --> 00:17:45,583
♪Now, let's get it
all in perspective♪

359
00:17:45,583 --> 00:17:48,834
♪For all y'all enjoyment
a song y'all can step with♪

360
00:17:48,834 --> 00:17:50,625
♪Y'all appointed me
to bring rap justice♪

361
00:17:50,625 --> 00:17:53,709
♪But I ain't five-oh
y'all know it's Nas, yo♪

362
00:17:53,709 --> 00:17:57,291
From that moment,
KRS-ONE birthed

363
00:17:57,291 --> 00:18:01,875
every greatest Queens
athlete ever.

364
00:18:01,875 --> 00:18:06,375
He's also birthed every
greatest Queens MC ever,

365
00:18:06,375 --> 00:18:09,542
because we will
never, ever, ever

366
00:18:09,542 --> 00:18:14,542
let that statement
become true again in life.

367
00:18:14,542 --> 00:18:16,875
And that's why you got
people like N.O.R.E.

368
00:18:16,875 --> 00:18:19,166
You got people
from, like, Nas,

369
00:18:19,166 --> 00:18:22,542
you have people like
Mobb Deep, LL Cool J

370
00:18:22,542 --> 00:18:24,125
and Run DMC.

371
00:18:24,125 --> 00:18:25,750
Because we had to let
y'all know that

372
00:18:25,750 --> 00:18:28,542
that statement was
just a battle rap.

373
00:18:28,542 --> 00:18:29,792
[laughs]

374
00:18:29,792 --> 00:18:32,750
And that's clearly it.
We here.

375
00:18:32,750 --> 00:18:34,125
♪I made you look

376
00:18:34,125 --> 00:18:36,542
♪You a slave to a page
in my rhyme book♪

377
00:18:36,542 --> 00:18:39,417
The music, you know,
during that time in --

378
00:18:39,417 --> 00:18:42,959
in that era, the content that
was coming out was, like,

379
00:18:42,959 --> 00:18:44,875
really gritty, hard,

380
00:18:44,875 --> 00:18:49,041
it told stories of what
we was goin' through,

381
00:18:49,041 --> 00:18:50,500
what we wanted to be.

382
00:18:50,500 --> 00:18:52,583
You know, the situation
that we was in,

383
00:18:52,583 --> 00:18:53,959
how we wanted to
get out of it.

384
00:18:53,959 --> 00:18:55,959
Queens was the capital
of lyricism,

385
00:18:55,959 --> 00:18:57,125
you know what
I mean? And to me,

386
00:18:57,125 --> 00:18:57,834
you know what I'm
sayin', the good music

387
00:18:57,834 --> 00:18:59,041
came out of Queens.

388
00:18:59,041 --> 00:19:00,709
One thing you don't
want to do

389
00:19:00,709 --> 00:19:03,542
is you don't want
to be going to jail.

390
00:19:03,542 --> 00:19:04,792
You gotta -- You gotta,
you know,

391
00:19:04,792 --> 00:19:08,625
pretty much attach
yourself to something

392
00:19:08,625 --> 00:19:11,333
positive, and music was it.

393
00:19:11,333 --> 00:19:13,125
As I started to
go outside,

394
00:19:13,125 --> 00:19:15,375
then you hear about
Mobb Deep.

395
00:19:15,375 --> 00:19:16,750
And you heard,
"Oh, wow,

396
00:19:16,750 --> 00:19:17,750
these guys are
pretty famous."

397
00:19:17,750 --> 00:19:19,625
Like, "Oh, word?
Those guys that

398
00:19:19,625 --> 00:19:21,750
live on the third floor?"

399
00:19:21,750 --> 00:19:23,041
"And they got records
on the radio."

400
00:19:23,041 --> 00:19:24,166
"Oh, that's pretty cool."

401
00:19:24,166 --> 00:19:26,875
Then you hear about Nas.
"Who's Nas?"

402
00:19:26,875 --> 00:19:29,375
"Nas from Vernon."
"Yo, he's from Queensbridge?

403
00:19:29,375 --> 00:19:31,000
That's pretty dope."

404
00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:34,208
Ron loved music, but when
I seen Ron start to rap,

405
00:19:34,208 --> 00:19:36,000
at first I was like, "Come
on, man. Put --

406
00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:36,834
What are you doing?
You know what

407
00:19:36,834 --> 00:19:37,834
I'm sayin'? What are
you doing?

408
00:19:37,834 --> 00:19:39,166
Stick to ball, man."

409
00:19:45,667 --> 00:19:48,291
I was, uh, a star
at La Salle

410
00:19:48,291 --> 00:19:50,000
and they brung...
[sighs]

411
00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:51,291
the skinny kid
from Queens.

412
00:19:51,291 --> 00:19:53,041
He played for the same
AAU team I played for

413
00:19:53,041 --> 00:19:55,000
so I -- I knew Ron.

414
00:19:56,542 --> 00:20:00,291
[Ron] There was a all-boys'
school. Catholic.

415
00:20:00,291 --> 00:20:03,625
[Ron] I think I got in a fight
in the hallway. [chuckles]

416
00:20:03,625 --> 00:20:07,000
I remember being suspended.

417
00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:08,291
I remember them saying,

418
00:20:08,291 --> 00:20:11,041
"If you do this again,
we're kicking you out."

419
00:20:11,041 --> 00:20:13,875
And they sat me
the first 13 games

420
00:20:13,875 --> 00:20:15,083
of my freshman year,

421
00:20:15,083 --> 00:20:17,166
and it sucked.

422
00:20:17,166 --> 00:20:19,750
[Shammgod] He didn't really
have a skillset at this point.

423
00:20:19,750 --> 00:20:21,208
I used to always tell him
to come in the mornings

424
00:20:21,208 --> 00:20:22,291
just to work on his skills.

425
00:20:22,291 --> 00:20:23,750
I'm like, "You need to
learn how to dribble,

426
00:20:23,750 --> 00:20:25,375
shoot, stuff like that."

427
00:20:25,959 --> 00:20:27,375
[crowd cheering]

428
00:20:27,375 --> 00:20:30,375
[Bill] His reputation, of
course, preceded him.

429
00:20:30,375 --> 00:20:33,542
That he was a tough,
tough player.

430
00:20:33,542 --> 00:20:37,375
And he wouldn't take
anything from anybody.

431
00:20:37,375 --> 00:20:39,542
I gotta attribute that
a lot to his father.

432
00:20:39,542 --> 00:20:42,041
I guess he said, "If I can
play against my father,

433
00:20:42,041 --> 00:20:44,208
I can play against anybody.

434
00:20:45,041 --> 00:20:47,834
I always found Ron
a hard kid

435
00:20:47,834 --> 00:20:50,208
and then a hard
guy not to like.

436
00:20:50,208 --> 00:20:53,083
There -- You know, despite
the rough exterior

437
00:20:53,083 --> 00:20:55,458
and the fact that he
looks like he's a --

438
00:20:55,458 --> 00:20:57,250
you know, like
a raging bull,

439
00:20:57,250 --> 00:20:58,917
there's actually, like
a soft spot

440
00:20:58,917 --> 00:21:00,083
and a sweetness to him.

441
00:21:00,083 --> 00:21:01,458
He worked hard that summer.

442
00:21:01,458 --> 00:21:03,709
You know, he was playing
AAU or Riverside

443
00:21:03,709 --> 00:21:06,875
and they had Elton Brand,
they had Lamar Odom.

444
00:21:07,875 --> 00:21:09,709
I knew right away from
the first time I --

445
00:21:09,709 --> 00:21:11,250
I played against him
that he would be the

446
00:21:11,250 --> 00:21:14,250
toughest competition
the rest of my life.

447
00:21:15,959 --> 00:21:18,917
[Bill] That was one of the
greatest AAU teams of all time.

448
00:21:18,917 --> 00:21:21,083
Ronnie and Elton Brand...

449
00:21:21,083 --> 00:21:24,208
You know, that was a
hell of a front line alone.

450
00:21:24,208 --> 00:21:25,375
Lamar Odom...

451
00:21:25,375 --> 00:21:27,625
You're not -- You're not
gonna beat that team.

452
00:21:27,625 --> 00:21:29,250
[laughs]

453
00:21:29,250 --> 00:21:32,125
[Mark] I think that for those
kids they formed a kind of

454
00:21:32,125 --> 00:21:34,125
aristocracy of -- of talent.

455
00:21:34,125 --> 00:21:35,959
What that team symbolizes

456
00:21:35,959 --> 00:21:37,834
was that there was
no going back.

457
00:21:37,834 --> 00:21:39,667
The shift was now final.

458
00:21:39,667 --> 00:21:43,125
The -- The path of the
game was inexorable.

459
00:21:43,125 --> 00:21:45,792
The real team,
the money team,

460
00:21:45,792 --> 00:21:47,750
was going to be the AAU squads,

461
00:21:47,750 --> 00:21:49,125
not your high school team.

462
00:21:50,208 --> 00:21:51,333
[crowd cheering]

463
00:21:51,333 --> 00:21:54,125
[Elton] Lamar Odom had a
six-inch growth spurt.

464
00:21:54,125 --> 00:21:56,500
You know, he went
from 6'1" to 6'7"

465
00:21:56,500 --> 00:21:58,959
from, like, ninth
to tenth grade.

466
00:21:58,959 --> 00:22:01,875
Silky-smooth point guard.

467
00:22:01,875 --> 00:22:03,834
It was almost not fair,
'cause I'm, like,

468
00:22:03,834 --> 00:22:06,333
a 6'4" center
[laughs]

469
00:22:06,333 --> 00:22:08,542
and they're telling me I got
talent. I'm watching him

470
00:22:08,542 --> 00:22:11,834
and just move and pass the
ball, unselfish,

471
00:22:11,834 --> 00:22:12,959
just amazing player.

472
00:22:12,959 --> 00:22:14,542
And Ron Artest
was the enforcer.

473
00:22:14,542 --> 00:22:16,041
You know, that's --
that's who he is,

474
00:22:16,041 --> 00:22:17,834
that's who he was.

475
00:22:17,834 --> 00:22:19,667
Defensive stopper.

476
00:22:20,500 --> 00:22:23,500
That's where we learned
how to play unselfishly.

477
00:22:23,500 --> 00:22:26,834
We always knew Lamar
was the most skilled,

478
00:22:26,834 --> 00:22:28,959
Elton was the best,

479
00:22:28,959 --> 00:22:30,667
I was pretty damn good.

480
00:22:30,667 --> 00:22:34,667
[Mark] Ron always made the
right basketball play.

481
00:22:34,667 --> 00:22:37,000
It's like he learned the game
at a Jewish summer camp.

482
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:38,917
All that being said,

483
00:22:38,917 --> 00:22:41,333
there was something
scary about the guy.

484
00:22:41,333 --> 00:22:43,041
There was a look
in his eyes,

485
00:22:43,041 --> 00:22:45,000
you didn't want to
mess with him,

486
00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:46,959
because he could
go off on you.

487
00:22:46,959 --> 00:22:48,208
[woman] Oh, no, he
didn't!

488
00:22:48,208 --> 00:22:49,917
No, he didn't!

489
00:22:49,917 --> 00:22:52,500
We were playing a
tournament in St. Louis,

490
00:22:52,500 --> 00:22:54,667
and this is their home
tournament and

491
00:22:54,667 --> 00:22:57,583
the guy was scoring a little
too much for Ron's liking

492
00:22:57,583 --> 00:23:00,667
and he ended up, you know,
punching him in the face,

493
00:23:00,667 --> 00:23:02,166
coming off the pick.

494
00:23:02,166 --> 00:23:06,250
There was a -- a jaw
that was, uh, displaced.

495
00:23:06,250 --> 00:23:08,458
But that's who
Ron was, he's --

496
00:23:08,458 --> 00:23:11,291
He had pride
in his defense.

497
00:23:11,291 --> 00:23:12,375
I remember --
[sighs]

498
00:23:12,375 --> 00:23:14,333
We was watching a
high school game

499
00:23:14,333 --> 00:23:15,917
and there was a game
before us and this guy

500
00:23:15,917 --> 00:23:17,375
got on my nerves

501
00:23:17,375 --> 00:23:19,041
and I threw him
down, like,

502
00:23:19,041 --> 00:23:20,667
20 sets of bleachers

503
00:23:20,667 --> 00:23:22,375
from really high up.

504
00:23:23,083 --> 00:23:24,208
Um...

505
00:23:24,208 --> 00:23:25,208
It was pretty bad.

506
00:23:25,208 --> 00:23:27,375
Ron just picked him up...

507
00:23:27,375 --> 00:23:28,375
over his head and, like,

508
00:23:28,375 --> 00:23:31,083
just threw him down
the fucking stairs.

509
00:23:31,083 --> 00:23:32,917
That shit, that was crazy.

510
00:23:32,917 --> 00:23:35,542
Ron, when he goes there,
ain't no stopping him.

511
00:23:37,208 --> 00:23:38,333
[Ron] I didn't really care.

512
00:23:38,333 --> 00:23:39,792
You know, when I was
younger, I didn't really

513
00:23:39,792 --> 00:23:43,542
care about anybody,
what they thought.

514
00:23:43,542 --> 00:23:45,250
You know, all I know is

515
00:23:45,250 --> 00:23:46,875
I'm here to play basketball.

516
00:23:46,875 --> 00:23:47,959
Get the hell out of
Queensbridge

517
00:23:47,959 --> 00:23:49,583
for a little bit.

518
00:23:50,458 --> 00:23:52,041
[indistinct shouting]

519
00:23:53,750 --> 00:23:56,041
[Bill] When Shammgod left,
he became the focal point

520
00:23:56,041 --> 00:23:58,000
for the next two years.

521
00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:01,083
And we had very, very
successful years with him.

522
00:24:01,083 --> 00:24:03,417
The final year, we played
Christ the King,

523
00:24:03,417 --> 00:24:06,083
who was loaded, uh,
in the semi-finals

524
00:24:06,083 --> 00:24:07,750
of the city championship.

525
00:24:07,750 --> 00:24:10,750
And, uh, we were
down at half.

526
00:24:11,417 --> 00:24:13,750
I remember yelling at the
kids, saying, you know,

527
00:24:13,750 --> 00:24:15,875
"We rode this guy's
back the whole year.

528
00:24:15,875 --> 00:24:18,583
Let's continue the --
the ride."

529
00:24:18,583 --> 00:24:21,875
And he went crazy
the second half.

530
00:24:21,875 --> 00:24:23,959
I remember he started
off the third quarter

531
00:24:23,959 --> 00:24:26,250
with a monstrous dunk.

532
00:24:26,250 --> 00:24:28,125
And, of course, we ended up
winning.

533
00:24:29,792 --> 00:24:32,250
We were the last team
since 1970

534
00:24:32,250 --> 00:24:35,166
to win the city championship
undefeated.

535
00:24:35,166 --> 00:24:38,750
It was him that, quote unquote
"willed us" into that --

536
00:24:38,750 --> 00:24:40,333
that record.

537
00:24:40,333 --> 00:24:41,500
When I took
him out of the game,

538
00:24:41,500 --> 00:24:43,667
when the game was
basically over,

539
00:24:43,667 --> 00:24:47,291
he had so many kids and
people from Queensbridge

540
00:24:47,291 --> 00:24:49,041
that was there,
it was incredible.

541
00:24:49,041 --> 00:24:50,792
And he actually went
up in the stands

542
00:24:50,792 --> 00:24:52,709
and they hugged him.

543
00:24:52,709 --> 00:24:54,458
It was very emotional.

544
00:24:57,625 --> 00:25:01,083
[Ron] At that age, at -- What
was I? 17 years old?

545
00:25:01,083 --> 00:25:03,500
There was a bunch of things
going on at that time.

546
00:25:03,500 --> 00:25:05,166
My little sister passed away.

547
00:25:05,166 --> 00:25:06,542
She was two-and-a-half months.

548
00:25:06,542 --> 00:25:08,333
She passed away
in the bed.

549
00:25:08,333 --> 00:25:10,000
Sudden infant death syndrome.

550
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:11,959
Dedicated every game to her.

551
00:25:11,959 --> 00:25:15,333
I remember, it was just hell.

552
00:25:15,333 --> 00:25:18,375
And I also had a baby
come at that time also.

553
00:25:18,375 --> 00:25:22,125
I was trying to
become a parent...

554
00:25:22,125 --> 00:25:25,166
...and a family man
at 17 years old.

555
00:25:25,166 --> 00:25:26,709
My brother, he did ten years.

556
00:25:26,709 --> 00:25:29,083
He got snitched on when
he was drug trafficking

557
00:25:29,083 --> 00:25:30,542
and he didn't tell.

558
00:25:30,542 --> 00:25:32,250
I remember,
I remember the day.

559
00:25:32,250 --> 00:25:36,125
I was right at the same spot
that Capone shot a cop

560
00:25:36,125 --> 00:25:38,417
maybe, like, three
years earlier.

561
00:25:38,417 --> 00:25:40,333
And that kind of hurt
me because

562
00:25:40,333 --> 00:25:41,834
I had no guidance.

563
00:25:41,834 --> 00:25:44,166
And I look back at that and
I'm like, "Wow, you know?

564
00:25:44,166 --> 00:25:46,875
Um, how did you do that?"

565
00:25:49,250 --> 00:25:50,041
You ready?

566
00:25:50,041 --> 00:25:51,542
Yeah, I'm ready.

567
00:25:53,041 --> 00:25:56,166
I just feel like a big
storm is coming

568
00:25:56,166 --> 00:25:58,709
I--I don't know. I
don't know, man.

569
00:25:58,709 --> 00:25:59,875
I don't know.

570
00:25:59,875 --> 00:26:01,625
[applause]

571
00:26:01,625 --> 00:26:04,208
I picked St. John's
because New York --

572
00:26:04,208 --> 00:26:05,709
New York fans and

573
00:26:05,709 --> 00:26:08,083
there's no better basketball
other than New York.

574
00:26:08,083 --> 00:26:09,542
[Jarvis] If I knew how it was
gonna've gone,

575
00:26:09,542 --> 00:26:12,125
I might not have taken the
job, to be honest with you.

576
00:26:12,125 --> 00:26:15,709
Ron -- R-- We had a lot
of fights. [laughs]

577
00:26:15,709 --> 00:26:19,208
It was -- It was, at times,
you'd think it was --

578
00:26:19,208 --> 00:26:20,208
you were watching
the circus.

579
00:26:20,208 --> 00:26:22,542
Every time I'd meet somebody

580
00:26:22,542 --> 00:26:24,583
that I played with back
in the days, they like,

581
00:26:24,583 --> 00:26:26,667
"You remember this story?"
I'm like, "No.

582
00:26:26,667 --> 00:26:28,959
I don't remember
the -- [laughs]

583
00:26:28,959 --> 00:26:31,583
the -- my 100th
fight." [laughs]

584
00:26:33,250 --> 00:26:34,583
[Jarvis] He was the first.

585
00:26:34,583 --> 00:26:37,500
He was also the last
player I ever had that

586
00:26:37,500 --> 00:26:39,750
had those kinds of
mood swings.

587
00:26:39,750 --> 00:26:43,917
I knew there was something
that was off.

588
00:26:43,917 --> 00:26:47,083
Something wasn't
quite right.

589
00:26:47,083 --> 00:26:48,709
Well, he was bipolar.

590
00:26:48,709 --> 00:26:54,375
He had a -- I guess it was
a chemical, uh, imbalance.

591
00:26:54,375 --> 00:26:56,083
You know, people would
say, "Ah, he's crazy."

592
00:26:56,083 --> 00:26:57,375
He wasn't crazy.

593
00:26:57,375 --> 00:26:59,458
I mean, first of all, he's too
smart anyhow, you know.

594
00:26:59,458 --> 00:27:01,792
But second of all, um,

595
00:27:01,792 --> 00:27:04,166
he had a -- he --
he had a...

596
00:27:04,166 --> 00:27:06,583
He had a disease, he
couldn't handle it.

597
00:27:08,041 --> 00:27:10,792
We'd be having a practice,
things would be going great.

598
00:27:10,792 --> 00:27:12,458
And then all of a sudden,
something would happen

599
00:27:12,458 --> 00:27:14,709
and Ron would just go off.

600
00:27:14,709 --> 00:27:17,125
And I would blow the
whistle, call a timeout,

601
00:27:17,125 --> 00:27:18,625
and I would pray.

602
00:27:18,625 --> 00:27:20,959
99 percent of the time,
that worked.

603
00:27:20,959 --> 00:27:23,417
Ron would calm down,

604
00:27:23,417 --> 00:27:25,750
and then I'd say, "Okay,
get a drink of water,"

605
00:27:25,750 --> 00:27:28,417
and we'd go back to work.

606
00:27:28,417 --> 00:27:30,583
This particular
Sunday evening,

607
00:27:30,583 --> 00:27:35,250
about 20 minutes later,
I call my second timeout.

608
00:27:35,250 --> 00:27:39,250
And we pray again,
and we come back out.

609
00:27:39,250 --> 00:27:41,458
Maybe 20 minutes later,

610
00:27:41,458 --> 00:27:43,458
I gotta call a
third timeout.

611
00:27:44,875 --> 00:27:47,000
I said, "Ron...

612
00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:49,750
...I want you to
leave the gym."

613
00:27:49,750 --> 00:27:52,333
Well ---
[inhales]

614
00:27:52,333 --> 00:27:54,792
As -- On his way out,

615
00:27:54,792 --> 00:27:58,208
he picked up every ball
off the two-bar racks

616
00:27:58,208 --> 00:28:00,166
and threw it up into
the balcony in the --

617
00:28:00,166 --> 00:28:02,667
in the arena.

618
00:28:02,667 --> 00:28:06,417
Then, he took the ball
rack and threw that up.

619
00:28:06,417 --> 00:28:09,083
And then he slammed
his way out the gym.

620
00:28:09,083 --> 00:28:11,959
It was too much.
Too much, um...

621
00:28:11,959 --> 00:28:14,291
Way too much intensity.

622
00:28:14,291 --> 00:28:15,834
[chuckles]
Way too much.

623
00:28:16,959 --> 00:28:19,959
[Jarvis] I go up to my office,
I open the door.

624
00:28:19,959 --> 00:28:22,291
...the second secretary
used to have this

625
00:28:22,291 --> 00:28:24,083
old-fashioned
typewriter

626
00:28:24,083 --> 00:28:27,083
on her desk as you
enter the locker room.

627
00:28:27,083 --> 00:28:30,458
So the l-- The -- The
typewriter wasn't there.

628
00:28:30,458 --> 00:28:33,667
The typewriter was

629
00:28:33,667 --> 00:28:36,667
lodged into the wall.
[laughs]

630
00:28:36,667 --> 00:28:39,166
So I'm saying to myself,
"Damn, I didn't believe

631
00:28:39,166 --> 00:28:40,667
anybody could be
that strong."

632
00:28:40,667 --> 00:28:44,208
The typewriter's basically
part of the wall now.

633
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,959
The next morning, uh,
you know, I had called Ron.

634
00:28:47,959 --> 00:28:50,667
He came in and he
was remorseful.

635
00:28:50,667 --> 00:28:53,458
He was really, really,
really sad.

636
00:28:53,458 --> 00:28:56,041
I never had a player
or anybody like that

637
00:28:56,041 --> 00:28:57,583
in my life

638
00:28:57,583 --> 00:28:59,834
that could go from being,

639
00:28:59,834 --> 00:29:02,500
I mean, the kindest,

640
00:29:02,500 --> 00:29:06,500
most gentle,
soft-spoken,

641
00:29:06,500 --> 00:29:10,792
mannerly, sweet,
lovable person

642
00:29:10,792 --> 00:29:12,542
to being,

643
00:29:12,542 --> 00:29:15,291
like, totally the opposite.

644
00:29:15,291 --> 00:29:18,917
Never had anybody in
my life like that, ever.

645
00:29:18,917 --> 00:29:20,208
[commentator] This game
is sold-out.

646
00:29:20,208 --> 00:29:22,500
It's the first sell-out at
Madison Square Garden

647
00:29:22,500 --> 00:29:24,166
for St. John's in
three years.

648
00:29:24,166 --> 00:29:26,041
[man] For St. John's Ron
Artest led only the

649
00:29:26,041 --> 00:29:29,208
second triple double
in the school's history

650
00:29:29,208 --> 00:29:30,750
against Seton Hall
a few weeks ago.

651
00:29:30,750 --> 00:29:32,667
An outstanding
all-around player.

652
00:29:32,667 --> 00:29:35,250
The only reason I started
scoring is because

653
00:29:35,250 --> 00:29:39,625
media, NBA fans, they
wasn't recognizing defense

654
00:29:39,625 --> 00:29:42,417
or deflections, you know?

655
00:29:42,417 --> 00:29:43,917
Or being disruptive.

656
00:29:43,917 --> 00:29:45,500
And they didn't see that,
so I said, "Okay, I'm

657
00:29:45,500 --> 00:29:47,709
just gonna start
averaging 20, 20+."

658
00:29:47,709 --> 00:29:49,333
That's when I started
working on my game

659
00:29:49,333 --> 00:29:51,875
was because they
wasn't paying people

660
00:29:51,875 --> 00:29:54,917
who was having no points
and no rebounds.

661
00:29:56,208 --> 00:30:00,166
[commentator] Artest moves
closer...

662
00:30:00,166 --> 00:30:02,917
Good! With one
second left!

663
00:30:02,917 --> 00:30:05,291
[man] Artest, does he
come out big or not?

664
00:30:05,291 --> 00:30:07,792
[man] Some shot by Artest,
and he's done all of this

665
00:30:07,792 --> 00:30:10,083
with four fouls on him.

666
00:30:11,917 --> 00:30:15,333
And anybody that thought
that he couldn't play

667
00:30:15,333 --> 00:30:18,583
beyond the foul line,
this kid, with time,

668
00:30:18,583 --> 00:30:22,625
this could be a
really, really great

669
00:30:22,625 --> 00:30:24,792
offensive player as well.

670
00:30:24,792 --> 00:30:27,333
Everybody knew how
good his defense was.

671
00:30:27,333 --> 00:30:29,083
And I think for Ron,
it just gave him

672
00:30:29,083 --> 00:30:33,792
that confidence that a kid
from Queensbridge needs.

673
00:30:33,792 --> 00:30:35,959
When I watched him
play at St. John's,

674
00:30:35,959 --> 00:30:37,792
I just thought to myself,
"This guy's gonna give

675
00:30:37,792 --> 00:30:40,208
a heart attack to
guys in the NBA,

676
00:30:40,208 --> 00:30:41,834
because he's gonna
go after them.

677
00:30:41,834 --> 00:30:43,125
He's not gonna back off."

678
00:30:43,125 --> 00:30:46,166
And I'm talking about
the best guys in the league.

679
00:30:46,959 --> 00:30:49,709
[Ron] I was really focused
on the court.

680
00:30:49,709 --> 00:30:50,792
And, um, you know,

681
00:30:50,792 --> 00:30:53,250
and I wanted to
just go to the NBA.

682
00:30:53,250 --> 00:30:57,834
With the 16th pick in
the 1999 NBA draft,

683
00:30:57,834 --> 00:30:59,542
the Chicago Bulls

684
00:30:59,542 --> 00:31:03,667
select Ron Artest from
St. John's University.

685
00:31:03,667 --> 00:31:06,959
[cheers and applause]

686
00:31:11,500 --> 00:31:13,375
Nah. [laughs]

687
00:31:13,375 --> 00:31:15,625
Playin' with the
camera a little bit.

688
00:31:15,625 --> 00:31:17,041
[Bill] I think getting
out of New York,

689
00:31:17,041 --> 00:31:19,333
-going to Chicago...
-How you doin'?

690
00:31:19,333 --> 00:31:22,834
...Being away from
his following,

691
00:31:22,834 --> 00:31:25,917
I think that was
good for him.

692
00:31:25,917 --> 00:31:28,125
Hi, baby.
Congratulations...

693
00:31:28,125 --> 00:31:29,500
-I see y'all later.
-Okay, now.

694
00:31:29,500 --> 00:31:32,083
[Bill] And, of course, Elton
Brand was also drafted from,

695
00:31:32,083 --> 00:31:34,333
so it wasn't like he
was going to a team

696
00:31:34,333 --> 00:31:35,959
that he knew nobody.

697
00:31:35,959 --> 00:31:37,917
We did it, we did
it together.

698
00:31:37,917 --> 00:31:40,834
And Ron and I were the
"baby Bulls." [laughs]

699
00:31:40,834 --> 00:31:42,542
We were on the same
team, so it was just --

700
00:31:42,542 --> 00:31:44,375
It was just a whirlwind.

701
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:46,875
[Havoc] I seen Big Ron on
the block. He said,

702
00:31:46,875 --> 00:31:49,250
"Yo, your boy going to
the league and all that."

703
00:31:49,250 --> 00:31:50,834
You see him?
He's a monster."

704
00:31:50,834 --> 00:31:52,709
I was like, "That's
what you made!

705
00:31:52,709 --> 00:31:54,667
You know what I'm sayin'?
You made a monster!"

706
00:31:54,667 --> 00:31:55,709
And then that's what
he became:

707
00:31:55,709 --> 00:31:57,834
a monster in the league.

708
00:31:59,458 --> 00:32:01,875
♪tense piano

709
00:32:03,542 --> 00:32:05,959
[Ron] I was often fearful

710
00:32:05,959 --> 00:32:07,709
of going to the NBA
because I seen

711
00:32:07,709 --> 00:32:10,041
Antony Mason's arms.

712
00:32:10,041 --> 00:32:12,583
[chuckles] And then
you see Oakley. [laughs]

713
00:32:12,583 --> 00:32:14,750
And Malone.

714
00:32:14,750 --> 00:32:16,875
I always asked myself,
"Could I do this?"

715
00:32:16,875 --> 00:32:20,458
And then I said, "Yeah, I
just have to be mean."

716
00:32:20,458 --> 00:32:23,166
I really had to have
a lot of hate for people

717
00:32:23,166 --> 00:32:25,166
when I would play.

718
00:32:25,166 --> 00:32:26,667
You know, um...

719
00:32:26,667 --> 00:32:29,333
And I would think bad
things about people.

720
00:32:31,250 --> 00:32:34,333
I was very stressed
at that time.

721
00:32:34,333 --> 00:32:36,083
You know, I was very
stressed because..

722
00:32:36,083 --> 00:32:38,917
Really, I don't know why.
I had money. [laughs]

723
00:32:38,917 --> 00:32:41,750
But I was super hungry,
you know? Um, still.

724
00:32:41,750 --> 00:32:44,709
And when I made it,
I became more hungry,

725
00:32:44,709 --> 00:32:47,750
and more crazy, and more
everything, you know?

726
00:32:47,750 --> 00:32:50,458
Everything was magnified.

727
00:32:50,458 --> 00:32:53,208
Uh, so it was really
a lot of things

728
00:32:53,208 --> 00:32:54,333
going on in my head.

729
00:32:54,333 --> 00:32:55,875
I remember there were him

730
00:32:55,875 --> 00:32:57,166
wrestling with Glenn
Robinson,

731
00:32:57,166 --> 00:32:58,750
them falling out
of bounds.

732
00:32:58,750 --> 00:33:00,792
[man] Oh! And Artest is

733
00:33:00,792 --> 00:33:03,458
really upset with
Robinson!...

734
00:33:03,458 --> 00:33:06,792
I remember, uh, seeing
Ronnie play for the Bulls,

735
00:33:06,792 --> 00:33:08,709
and he was good
for the Bulls.

736
00:33:08,709 --> 00:33:11,041
But something happened
between them.

737
00:33:11,041 --> 00:33:12,542
Brad Miller did
something to Shaq,

738
00:33:12,542 --> 00:33:14,250
then Shaq went after him.

739
00:33:14,250 --> 00:33:16,041
And here comes Ronnie
and he jumps on

740
00:33:16,041 --> 00:33:18,375
Shaq's back. [laughing]
And I'm thinking,

741
00:33:18,375 --> 00:33:20,333
"Oh, you gotta be crazy."

742
00:33:20,333 --> 00:33:22,125
But that was him.
He --

743
00:33:22,125 --> 00:33:24,166
You know, he was all-out.

744
00:33:24,166 --> 00:33:26,583
I went to a lot of places
with Ron in his early years.

745
00:33:26,583 --> 00:33:29,083
His early years was like...

746
00:33:29,083 --> 00:33:30,917
I'm looking like,
"Is he -- Is he

747
00:33:30,917 --> 00:33:33,083
gonna make it a long
time in the league?"

748
00:33:33,083 --> 00:33:35,583
I wanted to be the best
from -- from day one.

749
00:33:35,583 --> 00:33:36,875
But I wasn't doing things
to be the best.

750
00:33:36,875 --> 00:33:38,959
I wasn't taking care
of my body. I was out

751
00:33:38,959 --> 00:33:39,834
partying and stuff.

752
00:33:39,834 --> 00:33:41,750
He was a first-round
draft pick,

753
00:33:41,750 --> 00:33:43,917
and he ends up,
during the summer,

754
00:33:43,917 --> 00:33:46,417
he had nothing to do,
so he went and got a job

755
00:33:46,417 --> 00:33:48,625
[laughs] in Chicago
in Circuit City

756
00:33:48,625 --> 00:33:49,959
and I'm thinking,

757
00:33:49,959 --> 00:33:52,917
"Now, that's really
different." You know?

758
00:33:52,917 --> 00:33:54,458
He's in the NBA and he
had a part-time job

759
00:33:54,458 --> 00:33:55,583
at Circuit City.

760
00:33:55,583 --> 00:33:57,208
I used to drop
him off at work,

761
00:33:57,208 --> 00:33:59,166
picking him up sometimes,

762
00:33:59,166 --> 00:34:01,583
tried to get a discount
on some DVDs players

763
00:34:01,583 --> 00:34:02,667
and stuff like that.

764
00:34:02,667 --> 00:34:03,917
But he really worked
there in the back.

765
00:34:03,917 --> 00:34:05,959
Like, during the NBA.
And then, uh...

766
00:34:05,959 --> 00:34:08,959
[laughs] Jerry Krause found
out and made him quit.

767
00:34:16,875 --> 00:34:20,208
Well, I had counseling
in Chicago.

768
00:34:20,208 --> 00:34:22,583
I first got diagnosed
in the NBA in Chicago,

769
00:34:22,583 --> 00:34:23,709
most of my other family
members were all

770
00:34:23,709 --> 00:34:25,750
on medicine.

771
00:34:25,750 --> 00:34:27,917
So they thought I was
gonna be on the same

772
00:34:27,917 --> 00:34:29,250
medication as
my dad was.

773
00:34:29,250 --> 00:34:31,458
They just said, "Well,
whatever your dad is on,"

774
00:34:31,458 --> 00:34:32,834
the doctor,

775
00:34:32,834 --> 00:34:34,709
"we're gonna give you
half that." [laughs]

776
00:34:34,709 --> 00:34:36,583
So I said, "A'ight, cool."

777
00:34:36,583 --> 00:34:38,291
You know, 'cause I wanted
to play basketball

778
00:34:38,291 --> 00:34:40,000
and stop being so mad.

779
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:41,625
But that lasted for, like,
a day. I couldn't --

780
00:34:41,625 --> 00:34:44,083
That -- The medicine,
I didn't like it.

781
00:34:44,083 --> 00:34:45,041
I mean, we all --

782
00:34:45,041 --> 00:34:46,792
I think everybody
who -- who ever walked

783
00:34:46,792 --> 00:34:49,834
the planet Earth has dealt
with mental illness

784
00:34:49,834 --> 00:34:53,834
or anxiety at some
scale or level,

785
00:34:53,834 --> 00:34:55,834
so nothing really
out-of-the-ordinary.

786
00:34:55,834 --> 00:34:58,125
Some people just have it more.

787
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:02,000
I remember Bill Cartwright
saying, "Listen,

788
00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:04,959
If you keep acting like this,
they're gonna move you.

789
00:35:04,959 --> 00:35:08,959
I don't wanna move you. I want
you here."

790
00:35:08,959 --> 00:35:13,500
I said, "Okay, I'm not gonna
mess up again." [laughs]

791
00:35:13,500 --> 00:35:17,000
And then I did something else
stupid. They traded me.

792
00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:21,250
[Donnie] I -- I thought it
would be a good trade.

793
00:35:21,250 --> 00:35:24,417
I got Brad Miller,
him, and Ron Mercer.

794
00:35:24,417 --> 00:35:27,417
And the more I watched him
play, the more I thought,

795
00:35:27,417 --> 00:35:29,625
"Boy, this guy is effective."
'Cause he was, like,

796
00:35:29,625 --> 00:35:32,500
about 6'6", 6'7".

797
00:35:32,500 --> 00:35:34,625
But his shoulders were like
that.

798
00:35:34,625 --> 00:35:36,625
[Jermaine] I remember getting
into our first practice,

799
00:35:36,625 --> 00:35:38,500
and he just -- he chased
down everything.

800
00:35:38,500 --> 00:35:41,417
Wanted to impose his physical
nature onto

801
00:35:41,417 --> 00:35:42,875
the person that he was playing
against.

802
00:35:42,875 --> 00:35:45,208
And I knew, with my mentality

803
00:35:45,208 --> 00:35:46,709
and some of the people that we
already had,

804
00:35:46,709 --> 00:35:48,709
that would be a great mix.

805
00:35:48,709 --> 00:35:50,041
[crowds cheering]

806
00:35:51,417 --> 00:35:53,417
[Donnie] And then Jermaine
O'Neal was a very good player.

807
00:35:53,417 --> 00:35:55,166
Reggie Miller was a very good
player.

808
00:35:55,166 --> 00:35:58,041
I knew we had the makings of a
good team and we did.

809
00:35:58,041 --> 00:36:00,875
But if you get somebody who's
out there just

810
00:36:00,875 --> 00:36:03,875
doing sporadic things that are
unusual,

811
00:36:03,875 --> 00:36:05,542
you know, the players are, like,

812
00:36:05,542 --> 00:36:07,083
ducking all the time.

813
00:36:07,083 --> 00:36:09,458
And so I didn't want to see
that happen.

814
00:36:09,917 --> 00:36:11,917
♪dramatic spacey
music♪

815
00:36:13,875 --> 00:36:16,875
I could see that he was
up and down

816
00:36:16,875 --> 00:36:21,333
and that he reacted to
whatever mood he was in.

817
00:36:21,333 --> 00:36:22,875
Like, you know, he'd come in
and some days,

818
00:36:22,875 --> 00:36:24,250
he'd say, "I'm
not gonna practice today."

819
00:36:24,250 --> 00:36:27,125
"Oh, you -- you're gonna
practice, you know. [laughs]

820
00:36:27,125 --> 00:36:28,583
You gotta practice."

821
00:36:28,583 --> 00:36:30,125
In many cases, I'd try to
reach out to him

822
00:36:30,125 --> 00:36:31,917
to try to better understand
him w--

823
00:36:31,917 --> 00:36:34,250
You know, and a lot
was off the court.

824
00:36:34,250 --> 00:36:35,917
And he was a little bit, you
know, kind of

825
00:36:35,917 --> 00:36:37,083
stand-offish when it
came to that,

826
00:36:37,083 --> 00:36:39,083
so I didn't necessarily un--
understand him.

827
00:36:39,083 --> 00:36:41,750
And the ability for him to do
that

828
00:36:41,750 --> 00:36:44,250
brought more tension between
me and him.

829
00:36:44,250 --> 00:36:46,917
I don't think any teammate,
um, the organization,

830
00:36:46,917 --> 00:36:49,250
anybody really understood Ron.

831
00:36:49,250 --> 00:36:51,125
And I'm not sure if he wanted
to be understood,

832
00:36:51,125 --> 00:36:52,792
you know, at the time. I think
everything he did

833
00:36:52,792 --> 00:36:54,625
was a reaction.

834
00:36:54,625 --> 00:36:56,375
[whistle]

835
00:36:56,375 --> 00:36:58,125
[Donnie] He'd get angry quick.

836
00:36:58,125 --> 00:37:00,667
And you'd think, "Oh, the --
Oh, the..."

837
00:37:00,667 --> 00:37:02,917
You're afraid he's gonna clear
the whole gym out.

838
00:37:02,917 --> 00:37:04,709
[Ron] I'm going to practice
and I hated everybody.

839
00:37:04,709 --> 00:37:05,959
You know?

840
00:37:05,959 --> 00:37:08,083
And then I would take that
hate back home and come

841
00:37:08,083 --> 00:37:10,709
back to practice the next
day with the same hate.

842
00:37:10,709 --> 00:37:11,959
And then when you get
into a game, I'm playing

843
00:37:11,959 --> 00:37:13,125
with people that I hate,
but I don't really hate them.

844
00:37:13,125 --> 00:37:15,375
I only hate them because
we just had a practice.

845
00:37:15,375 --> 00:37:16,542
You see what I'm sayin'?

846
00:37:16,542 --> 00:37:20,375
I was afraid that he'd do
something in a game,

847
00:37:20,375 --> 00:37:22,959
after a game, before a game,

848
00:37:22,959 --> 00:37:25,542
that the league would have to
get involved with.

849
00:37:29,083 --> 00:37:30,458
[crowd cheering]

850
00:37:30,458 --> 00:37:31,458
[crash]

851
00:37:32,959 --> 00:37:34,166
[commentator] Somebody just
threw something into the...

852
00:37:34,166 --> 00:37:36,834
Really, most of my problems
came when I lost.

853
00:37:36,834 --> 00:37:38,583
I was a sore loser.

854
00:37:39,834 --> 00:37:42,458
You know? Um, so...

855
00:37:43,333 --> 00:37:44,834
We'd lost a game and I
remember just wanting

856
00:37:44,834 --> 00:37:46,583
to get my hands on something.

857
00:37:46,583 --> 00:37:50,667
The camera cost $120,000.
[laughs]

858
00:37:50,667 --> 00:37:52,000
I had to pay for it.

859
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:53,166
[commentator] And Ron Artest,
losing his cool

860
00:37:53,166 --> 00:37:55,417
-after the game.
-He will receive a bill

861
00:37:55,417 --> 00:37:57,000
for throwing the
monitor right there.

862
00:37:57,000 --> 00:37:58,834
[commentator] That's just
immaturity.

863
00:37:58,834 --> 00:38:00,667
That's -- That's disgraceful.

864
00:38:00,667 --> 00:38:01,792
Sometimes he straddles the
line,

865
00:38:01,792 --> 00:38:03,500
sometimes he goes over it.

866
00:38:03,500 --> 00:38:06,333
[Donnie] That's the kind of
incidents I was worried about.

867
00:38:06,333 --> 00:38:08,542
You know, they're explosive
incidents that --

868
00:38:08,542 --> 00:38:10,750
there's no warning. It's like
that. [snaps fingers]

869
00:38:10,750 --> 00:38:13,750
If he perceived he got hit or
something

870
00:38:13,750 --> 00:38:15,375
in the wrong way,

871
00:38:15,375 --> 00:38:18,208
you know, he'd react to it
right away,

872
00:38:18,208 --> 00:38:20,041
and you were afraid, "Oh, this
guy's --

873
00:38:20,041 --> 00:38:22,917
You know, he's gonna start
beating people up out here."

874
00:38:22,917 --> 00:38:26,917
[commentator] And now, Bell
and Artest are nose-to-nose.

875
00:38:26,917 --> 00:38:28,291
And Artest has been thrown out.

876
00:38:28,291 --> 00:38:30,375
That's his second technical
tonight, so he's gone.

877
00:38:30,375 --> 00:38:31,875
[commentator] ...That started
before the game.

878
00:38:31,875 --> 00:38:33,041
You and I were watching it.

879
00:38:33,041 --> 00:38:36,208
-[buzzer]
-...fouled...

880
00:38:37,542 --> 00:38:39,917
Ron Artest, strong enough to
finish even with the foul,

881
00:38:39,917 --> 00:38:43,208
now having words with his
assistant coach Keith Askins.

882
00:38:44,291 --> 00:38:46,291
And Pat Riley is fired up.

883
00:38:46,291 --> 00:38:49,542
Artest's been hit with a
technical foul.

884
00:38:49,542 --> 00:38:52,291
Oh, it had nothing to with Pat
Reily. He was in the way.

885
00:38:52,291 --> 00:38:53,583
It had to do with the coach.

886
00:38:53,583 --> 00:38:55,500
He was being supportive of his
players,

887
00:38:55,500 --> 00:38:56,917
and I hated him and his
players.

888
00:38:56,917 --> 00:38:58,583
[laughs] It was real simple.

889
00:38:58,583 --> 00:39:03,583
Ronnie seemed to go from one
to 100 real quick.

890
00:39:03,583 --> 00:39:06,208
And...

891
00:39:06,208 --> 00:39:10,333
...at a point, I just questioned
whether he could control it.

892
00:39:10,333 --> 00:39:12,333
And so that's why we tried to
get him help,

893
00:39:12,333 --> 00:39:14,709
and we eventually did.

894
00:39:14,709 --> 00:39:15,959
[man] Artest has received
treatment

895
00:39:15,959 --> 00:39:17,542
for his anger problems.

896
00:39:17,542 --> 00:39:20,417
However, he's declined to take
medication despite the fact

897
00:39:20,417 --> 00:39:24,250
that some close to him think
it might be the best thing.

898
00:39:24,250 --> 00:39:27,375
♪soft emotional
music♪

899
00:39:34,417 --> 00:39:36,083
[Ron] Your records transfer from
team to team.

900
00:39:36,083 --> 00:39:38,500
Teams have to know
what they're getting.

901
00:39:38,500 --> 00:39:42,625
I had a long talk with Donnie,
and then we found, um,

902
00:39:42,625 --> 00:39:44,458
a psychologist in Indiana.

903
00:39:44,458 --> 00:39:47,166
I -- I could tell that he
didn't want to do it,

904
00:39:47,166 --> 00:39:48,500
but eventually,

905
00:39:48,500 --> 00:39:50,875
I remember him saying, "Yeah,
all right.

906
00:39:50,875 --> 00:39:52,125
I'll talk to him."

907
00:39:52,125 --> 00:39:54,750
[Ron] Well, I went a lot, after
every practice. [laughs]

908
00:39:54,750 --> 00:39:57,542
Um, after every practice.

909
00:39:57,542 --> 00:40:00,959
You know, because, uh, I was
always mad. [laughs]

910
00:40:00,959 --> 00:40:03,291
[man] ...you're doing?

911
00:40:03,291 --> 00:40:04,834
You're not gonna do anything.

912
00:40:04,834 --> 00:40:06,291
-Come on, my nigga!
-Get the fucking security!

913
00:40:06,291 --> 00:40:08,291
Get your motherfucking
security...

914
00:40:10,667 --> 00:40:12,166
That's not the kind of thing,
you know,

915
00:40:12,166 --> 00:40:13,792
you take a pill and
you're --

916
00:40:13,792 --> 00:40:15,291
you're okay.

917
00:40:15,291 --> 00:40:17,208
I knew that it was gonna take
time.

918
00:40:17,208 --> 00:40:18,500
I knew that Ronnie going
into it

919
00:40:18,500 --> 00:40:20,792
was kind of suspicious
of it.

920
00:40:20,792 --> 00:40:23,125
We did see his, uh,
psychiatrist.

921
00:40:23,125 --> 00:40:25,000
She did -- She travelled with
us quite a bit.

922
00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:28,125
Um... And so that part we
understood.

923
00:40:28,125 --> 00:40:30,500
The problem is that at the
time, we could never really

924
00:40:30,500 --> 00:40:33,667
get to understand, you know,
who Ron was

925
00:40:33,667 --> 00:40:35,542
because he wouldn't --
he wouldn't speak about it.

926
00:40:35,542 --> 00:40:37,917
I didn't have a good
relationship

927
00:40:37,917 --> 00:40:42,208
with those guys, 'cause I was
very -- I wasn't social.

928
00:40:42,208 --> 00:40:43,667
I -- I can't recall --

929
00:40:43,667 --> 00:40:45,834
I can't count on my hands how
many times I had lunch with

930
00:40:45,834 --> 00:40:47,959
one of my NBA teammates.

931
00:40:47,959 --> 00:40:49,667
You know, I think a lot of it
is just -- just lack of --

932
00:40:49,667 --> 00:40:51,166
lack of control at the time.

933
00:40:51,166 --> 00:40:52,667
You gotta understand what I'm
saying.

934
00:40:52,667 --> 00:40:54,333
It is two different parts.

935
00:40:54,333 --> 00:40:56,917
Ron was one of the most
unbelievable competitors

936
00:40:56,917 --> 00:40:59,125
that our league had seen at
the time.

937
00:41:01,208 --> 00:41:03,709
[whistle]
[crowds cheering]

938
00:41:05,583 --> 00:41:06,792
[commentator] Artest,
defensive player of the year,

939
00:41:06,792 --> 00:41:08,709
shows why with a steal
of Wade

940
00:41:08,709 --> 00:41:10,583
and a slam on the
other end.

941
00:41:10,583 --> 00:41:14,041
I just always remember being
the best defender,

942
00:41:14,041 --> 00:41:16,792
finish -- finishing number six
in MVP voting.

943
00:41:16,792 --> 00:41:19,166
[Kobe] Literally, if you put the
ball around this guy,

944
00:41:19,166 --> 00:41:22,333
if you show him the ball, he's
going to take it from you.

945
00:41:22,333 --> 00:41:24,542
Not some of the time, all of
the time.

946
00:41:24,542 --> 00:41:26,375
I -- I just never seen
anything like it.

947
00:41:26,375 --> 00:41:29,208
I mean, I used to say his left
hand was like a glue trap,

948
00:41:29,208 --> 00:41:31,333
because if he just got one
finger on that ball,

949
00:41:31,333 --> 00:41:33,375
he's popping that ball lose
and he's taking it from you.

950
00:41:33,375 --> 00:41:35,959
You're not gonna have any idea
how that happened.

951
00:41:38,375 --> 00:41:39,792
[commentator]: ...Now Artest
really leveling...

952
00:41:39,792 --> 00:41:41,166
[commentator]: ...at the other
end.

953
00:41:41,166 --> 00:41:43,417
I mean, he took it to him
offensively and sacked him

954
00:41:43,417 --> 00:41:46,750
down to the baseline,
and ate him up.

955
00:41:46,750 --> 00:41:50,083
Look at the hands of Artest.
He is a -- Oh...

956
00:41:50,083 --> 00:41:51,750
...pushes him down!

957
00:41:51,750 --> 00:41:54,250
[indistinct chatter]

958
00:41:54,250 --> 00:41:55,583
[Jermaine] He hated Paul.

959
00:41:55,583 --> 00:41:58,458
He felt like he was
just tougher than Paul.

960
00:41:58,458 --> 00:42:01,041
Like, we knew how great Paul
was as a player,

961
00:42:01,041 --> 00:42:03,583
but he felt like he was the
one player

962
00:42:03,583 --> 00:42:06,291
that can change everything
about Paul.

963
00:42:06,291 --> 00:42:09,250
[Ron] We had wars over the
years.

964
00:42:09,250 --> 00:42:10,750
He a Hall of Famer...

965
00:42:10,750 --> 00:42:14,583
...and I -- I feel like I had
something to do with that.

966
00:42:14,583 --> 00:42:16,166
Because I pushed him.

967
00:42:16,166 --> 00:42:19,750
We had wars. I'm proud -- I'm
proud that we had wars.

968
00:42:19,750 --> 00:42:20,917
Our time was now,

969
00:42:20,917 --> 00:42:22,875
and even our differences that
we had away from

970
00:42:22,875 --> 00:42:24,625
the actual games,

971
00:42:24,625 --> 00:42:26,834
um, we were able to put it
aside and just go compete.

972
00:42:26,834 --> 00:42:28,333
And that's why we ended up
having

973
00:42:28,333 --> 00:42:30,458
the best record of the
year.

974
00:42:32,083 --> 00:42:34,083
[whistle]
[cheering]

975
00:42:34,083 --> 00:42:36,125
[Ron] Back home, there
was no layups.

976
00:42:36,125 --> 00:42:38,667
It was that type of basketball
that made me who I was,

977
00:42:38,667 --> 00:42:40,291
so I brought that to the NBA.

978
00:42:40,291 --> 00:42:42,083
And some people called it
dirty,

979
00:42:42,083 --> 00:42:44,166
but I was just relentless.

980
00:42:44,834 --> 00:42:46,959
[Chauncy] We were about
the same team.

981
00:42:46,959 --> 00:42:51,041
Both teams just played with
the mentality of,

982
00:42:51,041 --> 00:42:54,250
you know, we -- we -- we gonna
win the game or the fight.

983
00:42:54,250 --> 00:42:57,000
He was always, um...

984
00:42:58,166 --> 00:43:00,250
On the edge of it, [laughs]
you know what I mean?

985
00:43:00,250 --> 00:43:02,917
And you never quite knew,

986
00:43:02,917 --> 00:43:05,417
you know, what was
bothering him.

987
00:43:05,417 --> 00:43:06,959
[Chauncy] It was maybe the
hardest series

988
00:43:06,959 --> 00:43:07,959
that I ever played in.

989
00:43:07,959 --> 00:43:09,792
Every single game was physical.

990
00:43:09,792 --> 00:43:13,125
I mean, the winner of that
series was gonna win it all.

991
00:43:13,125 --> 00:43:14,625
It was a battle of attrition.

992
00:43:14,625 --> 00:43:16,125
And obviously, the biggest
play of the series

993
00:43:16,125 --> 00:43:18,250
was Tayshaun's block.

994
00:43:18,875 --> 00:43:20,500
[commentator] ...Reggie Miller!

995
00:43:20,500 --> 00:43:22,125
And it's blocked again!

996
00:43:22,125 --> 00:43:24,000
How did ... get there?

997
00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:26,458
[commentator] I didn't think
it was any way possible

998
00:43:26,458 --> 00:43:28,125
for him to get this shot.

999
00:43:28,125 --> 00:43:30,500
That is one of the most
amazing blocks

1000
00:43:30,500 --> 00:43:31,792
that I have ever seen.

1001
00:43:31,792 --> 00:43:33,291
[Jermaine] After the game
that Tayshaun made

1002
00:43:33,291 --> 00:43:35,083
the incredible block, uh,

1003
00:43:35,083 --> 00:43:37,917
we didn't see Ron for
two days.

1004
00:43:37,917 --> 00:43:39,625
And that was one of the first
times

1005
00:43:39,625 --> 00:43:43,917
that I felt anger towards him
in a way that I

1006
00:43:43,917 --> 00:43:46,333
typically have never felt
anger towards, uh,

1007
00:43:46,333 --> 00:43:48,041
a teammate.

1008
00:43:48,041 --> 00:43:51,709
An older group of guys would
have settled that up quickly.

1009
00:43:51,709 --> 00:43:53,500
But they were a young group of
guys who were, like,

1010
00:43:53,500 --> 00:43:57,917
"Oh!" [laughs] You know...
Pointing fingers.

1011
00:44:00,667 --> 00:44:01,875
[Chauncy] I called a play
for Rip.

1012
00:44:01,875 --> 00:44:04,542
Rip was a irritant, you know?
Like, he's --

1013
00:44:04,542 --> 00:44:06,125
he's running all over the place,

1014
00:44:06,125 --> 00:44:07,667
he's fouling and scratching
people,

1015
00:44:07,667 --> 00:44:11,083
and talking stuff. And I
remember, um,

1016
00:44:11,083 --> 00:44:14,125
Rip kind of baiting Ron into
the foul.

1017
00:44:14,125 --> 00:44:15,333
[commentator] Pacers been led
by as many

1018
00:44:15,333 --> 00:44:17,417
as 14 in the first half.

1019
00:44:17,417 --> 00:44:19,000
[commentator] Oh, wow.

1020
00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:23,750
Artest just leveled Rip...

1021
00:44:23,750 --> 00:44:25,583
[Ron] He was smart.

1022
00:44:25,583 --> 00:44:26,917
It was tied up,

1023
00:44:26,917 --> 00:44:29,250
and he kind of threw his
butt back towards me.

1024
00:44:29,250 --> 00:44:31,166
It kind of felt like an
elbow.

1025
00:44:31,166 --> 00:44:34,375
It was an offensive foul, hit
me in the groin area.

1026
00:44:34,375 --> 00:44:36,542
And then I immediately forgot
that we were trying

1027
00:44:36,542 --> 00:44:39,875
to get to the finals, and
I elbow him in the face.

1028
00:44:39,875 --> 00:44:41,375
[Jermaine] That was a tough
pill to swallow.

1029
00:44:41,375 --> 00:44:43,875
You go through so much, you
know, to try to get to that --

1030
00:44:43,875 --> 00:44:47,208
that place where you can get
to the NBA finals, right?

1031
00:44:47,208 --> 00:44:48,750
You dream about that.

1032
00:44:48,750 --> 00:44:50,834
[Ron] He shoots two free
throws and they score.

1033
00:44:50,834 --> 00:44:53,041
they go up four.

1034
00:44:53,041 --> 00:44:54,709
And, um...

1035
00:44:55,750 --> 00:44:58,709
They won by four.
They go to the finals.

1036
00:44:58,709 --> 00:44:59,750
It is very stupid.

1037
00:44:59,750 --> 00:45:02,375
I don't care how unstable I
was mentally.

1038
00:45:02,375 --> 00:45:04,709
You know, it's stupid.

1039
00:45:04,709 --> 00:45:08,125
You know, there's no excuse --
[laughs] um, for that.

1040
00:45:08,125 --> 00:45:10,375
[commentator]: And for the
first time in 14 years,

1041
00:45:10,375 --> 00:45:12,917
the Pistons go to the
NBA finals!

1042
00:45:12,917 --> 00:45:16,792
They're the 2004 Eastern
Conference champions!

1043
00:45:17,583 --> 00:45:19,458
At the end of the season,
after we lost,

1044
00:45:19,458 --> 00:45:22,375
I met with the management
and I felt like that

1045
00:45:22,375 --> 00:45:24,917
the time was up and we
needed to make a change,

1046
00:45:24,917 --> 00:45:27,834
because I didn't believe that
we were gonna be able to

1047
00:45:27,834 --> 00:45:31,125
ultimately reach our -- our
full potential as a team.

1048
00:45:31,125 --> 00:45:35,083
Am I aware that, uh, Jermaine
was upset with Ron?

1049
00:45:35,083 --> 00:45:36,959
Probably, yeah.

1050
00:45:36,959 --> 00:45:40,750
But, you know, there are guys
upset with guys every year.

1051
00:45:40,750 --> 00:45:42,583
[Jermaine] I just didn't think
that it was gonna change.

1052
00:45:42,583 --> 00:45:45,583
We had a lot of aggression on
that team,

1053
00:45:45,583 --> 00:45:47,583
but then what people don't
understand,

1054
00:45:47,583 --> 00:45:50,083
that aggression becomes
hate.

1055
00:45:50,083 --> 00:45:51,750
You know, or dislike.

1056
00:45:51,750 --> 00:45:54,709
And you have no shot in --
in sports and really in life

1057
00:45:54,709 --> 00:45:56,542
if you are on a team with
some people that you

1058
00:45:56,542 --> 00:45:57,959
hate or dislike.

1059
00:45:57,959 --> 00:45:59,625
Well, I wasn't gonna listen to
anybody telling me to trade

1060
00:45:59,625 --> 00:46:02,291
anybody, if -- if you really
want to know that.

1061
00:46:02,291 --> 00:46:04,458
I didn't care who it was.

1062
00:46:08,792 --> 00:46:10,792
I get a call from Larry Bird,
uh, saying,

1063
00:46:10,792 --> 00:46:12,333
"Stephen, welcome
to the Indiana Pacers."

1064
00:46:12,333 --> 00:46:14,792
I was excited because I knew I
was playing with guys that

1065
00:46:14,792 --> 00:46:17,041
I knew. Me and Jermaine
O'Neal, class of '96.

1066
00:46:17,041 --> 00:46:18,834
We would play the McDonald's
All-American game.

1067
00:46:18,834 --> 00:46:20,375
I was excited because I got a
chance

1068
00:46:20,375 --> 00:46:21,625
to play with Ron Artest.

1069
00:46:21,625 --> 00:46:23,625
Coming into that season, it
was my first year, you know.

1070
00:46:23,625 --> 00:46:26,291
And they just had played
against, uh, the Pi-- Pistons

1071
00:46:26,291 --> 00:46:27,542
in the -- in the Eastern
Conference finals.

1072
00:46:27,542 --> 00:46:29,083
They had a long season
together.

1073
00:46:29,083 --> 00:46:31,458
So when I got there, Jermaine
and Ron was

1074
00:46:31,458 --> 00:46:33,417
white and black, night and day.

1075
00:46:33,417 --> 00:46:35,667
They was nowhere -- They
wasn't close at all.

1076
00:46:35,667 --> 00:46:39,000
We didn't talk to Ron at any
point between the time we

1077
00:46:39,000 --> 00:46:42,375
lost against the Pistons until
we got to training camp.

1078
00:46:42,375 --> 00:46:43,667
Not one word.

1079
00:46:43,667 --> 00:46:45,542
The relationship was -- It was
broken.

1080
00:46:45,542 --> 00:46:47,667
It -- It was really broken.

1081
00:46:48,750 --> 00:46:51,333
When he told us that he
needed time off

1082
00:46:51,333 --> 00:46:53,750
and the season hadn't even
started yet,

1083
00:46:53,750 --> 00:46:55,208
I was like...

1084
00:46:55,208 --> 00:46:57,500
I was just like, " This
motherfucker crazy, man."

1085
00:46:57,500 --> 00:46:59,125
I was just like, "Oh, I can't
believe it.

1086
00:46:59,125 --> 00:47:00,333
I can't believe
it."

1087
00:47:00,333 --> 00:47:03,959
Jermaine is looking at me
like, "Are you kidding me?"

1088
00:47:03,959 --> 00:47:05,834
[Jermaine] Leaving the team to
go down to the Source Awards

1089
00:47:05,834 --> 00:47:07,583
when we thought he was going
home

1090
00:47:07,583 --> 00:47:08,834
to take care of family issues.

1091
00:47:08,834 --> 00:47:11,834
He apologized but, you know,
when things continuously

1092
00:47:11,834 --> 00:47:15,500
happen, you know, it's --
it comes upon deaf ears.

1093
00:47:15,500 --> 00:47:17,542
I don't want anything to break
this team apart,

1094
00:47:17,542 --> 00:47:18,834
to tear this team apart.

1095
00:47:18,834 --> 00:47:22,125
Ron understands the situation,
he understands...

1096
00:47:22,125 --> 00:47:23,750
that that's something that
can't come up.

1097
00:47:23,750 --> 00:47:25,875
That any other
distraction is -- is...

1098
00:47:25,875 --> 00:47:27,709
is something that we don't
need as a team.

1099
00:47:27,709 --> 00:47:30,208
Allure still coming out on
November 23rd

1100
00:47:30,208 --> 00:47:32,750
and, uh, I want all the ladies
to know go get the album,

1101
00:47:32,750 --> 00:47:34,875
the album's hot. You know what
I'm saying?

1102
00:47:34,875 --> 00:47:37,041
And, uh -- You know, we in the
house and I'm on the album,

1103
00:47:37,041 --> 00:47:39,375
rapping on the album. You know
what I'm saying?

1104
00:47:39,375 --> 00:47:40,875
So it's just go get the album.

1105
00:47:40,875 --> 00:47:43,041
[woman]: What kind of teammate
would you say you are?

1106
00:47:43,041 --> 00:47:44,750
Um...

1107
00:47:44,750 --> 00:47:47,041
Uh, at times, difficult.

1108
00:47:47,041 --> 00:47:49,500
Uh, you know. CEO, you know?
Like, well, like I said,

1109
00:47:49,500 --> 00:47:51,458
Allure coming out
November 23rd.

1110
00:47:51,458 --> 00:47:53,083
We six and two right now.

1111
00:47:53,083 --> 00:47:55,709
And Allure's album is coming
out on the 23rd.

1112
00:47:55,709 --> 00:47:57,417
I don't how many times I gotta
tell you.

1113
00:47:57,417 --> 00:47:58,792
Tru Warier Records.

1114
00:47:58,792 --> 00:48:00,500
All the ladies, go get the
album,

1115
00:48:00,500 --> 00:48:01,750
'cause the album's fire.

1116
00:48:01,750 --> 00:48:03,291
[woman]: Do you think he's
learned?

1117
00:48:03,291 --> 00:48:04,417
[Jermaine] Ask him.

1118
00:48:04,417 --> 00:48:06,125
He's the best defender in
he game right now,

1119
00:48:06,125 --> 00:48:08,792
so hopefully that doesn't come
up and, you know, we just

1120
00:48:08,792 --> 00:48:10,917
contin-- we just continue to
win games and --

1121
00:48:10,917 --> 00:48:12,792
and prepare for winning the
championship this year.

1122
00:48:12,792 --> 00:48:14,542
I knew his passion for music,

1123
00:48:14,542 --> 00:48:16,083
but I didn't think he would
put his music

1124
00:48:16,083 --> 00:48:17,583
before basketball.

1125
00:48:17,583 --> 00:48:19,208
And, once again, he wasn't
thinking,

1126
00:48:19,208 --> 00:48:21,750
but when things came back to
him, it clicked.

1127
00:48:21,750 --> 00:48:23,333
[Jermaine] He was coming off
defensive player of the year.

1128
00:48:23,333 --> 00:48:25,417
At the time, he was averaging,
like, maybe 22,

1129
00:48:25,417 --> 00:48:26,917
23 points a game.

1130
00:48:26,917 --> 00:48:29,375
[Ron] It was cool to be able
to say that.

1131
00:48:29,375 --> 00:48:31,583
I was one of the best at one
point in time, you know?

1132
00:48:31,583 --> 00:48:34,875
My average went up. I was
trying to get MVP.

1133
00:48:34,875 --> 00:48:37,709
You know? Um, and I felt like
I was on my way,

1134
00:48:37,709 --> 00:48:39,542
from a basketball standpoint.

1135
00:48:39,542 --> 00:48:41,709
I never questioned Ron's
ability.

1136
00:48:41,709 --> 00:48:42,792
Never.

1137
00:48:44,166 --> 00:48:45,792
Where he was mentally, every
single day, I questioned.

1138
00:48:45,792 --> 00:48:48,125
I was looking to see -- All
these guys are young and they

1139
00:48:48,125 --> 00:48:51,166
got these little petty things
going on among them.

1140
00:48:51,166 --> 00:48:52,583
Is it gonna get straightened
out

1141
00:48:52,583 --> 00:48:53,917
or I'm gonna have to trade
these guys.

1142
00:48:53,917 --> 00:48:56,917
Well, I was gonna wait and see
if we won with it.

1143
00:48:56,917 --> 00:49:00,250
And we were winning until we
got to the Detroit thing

1144
00:49:00,250 --> 00:49:02,333
and then it blew up.

1145
00:49:08,375 --> 00:49:10,000
It was a statement time. They
had just beat us in the

1146
00:49:10,000 --> 00:49:11,834
conference finals the year
before.

1147
00:49:11,834 --> 00:49:13,583
We knew it was a national
televised game.

1148
00:49:13,583 --> 00:49:16,625
Um, we were had -- had the
best record at the time.

1149
00:49:16,625 --> 00:49:18,000
We wanted to send a message.

1150
00:49:18,000 --> 00:49:20,208
We had made it clear publicly
that we felt like we were

1151
00:49:20,208 --> 00:49:21,333
the better team.

1152
00:49:21,333 --> 00:49:23,208
And I think that was kind of a
build-up

1153
00:49:23,208 --> 00:49:26,792
and, you know, obviously, as
defending champions, um,

1154
00:49:26,792 --> 00:49:28,625
they felt like they needed
more respect.

1155
00:49:28,625 --> 00:49:30,291
I mean, warm-ups in the game,
being in that arena,

1156
00:49:30,291 --> 00:49:31,792
you can feel it.

1157
00:49:31,792 --> 00:49:33,000
Nobody had to tell him. You
could feel it.

1158
00:49:33,000 --> 00:49:36,291
Fans was "You suck, you're
that."

1159
00:49:36,291 --> 00:49:37,834
It's coming from all over.

1160
00:49:37,834 --> 00:49:40,458
We were everything under the
sun.

1161
00:49:40,458 --> 00:49:42,458
Racial slurs, assholes,

1162
00:49:42,458 --> 00:49:44,250
talking about our families,
our girls.

1163
00:49:44,250 --> 00:49:45,417
It was all kind of stuff.

1164
00:49:45,417 --> 00:49:47,041
It was -- It was hostile and
every time I played in

1165
00:49:47,041 --> 00:49:48,166
Detroit, in was hostile.

1166
00:49:48,166 --> 00:49:49,625
I remember not being able to
deal with it.

1167
00:49:49,625 --> 00:49:51,959
I remember not wanting a fan

1168
00:49:51,959 --> 00:49:54,834
to scream at me. It was j-- I
just hated it.

1169
00:49:54,834 --> 00:49:57,792
So not to say that we didn't
care about the game,

1170
00:49:57,792 --> 00:49:59,792
but we didn't focus on the game.

1171
00:49:59,792 --> 00:50:03,375
It wasn't circled on our
schedule like it was them.

1172
00:50:03,375 --> 00:50:05,417
And they came in and they did
what they had to do.

1173
00:50:05,417 --> 00:50:08,333
And, uh, they -- they smacked
us. They really did.

1174
00:50:08,333 --> 00:50:12,667
I was killing them. I had 24.
[laughs]

1175
00:50:12,667 --> 00:50:14,667
And, um, they couldn't stop me.

1176
00:50:14,667 --> 00:50:16,166
[commentator]: Artest is
really playing

1177
00:50:16,166 --> 00:50:17,792
a disciplined game
tonight.

1178
00:50:17,792 --> 00:50:20,166
[commentator]: Oh, one of
first...for Ron Artest,

1179
00:50:20,166 --> 00:50:23,834
best known for his defense,
has half of the Pacer points.

1180
00:50:23,834 --> 00:50:26,542
[Bill] But this was not just
any game.

1181
00:50:26,542 --> 00:50:31,166
This was two fierce and bitter
rivals on a Friday night.

1182
00:50:31,166 --> 00:50:33,000
They're the champions and
you're in their building and

1183
00:50:33,000 --> 00:50:35,542
you're torching them and
you're the guy who's doing it.

1184
00:50:35,542 --> 00:50:37,667
And that doesn't just happen.

1185
00:50:37,667 --> 00:50:41,375
Towards the end of the game,
when the Pistons were getting

1186
00:50:41,375 --> 00:50:43,792
whooped pretty bad, I had
moved up a few rows and

1187
00:50:43,792 --> 00:50:46,375
let one of my workers come
down and see what it was like

1188
00:50:46,375 --> 00:50:48,875
sitting, you know,
court-side.

1189
00:50:48,875 --> 00:50:50,709
[Chauncy] Coach Brown, he was
taking all of us

1190
00:50:50,709 --> 00:50:52,291
out of the game. You know?

1191
00:50:52,291 --> 00:50:54,250
Um, all of us -- I had just
checked out.

1192
00:50:54,250 --> 00:50:56,041
The only reason Ben didn't
check out,

1193
00:50:56,041 --> 00:50:57,542
if I'm not mistaken, is
because he was on

1194
00:50:57,542 --> 00:50:58,709
the free throw line.

1195
00:50:58,709 --> 00:51:00,709
And then a little exchange at
the end,

1196
00:51:00,709 --> 00:51:03,500
uh, with Ron, um, Ben had kind
of warned him, like,

1197
00:51:03,500 --> 00:51:05,375
you know, "Just chill. Y'all
won.

1198
00:51:05,375 --> 00:51:06,709
Y'all got the came won. Just
chill.

1199
00:51:06,709 --> 00:51:09,250
Don't -- Don't hit me no more."

1200
00:51:09,250 --> 00:51:12,000
You know what I'm saying? "Or
elbow me, whatever."

1201
00:51:12,000 --> 00:51:13,583
And I guess, um,

1202
00:51:13,583 --> 00:51:16,417
Ron didn't really listen.

1203
00:51:16,417 --> 00:51:19,333
And at the end of the game,
I'm guarding Ben.

1204
00:51:19,333 --> 00:51:21,208
We're up 13, 14 points.

1205
00:51:21,208 --> 00:51:23,000
I'm letting Ben just go right
by me and score and we --

1206
00:51:23,000 --> 00:51:25,250
I'm trying to let the clock run
out so we can get out of here.

1207
00:51:25,250 --> 00:51:27,917
[commentator]: Oh! Ben Wallace
is fouled.

1208
00:51:27,917 --> 00:51:29,667
And Wallace st-- Oh!

1209
00:51:29,667 --> 00:51:31,083
Right at Artest!

1210
00:51:31,083 --> 00:51:34,750
This is potentially serious if
they don't get between...

1211
00:51:34,750 --> 00:51:36,750
I never knew why he fouled him
like that,

1212
00:51:36,750 --> 00:51:38,083
because the game was already
over.

1213
00:51:38,083 --> 00:51:40,834
You know, not even sure why
Ron was still in the game.

1214
00:51:40,834 --> 00:51:42,750
It was a bad foul by Ron.

1215
00:51:42,750 --> 00:51:44,542
The dumbest thing he could've
done, probably.

1216
00:51:44,542 --> 00:51:46,959
It was something about Ron on
Ben a foul.

1217
00:51:46,959 --> 00:51:48,750
[commentator]: Wallace upset.

1218
00:51:48,750 --> 00:51:50,291
Players trying to hold each
other off.

1219
00:51:50,291 --> 00:51:53,208
I remember Ben Wallace being
open for the layup

1220
00:51:53,208 --> 00:51:54,959
and not wanting to give up a
layup.

1221
00:51:54,959 --> 00:51:59,000
I didn't want to change my
mentality

1222
00:51:59,000 --> 00:52:01,542
because we were winning.

1223
00:52:01,542 --> 00:52:03,750
I always played to the last
second.

1224
00:52:03,750 --> 00:52:05,250
That's the only way I know.

1225
00:52:05,250 --> 00:52:08,959
I have to finish my -- finish
the game and finish it hard.

1226
00:52:08,959 --> 00:52:10,542
And he was open for a layup

1227
00:52:10,542 --> 00:52:12,250
and I did not want him to get
the layup.

1228
00:52:12,250 --> 00:52:15,083
Just took so damn long, man.
The --

1229
00:52:15,083 --> 00:52:16,959
From the push...

1230
00:52:18,500 --> 00:52:20,000
...to the confrontation

1231
00:52:20,000 --> 00:52:21,709
to Rasheed Wallace, Richard
Hamilton,

1232
00:52:21,709 --> 00:52:23,792
everybody's in the middle.

1233
00:52:23,792 --> 00:52:25,208
You know, it just took way too
long.

1234
00:52:25,208 --> 00:52:27,166
We were just kind of in shock.
We were like,

1235
00:52:27,166 --> 00:52:28,834
"Whoa, look at this." And then
they were going at it and

1236
00:52:28,834 --> 00:52:30,625
we were like, "Oh, here it goes.

1237
00:52:30,625 --> 00:52:31,792
They're gonna get at it."

1238
00:52:31,792 --> 00:52:33,583
Ben was mad. Now, he had a
right to be.

1239
00:52:33,583 --> 00:52:34,625
He had a right to be mad.

1240
00:52:35,792 --> 00:52:37,250
He kept throwing stuff at Ron
trying to antagonize Ron.

1241
00:52:37,250 --> 00:52:38,458
[Ron] He threw a towel.

1242
00:52:38,458 --> 00:52:40,208
Then he hit me with the
wristband.

1243
00:52:40,208 --> 00:52:43,709
I went to the ref. I said,
"What the hell is going on?

1244
00:52:43,709 --> 00:52:47,291
You know, I got -- I got the
foul. You called the foul.

1245
00:52:47,291 --> 00:52:48,750
I got pushed, no tech.

1246
00:52:48,750 --> 00:52:50,750
I got something thrown at me,
no tech, no ejection.

1247
00:52:50,750 --> 00:52:53,625
Like, what's going on here?
You know what I'm saying?"

1248
00:52:53,625 --> 00:52:54,834
So now, I'm at this point. I'm
like,

1249
00:52:54,834 --> 00:52:56,000
"I gotta protect myself
now."

1250
00:52:56,000 --> 00:52:58,542
Oh, he did what he was
supposed to do.

1251
00:52:58,542 --> 00:53:00,834
He was told, like, "If you
feel yourself getting

1252
00:53:00,834 --> 00:53:04,583
too agitated, then get
away from it

1253
00:53:04,583 --> 00:53:08,041
and sit down and just be by
yourself for a minute.

1254
00:53:08,041 --> 00:53:11,709
The foundation of my
psychology at that time,

1255
00:53:11,709 --> 00:53:16,208
we did talk about, uh,
often, um,

1256
00:53:16,208 --> 00:53:18,208
going to happy places. [laughs]

1257
00:53:18,208 --> 00:53:19,709
So that's why he went over and
laid down

1258
00:53:19,709 --> 00:53:21,458
on the scorers table.

1259
00:53:21,458 --> 00:53:22,750
[Ron] There was nowhere
else to go.

1260
00:53:22,750 --> 00:53:24,333
Scorers table was very
comfortable at that time,

1261
00:53:24,333 --> 00:53:25,667
quite honestly.

1262
00:53:25,667 --> 00:53:27,542
I could've went to the chair,
but it just didn't feel --

1263
00:53:27,542 --> 00:53:28,458
it felt awkward.

1264
00:53:29,834 --> 00:53:30,542
People have asked me why I
went to the scorers table.

1265
00:53:30,542 --> 00:53:31,875
Where else am I gonna go?

1266
00:53:31,875 --> 00:53:35,875
Into a -- the -- a cafe? Or am
I gonna go to...

1267
00:53:35,875 --> 00:53:37,125
...the locker room?

1268
00:53:37,125 --> 00:53:39,208
We have 20 seconds left.

1269
00:53:39,208 --> 00:53:42,000
The scorers table was right
there,

1270
00:53:42,000 --> 00:53:44,875
so I can sit, I can stand on
top of the scorers table,

1271
00:53:44,875 --> 00:53:48,709
I can lay, I can do pushups.
[laughs]

1272
00:53:48,709 --> 00:53:50,208
There's so many -- Wha--

1273
00:53:50,208 --> 00:53:51,542
I laid down.

1274
00:53:51,542 --> 00:53:52,542
Well, I'm just thinking,

1275
00:53:52,542 --> 00:53:54,291
"This is just Ron being Ron,
you know?

1276
00:53:54,291 --> 00:53:56,417
It's just Ron-Ron just doing
his thing.

1277
00:53:56,417 --> 00:53:57,875
Like, he's relaxed and he's
chilling.

1278
00:53:57,875 --> 00:53:59,291
Listen, they came here,
got the win.

1279
00:53:59,291 --> 00:54:01,375
He's just kind of showing out
a little bit.

1280
00:54:01,375 --> 00:54:04,875
But it's no big deal. This is
gonna be over soon," you know?

1281
00:54:04,875 --> 00:54:07,500
And -- And boy, I didn't --

1282
00:54:07,500 --> 00:54:09,041
I wasn't right about that.

1283
00:54:09,041 --> 00:54:11,750
You know, Ben wore a thousand
armbands and headbands,

1284
00:54:11,750 --> 00:54:14,166
so he was just -- I mean, he's
just steady throwing them.

1285
00:54:14,166 --> 00:54:15,875
Just throwing them. And so
people started

1286
00:54:15,875 --> 00:54:18,709
throwing stuff from
the stands.

1287
00:54:18,709 --> 00:54:20,083
So he was throwing them at
Ron,

1288
00:54:20,083 --> 00:54:21,667
and the next thing you
know, you see cups and all

1289
00:54:21,667 --> 00:54:22,917
this stuff fly in.

1290
00:54:22,917 --> 00:54:24,208
We were all kind of booing him
and telling him,

1291
00:54:24,208 --> 00:54:26,291
"Get off the scorers table."

1292
00:54:26,291 --> 00:54:28,500
And kids were kind of throwing
popcorn down at him.

1293
00:54:28,500 --> 00:54:32,083
I was sitting there talking
with my buddy and -- and, uh,

1294
00:54:32,083 --> 00:54:33,750
I said, you know, I was
drinking a Diet Coke

1295
00:54:33,750 --> 00:54:35,625
with ice in it and he said --

1296
00:54:35,625 --> 00:54:38,250
I said, "I bet I could hit him
from right here with that cup."

1297
00:54:38,250 --> 00:54:40,875
And, uh, and he goes, "No,
we're too far away."

1298
00:54:40,875 --> 00:54:44,875
And, uh... And I just launched
it in the air

1299
00:54:44,875 --> 00:54:46,458
underhand and it kind of went
up in the air

1300
00:54:46,458 --> 00:54:49,375
with a perfect arc and hit
him right in the chest.

1301
00:54:49,375 --> 00:54:51,625
[indistinct shouting]

1302
00:54:51,625 --> 00:54:54,375
A beer or any type of beverage
is thrown in someone's face,

1303
00:54:54,375 --> 00:54:55,959
that's assault.

1304
00:54:55,959 --> 00:54:58,083
In a lot of states, that's
assault.

1305
00:54:58,083 --> 00:54:59,917
I'm sitting there. I'm like,
"Holy cow," you know?

1306
00:54:59,917 --> 00:55:01,709
I -- I didn't really think
I was gonna hit him.

1307
00:55:01,709 --> 00:55:03,583
And then, uh,

1308
00:55:03,583 --> 00:55:05,458
Artest turned around and
looked up in the stands

1309
00:55:05,458 --> 00:55:07,792
and the kid sitting next to
me, he's yelling at Artest

1310
00:55:07,792 --> 00:55:09,291
going, "Yeah, you got it!"

1311
00:55:09,291 --> 00:55:11,792
[commentator]: Now Artest has
jumped over the scorers table

1312
00:55:11,792 --> 00:55:13,166
and is trying to get down to...

1313
00:55:13,166 --> 00:55:15,375
When I seen him raise his
hand, I'm like --

1314
00:55:15,375 --> 00:55:18,000
When I got hit, I'm like...

1315
00:55:18,000 --> 00:55:19,333
"That guy hit me.

1316
00:55:19,333 --> 00:55:22,083
There's nobody else that
could've possibly hit me."

1317
00:55:22,083 --> 00:55:25,125
[laughs] So I ran right in
that direction,

1318
00:55:25,125 --> 00:55:26,709
and my --

1319
00:55:26,709 --> 00:55:29,500
What I wanted to do was choke
him. [laughs]

1320
00:55:29,500 --> 00:55:31,959
Not to death, but...

1321
00:55:31,959 --> 00:55:33,291
[laughs] just to let him know,

1322
00:55:33,291 --> 00:55:36,458
"Don't you ever hit me with a
cup in your life."

1323
00:55:36,458 --> 00:55:38,333
I just started getting
adrenaline and my heart

1324
00:55:38,333 --> 00:55:40,792
started racing and seeing him
come, I started to get,

1325
00:55:40,792 --> 00:55:42,750
like, I was like, "Oh,
man. Here it goes."

1326
00:55:42,750 --> 00:55:44,875
[commentator]: Artest is in
the stands!

1327
00:55:44,875 --> 00:55:47,166
[crowd screaming]

1328
00:55:49,500 --> 00:55:51,333
I thought he was coming at me

1329
00:55:51,333 --> 00:55:53,500
and he passed me and went and
grabbed this kid.

1330
00:55:53,500 --> 00:55:55,125
I don't know if I blame him.

1331
00:55:55,125 --> 00:55:57,000
Um, but if you're gonna go
into the stands,

1332
00:55:57,000 --> 00:55:59,000
hit the right person.

1333
00:55:59,000 --> 00:56:01,041
Right? He hit the wrong person.

1334
00:56:01,041 --> 00:56:02,667
And Artest was looking at this
kid saying,

1335
00:56:02,667 --> 00:56:04,125
"Oh, you threw it."

1336
00:56:04,125 --> 00:56:07,125
So he take -- takes off in the
-- into the stands

1337
00:56:07,125 --> 00:56:08,917
and grabs this kid

1338
00:56:08,917 --> 00:56:12,583
and, uh, just starts, like,
bodyslamming this kid.

1339
00:56:12,583 --> 00:56:15,166
And then beer started flying
and...

1340
00:56:15,166 --> 00:56:18,208
I felt bad right away. I went
and grabbed Artest

1341
00:56:18,208 --> 00:56:19,875
around, you know, like a bear
hug

1342
00:56:19,875 --> 00:56:22,000
trying to pull him off this kid.

1343
00:56:22,000 --> 00:56:23,625
I have to be honest, I wasn't
necessarily

1344
00:56:23,625 --> 00:56:25,000
whispering in his ear saying,

1345
00:56:25,000 --> 00:56:27,875
"Hey, I'm the one that
threw the cup." [laughs]

1346
00:56:29,041 --> 00:56:31,625
I was very upset. All I wanted
to do was go up in the --

1347
00:56:31,625 --> 00:56:34,041
go in the stands and tell this
fan, "You asshole.

1348
00:56:34,041 --> 00:56:36,208
Don't ever throw a cup at me."

1349
00:56:36,208 --> 00:56:38,208
And I thought that was gonna
be it. [laughs]

1350
00:56:38,208 --> 00:56:39,709
I didn't know it was gonna be
more and more

1351
00:56:39,709 --> 00:56:41,375
and more and more.

1352
00:56:41,375 --> 00:56:43,542
Not a very proud moment, but
hey, it just --

1353
00:56:43,542 --> 00:56:46,709
it's one of those things, you
know? It was kind of a...

1354
00:56:46,709 --> 00:56:50,959
spontaneous, you know, instant
chaos that, you know,

1355
00:56:50,959 --> 00:56:53,583
got me engulfed and, uh, I
just reacted.

1356
00:56:53,583 --> 00:56:56,834
He had time to reflect and to
think and...

1357
00:56:56,834 --> 00:56:59,166
And then...

1358
00:57:00,166 --> 00:57:03,375
...And then he just lost his
mind.

1359
00:57:04,041 --> 00:57:07,792
And for a long time,

1360
00:57:07,792 --> 00:57:10,208
I kept asking myself the
ultimate question

1361
00:57:10,208 --> 00:57:12,709
for people who do lose
their mind.

1362
00:57:12,709 --> 00:57:14,709
And that is that

1363
00:57:14,709 --> 00:57:16,959
to lose something

1364
00:57:16,959 --> 00:57:20,375
at some point, you have to
have it in the first place.

1365
00:57:22,041 --> 00:57:25,875
And I questioned that
that night.

1366
00:57:25,875 --> 00:57:27,959
I wasn't afraid at one moment.

1367
00:57:27,959 --> 00:57:29,542
I wasn't worried at one moment.

1368
00:57:29,542 --> 00:57:31,542
You know, my whole mind was,

1369
00:57:31,542 --> 00:57:34,917
you know, protecting myself
and protecting my teammates

1370
00:57:34,917 --> 00:57:36,750
and, uh, we'll get out of here
together and deal with the

1371
00:57:36,750 --> 00:57:39,041
consequences later.

1372
00:57:39,667 --> 00:57:41,375
[indistinct shouting]

1373
00:57:41,375 --> 00:57:43,083
[commentator] And now another
fight's breaking out

1374
00:57:43,083 --> 00:57:45,917
in front of the Pistons bench.

1375
00:57:45,917 --> 00:57:48,917
It's a -- It's a fan on the
court.

1376
00:57:48,917 --> 00:57:51,583
This is very, very dangerous.

1377
00:57:51,583 --> 00:57:53,417
[Ron] But a guy comes at me.

1378
00:57:53,417 --> 00:57:54,959
At the time, I'm like, "This
guy is crazy."

1379
00:57:54,959 --> 00:57:56,875
You know, now, I'm like, you
know, I always wanted to know

1380
00:57:56,875 --> 00:57:59,083
what he was thinking,
but if he --

1381
00:57:59,083 --> 00:58:01,417
he's really lucky
there was beer on the floor,

1382
00:58:01,417 --> 00:58:03,625
because I slipped. I couldn't
quite get a grip,

1383
00:58:03,625 --> 00:58:06,291
'cause the punch would've
connected even more.

1384
00:58:06,291 --> 00:58:09,083
[indistinct shouting]

1385
00:58:11,917 --> 00:58:13,667
I think about the animosity
that we had

1386
00:58:13,667 --> 00:58:15,291
amongst each other
as teammates.

1387
00:58:15,291 --> 00:58:16,917
But that very moment, we came
together

1388
00:58:16,917 --> 00:58:18,250
to protect each other.

1389
00:58:18,250 --> 00:58:20,083
It was all put to the test
that night.

1390
00:58:20,083 --> 00:58:24,125
As the captain of the team,
um, you

1391
00:58:24,125 --> 00:58:26,000
are put in positions and have
to make

1392
00:58:26,000 --> 00:58:27,500
decisions for your team.

1393
00:58:27,500 --> 00:58:30,125
And, um, when you're making
decisions for your team,

1394
00:58:30,125 --> 00:58:30,959
you're standing with your
team.

1395
00:58:30,959 --> 00:58:33,125
I believed in what I did

1396
00:58:33,125 --> 00:58:36,458
and I would absolutely do it
again.

1397
00:58:36,458 --> 00:58:39,166
I would absolutely do it
again, because at that point,

1398
00:58:39,166 --> 00:58:41,750
people are trying to kill you.

1399
00:58:41,750 --> 00:58:44,125
Over a basketball game.

1400
00:58:44,125 --> 00:58:46,875
[commentator] Fans are
throwing cups

1401
00:58:46,875 --> 00:58:50,125
with liquid in them now
onto the court.

1402
00:58:50,125 --> 00:58:51,625
Ron Artest has a look in his
eye

1403
00:58:51,625 --> 00:58:54,125
that's very scary right now.

1404
00:58:54,125 --> 00:58:56,291
That incident magnified
everything.

1405
00:58:56,291 --> 00:58:58,917
It magnified where I was in my
life,

1406
00:58:58,917 --> 00:59:02,625
and it magnified how much of an
asshole these guys were.

1407
00:59:02,625 --> 00:59:03,458
[laughs]

1408
00:59:04,625 --> 00:59:06,667
There were security guards
coming, cops coming everywhere

1409
00:59:06,667 --> 00:59:08,709
and I was looking at my buddy,
I'm like, "Holy cow."

1410
00:59:08,709 --> 00:59:10,000
He goes, "Yeah, let's get out
of here,"

1411
00:59:10,000 --> 00:59:12,166
so we took off. [laughs]

1412
00:59:12,166 --> 00:59:14,375
And, uh, and then it started
--

1413
00:59:14,375 --> 00:59:16,291
We were heading out and we
saw it kind of escalating

1414
00:59:16,291 --> 00:59:18,542
down on the court.

1415
00:59:18,542 --> 00:59:19,750
[commentator] You wonder if
the official

1416
00:59:19,750 --> 00:59:21,166
is gonna let this game
continue.

1417
00:59:21,166 --> 00:59:23,834
Now they're throwing bottles
out onto the floor.

1418
00:59:23,834 --> 00:59:26,333
15 -- You know, 12 to 15 of you,

1419
00:59:26,333 --> 00:59:28,583
uh, as a team, um, and then

1420
00:59:28,583 --> 00:59:30,500
you look and all the exits are
blocked

1421
00:59:30,500 --> 00:59:32,625
because the people are running
on -- on the court.

1422
00:59:32,625 --> 00:59:34,166
[commentator]: They're trying
to get the Pacers to go back

1423
00:59:34,166 --> 00:59:36,500
to the locker room.

1424
00:59:36,500 --> 00:59:39,166
[laughs] It was crazy. It was
crazy, 'cause, like,

1425
00:59:39,166 --> 00:59:43,291
it literally was like a movie,
man. It was like a movie.

1426
00:59:43,291 --> 00:59:47,500
[commentator] You have these
ridiculous fans trying to...

1427
00:59:47,500 --> 00:59:50,542
I remember Chuck ... trying to
protect me, but m--

1428
00:59:50,542 --> 00:59:53,000
I -- I wanted to go back in
the stands again,

1429
00:59:53,000 --> 00:59:55,000
because more people was
throwing beer and popcorn.

1430
00:59:55,000 --> 00:59:56,041
I'm like -- I'm trying to figure
out --

1431
00:59:56,041 --> 00:59:58,709
I'm trying to find the faces

1432
00:59:58,709 --> 01:00:01,083
of the person who threw the
popcorn and who threw the --

1433
01:00:01,083 --> 01:00:02,333
more beer and more soda,

1434
01:00:02,333 --> 01:00:05,542
'cause I'm ready to take on
more people.

1435
01:00:05,542 --> 01:00:06,959
[commentator] Somebody could
really get hurt.

1436
01:00:06,959 --> 01:00:08,208
[Stephen] We were coming
off the courtand we had

1437
01:00:08,208 --> 01:00:09,709
just made it through
the tunnel.

1438
01:00:09,709 --> 01:00:11,709
You know, from getting hit
with soda, popcorn,

1439
01:00:11,709 --> 01:00:12,834
all kind of stuff.

1440
01:00:12,834 --> 01:00:16,709
our adrenaline's still pumping
and, uh...

1441
01:00:16,709 --> 01:00:18,542
Chuck Person's got Ron. He's
bringing Ron.

1442
01:00:18,542 --> 01:00:20,000
There's a number of cameras
right there.

1443
01:00:20,000 --> 01:00:20,875
[commentator] This is a bad
showing from the

1444
01:00:20,875 --> 01:00:23,208
Pistons fans here.

1445
01:00:25,834 --> 01:00:27,500
[indistinct shouting]

1446
01:00:27,500 --> 01:00:30,083
I'm the mode at that point
where, you know, I got --

1447
01:00:30,083 --> 01:00:33,000
I had my brother's back.
I'm proud of it.

1448
01:00:33,000 --> 01:00:35,583
So I'm looking at these people
run and throw chairs and you

1449
01:00:35,583 --> 01:00:37,583
got people rocking chairs and,
I mean, it just --

1450
01:00:37,583 --> 01:00:39,792
stuff coming and people got
these water bottles and

1451
01:00:39,792 --> 01:00:41,792
running up to us and just
lining us up.

1452
01:00:41,792 --> 01:00:44,417
Would you be the person that
go to my home

1453
01:00:44,417 --> 01:00:47,417
and tell my wife and my kids
that their dad

1454
01:00:47,417 --> 01:00:50,166
is dead from one of these
chairs that you see

1455
01:00:50,166 --> 01:00:51,417
on these camera angles?

1456
01:00:51,417 --> 01:00:53,667
When they -- we got whole iron
chairs flying

1457
01:00:53,667 --> 01:00:55,208
and people throwing them at us.

1458
01:00:55,208 --> 01:00:56,083
[commentator] This is one of
the worst scenes

1459
01:00:56,083 --> 01:00:57,208
I've ever seen.

1460
01:00:57,208 --> 01:01:01,291
This is a low moment in NBA
history.

1461
01:01:01,291 --> 01:01:03,166
When I knew it was really bad
was when

1462
01:01:03,166 --> 01:01:06,959
we got in the locker room
and Coach Brown...

1463
01:01:06,959 --> 01:01:09,333
You know, coaches always
address the team after,

1464
01:01:09,333 --> 01:01:12,291
and Larry was crying.

1465
01:01:12,291 --> 01:01:14,792
He was crying. I looked at
him, he was crying.

1466
01:01:14,792 --> 01:01:18,792
And when he finally calmed and
came to,

1467
01:01:18,792 --> 01:01:22,792
he said that we gave the game
a black eye,

1468
01:01:22,792 --> 01:01:26,542
um, tonight and we will always
be remembered for that.

1469
01:01:26,542 --> 01:01:27,875
I'm sitting there looking at
my socks.

1470
01:01:27,875 --> 01:01:30,625
Just blood everywhere, my
legs are all scratched up.

1471
01:01:30,625 --> 01:01:32,125
And he -- and he's leaning
back in the locker room

1472
01:01:32,125 --> 01:01:33,959
and he was like, "Jack...

1473
01:01:33,959 --> 01:01:35,875
[sighs]

1474
01:01:35,875 --> 01:01:37,208
You think we gonna get in
trouble?"

1475
01:01:37,208 --> 01:01:40,500
I asked Stephen that because I
just wanted to [laughs]

1476
01:01:40,500 --> 01:01:44,709
confirm that we are in some
... trouble.

1477
01:01:44,709 --> 01:01:47,125
In my mind, I had a lot going
on,

1478
01:01:47,125 --> 01:01:49,458
and I remember asking this
to room,

1479
01:01:49,458 --> 01:01:51,291
"Do you think we're gonna be
suspended?"

1480
01:01:51,291 --> 01:01:53,000
Because I already been
suspended so

1481
01:01:53,000 --> 01:01:54,834
many times already.

1482
01:01:54,834 --> 01:01:56,750
I say...

1483
01:01:57,542 --> 01:02:00,458
"Trouble? You lucky if we have
a job."

1484
01:02:00,458 --> 01:02:02,458
And Jamal ... and everybody
bust out laughing 'cause

1485
01:02:02,458 --> 01:02:05,667
they couldn't believe that he
would ask this question.

1486
01:02:05,667 --> 01:02:08,125
"Bro, we just beat up fans. We
just went in the stands.

1487
01:02:08,125 --> 01:02:09,709
This has never been done
before, okay?

1488
01:02:09,709 --> 01:02:11,375
We brought the hood to
Auburn Hills, okay?

1489
01:02:11,375 --> 01:02:12,917
This has never been done
before.

1490
01:02:12,917 --> 01:02:14,750
You might've played your last
basketball game, Ron.

1491
01:02:14,750 --> 01:02:16,458
Me -- [laughs] Me too.

1492
01:02:16,458 --> 01:02:18,000
We might be, uh, going
overseas together, brother,

1493
01:02:18,000 --> 01:02:18,959
okay?

1494
01:02:18,959 --> 01:02:20,542
Uh, just letting you know. I
--

1495
01:02:20,542 --> 01:02:21,917
Now you know I'm your
friend, okay?"

1496
01:02:21,917 --> 01:02:25,417
He definitely said, "We might
not have a job again."

1497
01:02:25,417 --> 01:02:26,917
He definitely said that.

1498
01:02:26,917 --> 01:02:28,542
No, that was the dumbest
question ever.

1499
01:02:28,542 --> 01:02:29,834
I don't know what he was
thinking asking

1500
01:02:29,834 --> 01:02:31,500
that question, but that lets
you know

1501
01:02:31,500 --> 01:02:33,208
he wasn't in his right mind at
the time.

1502
01:02:33,208 --> 01:02:35,792
And I just went directly to him.

1503
01:02:35,792 --> 01:02:37,333
You know, I tried to fight him.

1504
01:02:37,333 --> 01:02:39,041
They really didn't make it to
each other,

1505
01:02:39,041 --> 01:02:40,417
but he got up upset.

1506
01:02:40,417 --> 01:02:43,750
And it spiraled to J.O.

1507
01:02:43,750 --> 01:02:45,875
really did -- he was so mad at
Ron that

1508
01:02:45,875 --> 01:02:47,917
he turned to the coaches

1509
01:02:47,917 --> 01:02:51,583
and said, "When we're fighting
or get into a -- a argument

1510
01:02:51,583 --> 01:02:53,375
or a type of scuffle, do not
grab us."

1511
01:02:53,375 --> 01:02:54,875
He's talking to the coaches.

1512
01:02:54,875 --> 01:02:56,375
So at that time,

1513
01:02:56,375 --> 01:02:58,709
the players and coaches
charging each other.

1514
01:02:58,709 --> 01:03:00,333
And a c-- a couple of us jump
in.

1515
01:03:00,333 --> 01:03:01,834
We're like, "No! No! No,
no! We're here together!"

1516
01:03:01,834 --> 01:03:04,083
So it got bad. It got bad

1517
01:03:04,083 --> 01:03:06,458
and that comment sparked a lot
of stuff in the locker room.

1518
01:03:06,458 --> 01:03:08,709
It sparked a lot.

1519
01:03:08,709 --> 01:03:10,375
[commentator]: And another
incident for Ron Artest.

1520
01:03:10,375 --> 01:03:12,333
So unfortunate, and again,

1521
01:03:12,333 --> 01:03:16,208
the fan... Hopefully, security
is able to get the fan

1522
01:03:16,208 --> 01:03:18,583
and he'll receive proper
punishment.

1523
01:03:19,250 --> 01:03:22,000
I always liked Ron

1524
01:03:22,000 --> 01:03:27,583
because here was a guy who had
realized the ultimate dream,

1525
01:03:27,583 --> 01:03:31,667
to make something of his life
using basketball.

1526
01:03:31,667 --> 01:03:33,917
And then...

1527
01:03:34,291 --> 01:03:36,333
...He threw it all away.

1528
01:03:36,333 --> 01:03:38,458
And for what purpose?

1529
01:03:38,458 --> 01:03:41,417
For a quick moment before I
went to bed,

1530
01:03:41,417 --> 01:03:42,917
I had a moment. [laughs]

1531
01:03:42,917 --> 01:03:45,250
I was a little upset.

1532
01:03:45,250 --> 01:03:46,417
I might've cried a little bit.

1533
01:03:46,417 --> 01:03:47,667
But when I woke up, I'm like,
"Yo,

1534
01:03:47,667 --> 01:03:48,917
this is not my fault, man.

1535
01:03:48,917 --> 01:03:50,417
This guy was an asshole.

1536
01:03:50,417 --> 01:03:51,625
And what did you want me to do?"

1537
01:03:51,625 --> 01:03:54,917
The fan made a $50 bet

1538
01:03:54,917 --> 01:03:58,125
that he couldn't hit me.

1539
01:03:58,125 --> 01:04:01,792
So when John threw the cup,

1540
01:04:01,792 --> 01:04:05,208
um, he had to pay the fan that
raised his hand $50.

1541
01:04:05,208 --> 01:04:08,083
So everybody's feeling sorry
for this stupid-ass fan.

1542
01:04:08,083 --> 01:04:09,875
His ass made the $50 bet.

1543
01:04:09,875 --> 01:04:11,583
[John] That night, when I got
home,

1544
01:04:11,583 --> 01:04:14,041
I was with a few of my buddies,
and I could see my wife

1545
01:04:14,041 --> 01:04:16,250
sitting on the porch smoking a
cigarette.

1546
01:04:16,250 --> 01:04:18,250
And I'm like, "Oh, this is not
good,"

1547
01:04:18,250 --> 01:04:20,083
'cause she doesn't smoke.
[laughs]

1548
01:04:20,083 --> 01:04:22,083
And, uh, all she could say
was,

1549
01:04:22,083 --> 01:04:24,375
"Did you guys have fun
tonight?"

1550
01:04:24,375 --> 01:04:26,750
And, uh, I said, "Yeah, it was
a good time." She goes,

1551
01:04:26,750 --> 01:04:29,500
"You and you and you need to
get the ... out of here

1552
01:04:29,500 --> 01:04:30,959
and you need to come inside
and watch."

1553
01:04:30,959 --> 01:04:32,542
She goes, "They're looking
for you."

1554
01:04:32,542 --> 01:04:35,125
And sure enough, they're
showing my face

1555
01:04:35,125 --> 01:04:38,959
with a halo over it saying,
"We're looking for this guy."

1556
01:04:39,583 --> 01:04:42,709
[David] John Green will face two
counts of assault and battery.

1557
01:04:42,709 --> 01:04:44,959
One involving a cup that
struck Ron Artest

1558
01:04:44,959 --> 01:04:47,625
in the chest and face area.

1559
01:04:47,625 --> 01:04:50,125
The second is also an assault
on Ron Artest

1560
01:04:50,125 --> 01:04:51,500
from behind when he struck
him.

1561
01:04:51,500 --> 01:04:53,875
John Green, uh, we will depict

1562
01:04:53,875 --> 01:04:55,959
what, in my mind,
single-handedly

1563
01:04:55,959 --> 01:04:59,291
incited this whole interaction
between the fans and players,

1564
01:04:59,291 --> 01:05:01,125
and probably is the one
that's, um,

1565
01:05:01,125 --> 01:05:02,792
most culpable.

1566
01:05:02,792 --> 01:05:04,959
[John] I mean, I threw a cup
up in the air, you know?

1567
01:05:04,959 --> 01:05:06,125
I -- I...

1568
01:05:06,125 --> 01:05:08,291
They charged me with assault
from throwing a cup

1569
01:05:08,291 --> 01:05:10,250
up in the air, you know?

1570
01:05:10,250 --> 01:05:11,959
Then they charged me with
assault

1571
01:05:11,959 --> 01:05:13,625
for punching Ron Artest,

1572
01:05:13,625 --> 01:05:15,250
which I didn't even
understand, because he

1573
01:05:15,250 --> 01:05:17,000
came up into the stands and
grabbing some kid

1574
01:05:17,000 --> 01:05:20,834
and I'm trying to defend this
kid, so...

1575
01:05:20,834 --> 01:05:24,000
They -- They found me not
guilty for throwing the cup

1576
01:05:24,000 --> 01:05:28,083
and they found me guilty for
punching Ron Artest, so...

1577
01:05:28,083 --> 01:05:31,166
Then I was given, uh, 30 days
in work release.

1578
01:05:31,166 --> 01:05:33,083
Ron Artest will face one count

1579
01:05:33,083 --> 01:05:35,875
of assault for mistakenly
striking

1580
01:05:35,875 --> 01:05:40,417
and pushing and shoving the
fan by the name of Mike Ryan.

1581
01:05:40,417 --> 01:05:42,375
[Donnie] I felt when he went
into the stands,

1582
01:05:42,375 --> 01:05:43,667
that's automatic.

1583
01:05:43,667 --> 01:05:45,875
So I knew there was gonna be
suspensions.

1584
01:05:45,875 --> 01:05:49,917
Somebody hit him in the face
with a, uh, drink

1585
01:05:49,917 --> 01:05:53,834
and anywhere in the world,

1586
01:05:53,834 --> 01:05:56,166
you'd know, I throw a drink in
this guy's face,

1587
01:05:56,166 --> 01:05:57,709
he's coming after me.

1588
01:05:57,709 --> 01:05:58,709
And he went after him

1589
01:05:58,709 --> 01:06:00,625
and that's what happened. It --

1590
01:06:00,625 --> 01:06:02,500
You know, he violated one of
the biggest principles

1591
01:06:02,500 --> 01:06:05,208
of the game by going into
the stands.

1592
01:06:05,208 --> 01:06:06,542
[Ron] It's not about the
stands.

1593
01:06:06,542 --> 01:06:08,542
It was about somebody had a
issue.

1594
01:06:08,542 --> 01:06:10,083
Somebody ... hit you.

1595
01:06:10,083 --> 01:06:13,959
His -- Whether it was at
Starbucks [laughs]

1596
01:06:13,959 --> 01:06:19,792
or whether he was at, uh, IBM
in the office

1597
01:06:19,792 --> 01:06:22,208
and then [laughs]

1598
01:06:22,208 --> 01:06:24,542
the mailroom guy [laughs]

1599
01:06:24,542 --> 01:06:26,709
throws a water in your face,

1600
01:06:26,709 --> 01:06:28,959
the CEO of IBM's gonna kick
his ass.

1601
01:06:28,959 --> 01:06:32,500
[Mike] I'm always tempted to
compare him to Tyson.

1602
01:06:32,500 --> 01:06:36,709
For Ron, like Tyson, there's
always this

1603
01:06:36,709 --> 01:06:40,542
tacit expectation, "When's the
guy gonna blow?

1604
01:06:40,542 --> 01:06:42,792
When's he gonna come undone?

1605
01:06:42,792 --> 01:06:44,834
When's he gonna go nuts?"

1606
01:06:44,834 --> 01:06:46,625
And that night,

1607
01:06:46,625 --> 01:06:48,792
in Detroit, you saw it.

1608
01:06:48,792 --> 01:06:50,417
[Ron] That had nothing to do
with any

1609
01:06:50,417 --> 01:06:51,750
anger management issues.

1610
01:06:51,750 --> 01:06:53,291
In my neighborhood, you wasn't
--

1611
01:06:53,291 --> 01:06:54,792
you're not allowed to get
bullied. Or if you been

1612
01:06:54,792 --> 01:06:56,583
bullied, you're never gonna
let it happen again.

1613
01:06:56,583 --> 01:06:57,917
Your first reaction is, "See?

1614
01:06:57,917 --> 01:07:00,417
I knew that guy was gonna go
crazy."

1615
01:07:00,417 --> 01:07:02,750
And for years and years,

1616
01:07:02,750 --> 01:07:05,750
this is not just what the
league feared

1617
01:07:05,750 --> 01:07:09,125
or the sport feared or all
American sports feared.

1618
01:07:09,125 --> 01:07:11,583
This is what middle America
feared.

1619
01:07:11,583 --> 01:07:13,667
And, you know, the hammer had
to come down.

1620
01:07:13,667 --> 01:07:17,834
I announce the, uh, following
suspensions, uh, resulting

1621
01:07:17,834 --> 01:07:19,542
from the actions at the
Indiana Pacers

1622
01:07:19,542 --> 01:07:23,917
and the Detroit Pistons game
on November 19th.

1623
01:07:23,917 --> 01:07:27,000
Uh, Indiana's Ron Artest has
been suspended

1624
01:07:27,000 --> 01:07:29,542
for the remainder of the season.

1625
01:07:30,291 --> 01:07:35,166
Indiana's Stephen Jackson has
been suspended for 30 games.

1626
01:07:35,458 --> 01:07:39,750
Indiana's Jermaine O'Neil has
been suspended for 25 games.

1627
01:07:39,750 --> 01:07:41,625
I got the word on TV

1628
01:07:41,625 --> 01:07:44,125
that I was suspended
indefinitely.

1629
01:07:44,125 --> 01:07:46,291
And then,

1630
01:07:46,291 --> 01:07:47,834
I'm like, "Okay, I might
never, ever

1631
01:07:47,834 --> 01:07:49,041
be in the NBA again."

1632
01:07:49,041 --> 01:07:52,000
Whatever assistance he has
received to this point

1633
01:07:52,000 --> 01:07:54,667
did not keep him from doing
something that was

1634
01:07:54,667 --> 01:07:57,125
unforgivable on Friday night.

1635
01:07:57,125 --> 01:07:59,792
It was hard, it was hard,
'cause I lost my LA Gear deal.

1636
01:07:59,792 --> 01:08:03,750
I had my own sneaker. Carl's
Jr. commercial's coming.

1637
01:08:03,750 --> 01:08:07,750
Um, a ESPN and TNT commercial,
you know?

1638
01:08:07,750 --> 01:08:09,166
Um, the face --

1639
01:08:09,166 --> 01:08:11,667
Well, one of the faces of my
team at that time.

1640
01:08:11,667 --> 01:08:15,041
And one of the faces of the
league at that time.

1641
01:08:15,041 --> 01:08:20,583
Players cannot lose control
and go into the stands.

1642
01:08:20,583 --> 01:08:25,208
And, as a corollary, have to
hold fans accountable

1643
01:08:25,208 --> 01:08:28,500
for their anti-social behavior
as well.

1644
01:08:28,500 --> 01:08:30,834
[man] What was your personal
reaction when you saw,

1645
01:08:30,834 --> 01:08:33,083
for the first time, what had
happened Friday night?

1646
01:08:33,083 --> 01:08:39,834
Um, I would say shock, uh, and
revulsion.

1647
01:08:40,750 --> 01:08:42,834
And fear.

1648
01:08:44,583 --> 01:08:45,583
[Lamar] I was upset.

1649
01:08:45,583 --> 01:08:48,542
I just didn't want him to
always be remembered

1650
01:08:48,542 --> 01:08:51,458
for that incident. I mean, he
gave so much to the game,

1651
01:08:51,458 --> 01:08:54,709
he worked so hard just to make
it to the NBA,

1652
01:08:54,709 --> 01:08:56,291
as all of us have.

1653
01:08:56,291 --> 01:08:58,083
I just didn't want him to --
to remember that,

1654
01:08:58,083 --> 01:09:00,208
and I didn't think he
deserved that.

1655
01:09:00,208 --> 01:09:01,542
[Ron] And after that happened,
I said, "You know what?

1656
01:09:01,542 --> 01:09:02,709
I'm gonna retire."

1657
01:09:02,709 --> 01:09:06,458
So I started to promote my
R&B album.

1658
01:09:06,458 --> 01:09:08,875
I had a great album at that
time, too.

1659
01:09:08,875 --> 01:09:12,250
I produced a record, it was
called  Chapter III  .

1660
01:09:12,250 --> 01:09:15,041
All R&B, Allure.

1661
01:09:15,041 --> 01:09:17,959
And I remember, when I had the
brawl on November 19th,

1662
01:09:17,959 --> 01:09:20,041
the album came out on
the 23rd.

1663
01:09:20,041 --> 01:09:21,250
That's not the image that
David Stern

1664
01:09:21,250 --> 01:09:22,834
wants to put forth. He don't
wanna put forth

1665
01:09:22,834 --> 01:09:24,041
a negative image,

1666
01:09:24,041 --> 01:09:25,542
and I've been working real
hard on doing a lot of

1667
01:09:25,542 --> 01:09:26,917
positive things.

1668
01:09:26,917 --> 01:09:29,542
And, uh, you know, got this
album coming out.

1669
01:09:29,542 --> 01:09:31,917
It's positive, it's about
love, you know?

1670
01:09:31,917 --> 01:09:33,542
It's not rap, it's not hardcore.

1671
01:09:33,542 --> 01:09:37,125
But everything's positive and,
uh, look at this.

1672
01:09:37,125 --> 01:09:40,333
-Ron, we -- we appreciate --
-Y'all have a good morning.

1673
01:09:40,333 --> 01:09:42,834
That album had to take a
backseat.

1674
01:09:42,834 --> 01:09:44,709
We shelved it.

1675
01:09:46,917 --> 01:09:49,917
Well, he wasn't around. You
know?

1676
01:09:49,917 --> 01:09:52,333
I got suspended 30 games, I
came back.

1677
01:09:52,333 --> 01:09:53,250
I ended up coming back
and playing.

1678
01:09:53,250 --> 01:09:54,667
We ended up
going to the play-offs.

1679
01:09:54,667 --> 01:09:57,083
Ron wasn't around, so...

1680
01:09:57,083 --> 01:09:59,417
Nobody had seen him, nobody
heard from him, you know?

1681
01:09:59,417 --> 01:10:02,583
Nobody -- nothing, so he kind
of just, like, faded to black.

1682
01:10:02,583 --> 01:10:04,250
Well, I'm sure it killed
Ronnie,

1683
01:10:04,250 --> 01:10:06,208
'cause Ronnie needed basketball.

1684
01:10:06,208 --> 01:10:07,500
He really did.

1685
01:10:07,500 --> 01:10:08,834
We would've won the
championship, everybody

1686
01:10:08,834 --> 01:10:10,041
knows that.

1687
01:10:10,041 --> 01:10:12,250
Reggie would have a
championship right now.

1688
01:10:12,250 --> 01:10:14,625
That's one thing I regret and
I know he regrets too.

1689
01:10:14,625 --> 01:10:16,375
But, uh...

1690
01:10:16,375 --> 01:10:18,083
that's just the way it went
down.

1691
01:10:18,083 --> 01:10:20,959
[Jermaine] I never thought
Ron was a bad person.

1692
01:10:20,959 --> 01:10:22,875
I never -- I never thought,
even to this day,

1693
01:10:22,875 --> 01:10:24,125
I never thought Ron was a
bad --

1694
01:10:24,125 --> 01:10:27,208
I thought Ron didn't necessarily
understand everything,

1695
01:10:27,208 --> 01:10:29,291
because he was still trying to
understand himself,

1696
01:10:29,291 --> 01:10:31,500
so how do you expect for him
to understand

1697
01:10:31,500 --> 01:10:34,375
other people's feelings
and he's still reaching and

1698
01:10:34,375 --> 01:10:36,959
trying to grab help from other
people?

1699
01:10:36,959 --> 01:10:40,000
And that's the part where I
wish

1700
01:10:40,000 --> 01:10:42,542
I would've understood better
as a teammate

1701
01:10:42,542 --> 01:10:44,792
instead of being angry as a
teammate.

1702
01:10:44,792 --> 01:10:46,750
Ron kind of separated himself
from everybody

1703
01:10:46,750 --> 01:10:48,792
because he felt like everybody
was mad at him.

1704
01:10:48,792 --> 01:10:50,083
You know, he felt like
everybody turned --

1705
01:10:50,083 --> 01:10:51,959
turned their back on him.

1706
01:10:53,625 --> 01:10:55,834
When he was eligible to play
his first game,

1707
01:10:55,834 --> 01:10:57,417
it was a summer league game

1708
01:10:57,417 --> 01:11:00,834
and I actually flew to the
game to cover it

1709
01:11:00,834 --> 01:11:02,083
and to watch him. And you
could tell

1710
01:11:02,083 --> 01:11:03,291
that he was just different.

1711
01:11:03,291 --> 01:11:05,000
He really looked like he had
put through the ringer.

1712
01:11:05,000 --> 01:11:08,166
He almost had, like, this
glazed look about him

1713
01:11:08,166 --> 01:11:10,041
where maybe he was feeling the
pressure of "Yeah, I'm g--

1714
01:11:10,041 --> 01:11:12,166
I'm being given another
chance,

1715
01:11:12,166 --> 01:11:15,000
I gotta try to make the most
of it."

1716
01:11:15,000 --> 01:11:16,667
I mean, nothing changed that
particular year.

1717
01:11:16,667 --> 01:11:18,959
Um, you know, Ron was on the
cover

1718
01:11:18,959 --> 01:11:20,792
of Sports Illustrated  with
Larry.

1719
01:11:20,792 --> 01:11:22,375
[Stephen] With all that he's
been through, with all

1720
01:11:22,375 --> 01:11:23,792
that he's done, they stood
behind him.

1721
01:11:23,792 --> 01:11:25,375
You know, we stood behind him.

1722
01:11:25,375 --> 01:11:27,500
And, uh, we felt we had a
chance

1723
01:11:27,500 --> 01:11:29,625
to right our wrongs.

1724
01:11:30,542 --> 01:11:31,917
[Jermaine] It's about Ron
right now, though.

1725
01:11:31,917 --> 01:11:34,458
It's about Ron. Ron Artest
being back.

1726
01:11:34,458 --> 01:11:36,375
Ron Artest's back! All-star.

1727
01:11:36,375 --> 01:11:37,959
You are back. A lot of
people wondered

1728
01:11:37,959 --> 01:11:40,041
how long it would take you to
get back in your playing form.

1729
01:11:40,041 --> 01:11:41,375
How comfortable are you?

1730
01:11:41,375 --> 01:11:44,000
I'm real comfortable. You
know, the team is doing well.

1731
01:11:44,000 --> 01:11:44,917
You know, we -- we ready to
win and that's it.

1732
01:11:44,917 --> 01:11:46,250
That's what we come here
to do

1733
01:11:46,250 --> 01:11:47,834
and, uh, that's about it.

1734
01:11:47,834 --> 01:11:51,625
We were practicing and, uh,

1735
01:11:51,625 --> 01:11:54,375
all of a sudden, I -- I...

1736
01:11:54,375 --> 01:11:57,458
Ronnie comes out and says he
wants to be traded.

1737
01:11:59,333 --> 01:12:01,667
If you want the truth, I
looked at the pages like

1738
01:12:01,667 --> 01:12:06,333
"I told you. I told you."

1739
01:12:06,333 --> 01:12:08,166
And...

1740
01:12:10,959 --> 01:12:16,000
It put an incredible divide
between me and the Pacers.

1741
01:12:16,000 --> 01:12:18,208
I say, "Ronnie, did you just
say you wanted to be traded?"

1742
01:12:18,208 --> 01:12:20,875
"Nah, nah, nah, I don't want
to be traded."

1743
01:12:20,875 --> 01:12:23,166
And he again said it.

1744
01:12:23,166 --> 01:12:26,709
The reason I wanted out of
Indiana was because, um...

1745
01:12:26,709 --> 01:12:28,458
I didn't really want out, I
just couldn't deal

1746
01:12:28,458 --> 01:12:30,709
with the pressure.

1747
01:12:30,709 --> 01:12:31,959
So I couldn't just

1748
01:12:31,959 --> 01:12:34,625
go professionally to
Donnie Walsh

1749
01:12:34,625 --> 01:12:36,917
and to my agent and say, "Hey,
I don't want to be in Indiana

1750
01:12:36,917 --> 01:12:39,709
because it's too much
pressure."

1751
01:12:39,709 --> 01:12:41,917
I did it through the media.

1752
01:12:41,917 --> 01:12:43,583
I made excuses.

1753
01:12:43,583 --> 01:12:46,834
"This is really not a, um, a
comfortable spot for me.

1754
01:12:46,834 --> 01:12:48,208
You know, is there any way you
could help me

1755
01:12:48,208 --> 01:12:49,208
get traded?"

1756
01:12:49,208 --> 01:12:51,667
I'm really, um...

1757
01:12:51,667 --> 01:12:54,208
...playing basketball and
protecting myself from media,

1758
01:12:54,208 --> 01:12:57,709
and I'm protecting my, uh,
mental, uh -- [laughs]

1759
01:12:57,709 --> 01:13:01,208
uh, stability. Um...

1760
01:13:01,208 --> 01:13:03,083
My guard is up.

1761
01:13:03,083 --> 01:13:06,083
You know, so it's so much --
so many things that was coming

1762
01:13:06,083 --> 01:13:08,250
with putting that Indiana
Jersey on.

1763
01:13:08,250 --> 01:13:11,208
His action that night put this
whole franchise in jeopardy

1764
01:13:11,208 --> 01:13:12,667
for a whole year,

1765
01:13:12,667 --> 01:13:16,166
and it was gonna take a lot of
work to get it back up again.

1766
01:13:16,166 --> 01:13:19,375
And I thought, "And here, this
guy is saying

1767
01:13:19,375 --> 01:13:21,291
'I want to leave?'

1768
01:13:22,041 --> 01:13:25,250
Okay, you can leave and we'll
do it without you."

1769
01:13:26,709 --> 01:13:29,875
[Jermaine] I thought it was
kind of... [sighs]

1770
01:13:29,875 --> 01:13:32,083
It was cheap by him, you know,
breaking out on us.

1771
01:13:32,083 --> 01:13:34,000
It -- It pissed a lot of
people off.

1772
01:13:34,000 --> 01:13:36,542
It pissed a lot of
people off.

1773
01:13:42,333 --> 01:13:45,333
[Donnie] It was very hard to
trade him because

1774
01:13:45,333 --> 01:13:48,208
it had gone out, like, "This
guy's crazy."

1775
01:13:48,208 --> 01:13:50,083
And I remember thinking to
myself that

1776
01:13:50,083 --> 01:13:54,959
somewhere along the line,
there'll be a guy that will say

1777
01:13:54,959 --> 01:13:56,792
"That guy was the hardest
playing guy

1778
01:13:56,792 --> 01:13:59,333
I ever saw in my life."

1779
01:13:59,333 --> 01:14:02,458
Out of nowhere, I got a call
that, uh,

1780
01:14:02,458 --> 01:14:05,458
it was Sacramento would want
to do a trade for him,

1781
01:14:05,458 --> 01:14:07,291
so we traded him.

1782
01:14:09,583 --> 01:14:10,917
[Ron] When I came back,

1783
01:14:10,917 --> 01:14:13,959
it wasn't as bad as I
thought it was.

1784
01:14:13,959 --> 01:14:16,458
It was a lot of barbershop
talk.

1785
01:14:17,792 --> 01:14:20,083
[commentator] It's an
offensive foul.

1786
01:14:20,083 --> 01:14:24,166
Artest is down on the drive by
Ginóbili.

1787
01:14:24,166 --> 01:14:26,917
Well, Ginóbili elbowed me in
the mouth.

1788
01:14:26,917 --> 01:14:29,208
I had a big,

1789
01:14:29,208 --> 01:14:31,917
swollen lip

1790
01:14:31,917 --> 01:14:34,333
and had to get stitches.

1791
01:14:34,333 --> 01:14:35,709
Ginóbili deserved to be
smacked in the back

1792
01:14:35,709 --> 01:14:37,333
of the head.

1793
01:14:37,333 --> 01:14:40,834
But I didn't. I just gave him
an elbow to the chest,

1794
01:14:40,834 --> 01:14:44,166
said "You asshole." [laughs]

1795
01:14:44,166 --> 01:14:46,792
So that was, like, a situation
where that's --

1796
01:14:46,792 --> 01:14:49,542
People be reaching. It was
definitely white or black.

1797
01:14:49,542 --> 01:14:53,000
You either like Ron at that
time or you don't.

1798
01:15:22,041 --> 01:15:24,834
[man] Obviously, the, uh...

1799
01:15:24,834 --> 01:15:28,583
You know, the events of --
of this past Monday, uh,

1800
01:15:28,583 --> 01:15:33,375
remain a very, very serious
issue, uh, going forward.

1801
01:15:34,291 --> 01:15:37,291
[Ron] First, I wanna, uh,

1802
01:15:37,291 --> 01:15:41,166
apologize to my wife,

1803
01:15:41,166 --> 01:15:43,291
to my family.

1804
01:15:48,417 --> 01:15:51,250
[breathing heavily]

1805
01:16:10,750 --> 01:16:12,834
[whispering] Take a minute.

1806
01:16:28,500 --> 01:16:32,458
I want to apologize to the
Kings. [sniffling]

1807
01:16:33,542 --> 01:16:37,458
To my teammates, the NBA.

1808
01:16:37,458 --> 01:16:40,500
Everybody that, you know,
supported me and, uh,

1809
01:16:40,500 --> 01:16:43,959
for another incident to come,
uh, to come up

1810
01:16:43,959 --> 01:16:46,250
is very unfortunate.

1811
01:16:46,250 --> 01:16:48,875
I definitely want to apologize
for my behavior.

1812
01:16:48,875 --> 01:16:51,625
You know, Ron Artest, uh, once
again is, you know,

1813
01:16:51,625 --> 01:16:55,417
in the media for something
other than basketball.

1814
01:16:55,417 --> 01:16:57,458
I definitely apologize, once
again, to the fans

1815
01:16:57,458 --> 01:16:59,375
hoping that, you know, Ron
Artest can, you know,

1816
01:16:59,375 --> 01:17:01,458
pretty much stay on a
straight path.

1817
01:17:01,458 --> 01:17:03,458
And, uh, I want to prove to
them that I can.

1818
01:17:03,458 --> 01:17:05,458
I figured out that, uh, I need
help. I figured that out.

1819
01:17:05,458 --> 01:17:09,125
And I figured out that in
order to fix some, um,

1820
01:17:09,125 --> 01:17:12,000
people call them "demons"
or "mental health issues"

1821
01:17:12,000 --> 01:17:16,125
or, um, "depression."

1822
01:17:16,125 --> 01:17:19,417
Or, um, the opposite of
depression, "anxiety."

1823
01:17:19,417 --> 01:17:22,333
Right? Those were the things I
had.

1824
01:17:23,041 --> 01:17:26,166
Yeah, hereditary, um...

1825
01:17:26,166 --> 01:17:29,917
Um, biological, and then also,
environmental.

1826
01:17:29,917 --> 01:17:32,834
So many things that can
mold anybody.

1827
01:17:32,834 --> 01:17:34,125
And I realized that,

1828
01:17:34,125 --> 01:17:37,667
so then just addressing all
those different issues.

1829
01:17:46,041 --> 01:17:48,875
There's a lot of stigma when
it comes to mental illness,

1830
01:17:48,875 --> 01:17:50,834
things like that. Well, it
doesn't mean you can't

1831
01:17:50,834 --> 01:17:52,125
have a normal life.

1832
01:17:52,125 --> 01:17:53,542
Or a successful life.

1833
01:17:53,542 --> 01:17:56,083
Um, definitely, there was some
damage control.

1834
01:17:56,083 --> 01:17:58,125
We had to do some of that.

1835
01:17:58,125 --> 01:18:01,959
And I remember not wanting to
overnight change.

1836
01:18:01,959 --> 01:18:04,375
I wanted to just let it happen
naturally.

1837
01:18:04,375 --> 01:18:06,083
You know, um, and then that's
what happened.

1838
01:18:06,083 --> 01:18:07,041
You know, you just --

1839
01:18:08,250 --> 01:18:10,542
People get over it. It was --
It took a long time for me.

1840
01:18:13,375 --> 01:18:15,000
I'm in Boston and I'm just
there because

1841
01:18:15,000 --> 01:18:16,250
I want to see the game.

1842
01:18:16,250 --> 01:18:19,875
I also wanted to experience, um,

1843
01:18:19,875 --> 01:18:21,583
championship.

1844
01:18:21,583 --> 01:18:23,041
'Cause I'm like, "Oh, I'm
getting older.

1845
01:18:23,041 --> 01:18:24,041
I need to get a ring.

1846
01:18:24,041 --> 01:18:26,083
So how is it gonna be when I
get here?"

1847
01:18:26,083 --> 01:18:29,041
[commentator] After a 22-year
absence, the Boston Celtics

1848
01:18:29,041 --> 01:18:31,750
are NBA champions once again.

1849
01:18:31,750 --> 01:18:34,750
Banner number 17, soon to be
raised to the rafters.

1850
01:18:34,750 --> 01:18:38,250
[Ron] I felt bad for the Lakers
'cause Lamar's on that team.

1851
01:18:38,250 --> 01:18:40,500
So I go in there and I say to
Phil,

1852
01:18:40,500 --> 01:18:44,750
"I want to say 'Good job'
to Kobe.

1853
01:18:44,750 --> 01:18:47,417
Kobe's in the shower

1854
01:18:47,417 --> 01:18:49,875
and I don't feel like waiting
around long."

1855
01:18:49,875 --> 01:18:53,500
I was naked in the shower and,
um...

1856
01:18:53,500 --> 01:18:54,875
[laughs] I just -- I just hear
my name

1857
01:18:54,875 --> 01:18:57,250
and I turn around and
it's -- it's Ron.

1858
01:18:57,250 --> 01:18:59,208
He was just like, "Hey,

1859
01:18:59,208 --> 01:19:01,458
I'm -- I'm gonna come help you.
I'm gonna come join you.

1860
01:19:01,458 --> 01:19:04,542
This is not gonna happen again.
I got you."

1861
01:19:04,542 --> 01:19:09,250
Obviously, I would love to
play with Kobe, but, um...

1862
01:19:09,250 --> 01:19:10,875
I'd much rather play against
Kobe.

1863
01:19:10,875 --> 01:19:12,458
The next season, he went to
the Rockets.

1864
01:19:12,458 --> 01:19:14,583
You know, gave us some
headaches.

1865
01:19:14,583 --> 01:19:17,458
[commentator] Ron and Kobe
pushing on each other.

1866
01:19:17,458 --> 01:19:19,792
Pushing and shoving Ron and
elbowing Kobe.

1867
01:19:19,792 --> 01:19:22,625
Kobe, right back at Ron. Ron,
back at Kobe.

1868
01:19:22,625 --> 01:19:25,291
I think a lot of players let
him get away with stuff

1869
01:19:25,291 --> 01:19:27,583
because he's so strong and,
you know,

1870
01:19:27,583 --> 01:19:29,709
tends to scare people a lot.

1871
01:19:29,709 --> 01:19:32,250
Um, but every time he hit me
with a elbow,

1872
01:19:32,250 --> 01:19:34,709
I threw one right back at him,
twice as hard.

1873
01:19:34,709 --> 01:19:36,625
[commentator] Boy, Bryant
threw that arm out

1874
01:19:36,625 --> 01:19:40,792
and Artest will not back
down to anybody.

1875
01:19:40,792 --> 01:19:44,959
And then he started talking
trash. And I said, "You know..."

1876
01:19:44,959 --> 01:19:48,291
I said, "Ron, is this something
you're sure you want to do?"

1877
01:19:48,291 --> 01:19:50,625
He said, "Oh, I..." I said,
"Excuse me?

1878
01:19:50,625 --> 01:19:53,458
Okay." And then I went and
proceeded to score

1879
01:19:53,458 --> 01:19:56,208
whatever next point straight or
whatever and

1880
01:19:56,208 --> 01:19:57,500
winded up winning the game.

1881
01:19:57,500 --> 01:19:59,542
[commentator] Ron pokes it
away, Kobe tracks it down,

1882
01:19:59,542 --> 01:20:02,500
spins left, shoots ... three
at the buzzer, nails it.

1883
01:20:02,500 --> 01:20:05,125
He basically let Ron run right
past him

1884
01:20:05,125 --> 01:20:08,000
so he could get an open look
at a three...

1885
01:20:08,000 --> 01:20:09,417
[whistle]

1886
01:20:09,417 --> 01:20:12,333
[commentator] Loose ball for ...

1887
01:20:12,333 --> 01:20:14,458
I love Kobe. Yeah, Kobe's my
man.

1888
01:20:14,458 --> 01:20:16,500
But at that time, we're super
competitive.

1889
01:20:16,500 --> 01:20:18,041
[commentator]: Ron Artest
against Kobe Bryant.

1890
01:20:18,041 --> 01:20:20,625
He's gotta be very careful that
he does not get a technical.

1891
01:20:20,625 --> 01:20:23,333
He said that, uh, he's gonna go
over here.

1892
01:20:23,333 --> 01:20:24,917
He's talking to Kobe.

1893
01:20:24,917 --> 01:20:26,834
Wow, here -- here we go.

1894
01:20:26,834 --> 01:20:27,875
Uh oh.

1895
01:20:27,875 --> 01:20:30,250
I just kept thinking, "Don't
get ejected."

1896
01:20:30,250 --> 01:20:31,583
That's all I kept thinking.
"It's play-offs.

1897
01:20:31,583 --> 01:20:32,792
Don't get ejected."

1898
01:20:32,792 --> 01:20:34,625
[commentator] He went right
over to Bryant.

1899
01:20:34,625 --> 01:20:38,291
Artest has, uh, gotten very,
very upset.

1900
01:20:38,291 --> 01:20:40,875
I think they have thrown Ron
Artest out of the game.

1901
01:20:40,875 --> 01:20:43,667
I don't think that shit
should've surprised anybody.

1902
01:20:43,667 --> 01:20:45,333
You know what I'm saying?
You've got two

1903
01:20:45,333 --> 01:20:49,125
strong-headed
alpha males.

1904
01:20:55,667 --> 01:20:57,208
[man] Yeah, Ron, Kobe, was
quoted as saying

1905
01:20:57,208 --> 01:21:00,291
he's "not sure you're -- Lakers
are a better team with you."

1906
01:21:00,291 --> 01:21:03,000
Do you feel you have to win
him over?

1907
01:21:03,000 --> 01:21:05,166
Uh, I gotta win myself over
first.

1908
01:21:05,166 --> 01:21:07,542
I gotta -- I gotta make sure
I, um...

1909
01:21:07,542 --> 01:21:08,667
I'm doing everything.

1910
01:21:08,667 --> 01:21:11,041
It's not a given. The Lakers --
He's right.

1911
01:21:11,041 --> 01:21:13,875
There's not a given that just
'cause you --

1912
01:21:13,875 --> 01:21:17,417
you add me to a team, you
know, it was just gonna be,

1913
01:21:17,417 --> 01:21:18,417
you know, the number one
team.

1914
01:21:18,417 --> 01:21:20,166
We gotta put that work in.

1915
01:21:20,166 --> 01:21:24,041
I was in a position where the
Houston Rockets

1916
01:21:24,041 --> 01:21:25,333
didn't bring me back.

1917
01:21:25,333 --> 01:21:27,875
The Lakers was the only team
that offered a contract,

1918
01:21:27,875 --> 01:21:29,583
so what am I gonna do?

1919
01:21:29,583 --> 01:21:30,875
[Lamar] I didn't think they knew
what to think.

1920
01:21:30,875 --> 01:21:32,750
Not too many people...

1921
01:21:33,709 --> 01:21:36,375
...had the competitive skill or
the heart enough

1922
01:21:36,375 --> 01:21:39,041
to stand, um, stand up against
Kobe like that.

1923
01:21:39,041 --> 01:21:42,875
[Kobe] The first time I saw him
when he joined our team,

1924
01:21:42,875 --> 01:21:44,875
I told him, I said, "Listen,

1925
01:21:44,875 --> 01:21:47,709
you're coming here to replace
a player that was like a

1926
01:21:47,709 --> 01:21:50,417
brother to me and still is to
this day.

1927
01:21:51,041 --> 01:21:54,542
Like, Trevor came here and
played lights-out for us.

1928
01:21:54,542 --> 01:21:56,208
He didn't miss a three in the
play-offs,

1929
01:21:56,208 --> 01:21:58,917
and he was tenacious on defense.

1930
01:21:58,917 --> 01:22:01,542
And showed up to work every
single day,

1931
01:22:01,542 --> 01:22:03,792
came to practice early, stayed
at practice late.

1932
01:22:03,792 --> 01:22:06,583
And this is who you're coming
in here to replace.

1933
01:22:06,583 --> 01:22:09,291
So I better not get any bullshit
from you."

1934
01:22:09,291 --> 01:22:11,959
And it was really that direct
and him understanding this is

1935
01:22:11,959 --> 01:22:15,583
not a place to come in and
goof around or

1936
01:22:15,583 --> 01:22:17,166
to act out or anything like
that.

1937
01:22:17,166 --> 01:22:18,917
I'm expecting you to be
extremely sharp

1938
01:22:18,917 --> 01:22:22,875
and be extremely crisp and
I won't have it another way.

1939
01:22:22,875 --> 01:22:26,375
[Mark] I think they provide a
very interesting symbiosis.

1940
01:22:26,375 --> 01:22:32,125
However tough Kobe wants to be
seen, he's a middle-class kid

1941
01:22:32,125 --> 01:22:34,750
who's fluent in Italian, who's
seen the world,

1942
01:22:34,750 --> 01:22:37,667
who has a sense of -- of -- of
culture.

1943
01:22:38,250 --> 01:22:40,291
And you have Ron...

1944
01:22:40,291 --> 01:22:42,041
...from the projects...

1945
01:22:42,041 --> 01:22:43,792
...who's scary.

1946
01:22:43,792 --> 01:22:46,625
And that season, they found
something together.

1947
01:22:46,625 --> 01:22:49,583
I knew practice was gonna be
intense because

1948
01:22:49,583 --> 01:22:51,792
if he's anything how I am, I'm
intense in practice.

1949
01:22:51,792 --> 01:22:54,834
I build up hate for whoever's
on the other side.

1950
01:22:54,834 --> 01:22:56,959
Um, so -- But Kobe was always
--

1951
01:22:56,959 --> 01:22:58,667
we was always on the same
team,

1952
01:22:58,667 --> 01:23:02,709
so [laughs] I had to somehow
take the hate

1953
01:23:02,709 --> 01:23:04,834
that I went into practice with
for Kobe

1954
01:23:04,834 --> 01:23:08,542
and turn it into... You know,
and turn it into love.

1955
01:23:08,542 --> 01:23:10,625
[Kobe] Like, on defense, we
knew we can get after guys

1956
01:23:10,625 --> 01:23:12,375
and just scare the living shit
out of them.

1957
01:23:12,375 --> 01:23:13,959
We knew that.

1958
01:23:13,959 --> 01:23:15,417
We'd said, "Okay, we're gonna
go get this player.

1959
01:23:15,417 --> 01:23:18,625
Let's just make his night a
complete living hell.

1960
01:23:18,625 --> 01:23:20,458
Let's just harass him, let's
beat him up,

1961
01:23:20,458 --> 01:23:21,875
let's intimidate him."
And we --

1962
01:23:21,875 --> 01:23:23,792
we'd have fun doing that.

1963
01:23:24,917 --> 01:23:26,500
[commentator] Bryant shoots...

1964
01:23:26,500 --> 01:23:28,208
...and comes up short. Artest...

1965
01:23:28,208 --> 01:23:31,291
[cheering]

1966
01:23:31,291 --> 01:23:33,667
[commentator] Ron Artest!

1967
01:23:33,667 --> 01:23:35,875
[Lamar] That was like a dream
come true.

1968
01:23:35,875 --> 01:23:37,291
I knew we were gonna win -- I
knew I was gonna win

1969
01:23:37,291 --> 01:23:40,709
a championship ring with
somebody that I grew up with.

1970
01:23:40,709 --> 01:23:43,000
So I was kind of looking
forward to that.

1971
01:23:47,875 --> 01:23:50,333
[Kobe] On the finals, he had
a thing with Paul going back

1972
01:23:50,333 --> 01:23:53,000
to his days in Indiana.

1973
01:23:53,000 --> 01:23:55,667
Right? I -- I think that's
kind of where it started.

1974
01:23:55,667 --> 01:23:58,208
Game one, right during the
tip-off,

1975
01:23:58,208 --> 01:24:01,542
they get tangled up like this,
like fighting for position

1976
01:24:01,542 --> 01:24:03,083
and the ball go up. They
fighting for position

1977
01:24:03,083 --> 01:24:05,291
and they throw each other
down. Shit like that.

1978
01:24:05,291 --> 01:24:06,834
They always went at it.

1979
01:24:06,834 --> 01:24:09,500
[commentator] Pierce and
Artest already grappling.

1980
01:24:09,500 --> 01:24:12,875
It took 27 seconds for these
two to go at it a bit.

1981
01:24:12,875 --> 01:24:14,917
He would cheap-shot Paul all
the time and

1982
01:24:14,917 --> 01:24:17,709
be extremely physical with
Paul.

1983
01:24:17,709 --> 01:24:20,333
Um, but to Paul's credit,
Paul didn't back down.

1984
01:24:20,333 --> 01:24:21,041
[commentator] I don't
know if they deserve

1985
01:24:22,542 --> 01:24:25,083
the technicals, but that's a
heck of a takedown by Artest.

1986
01:24:25,083 --> 01:24:28,041
And I was in a zone that
play-off series.

1987
01:24:28,041 --> 01:24:30,959
♪intense music

1988
01:24:35,250 --> 01:24:39,041
[cheering]

1989
01:24:43,709 --> 01:24:46,583
I wasn't getting a lot of
shots, but I was in a zone.

1990
01:24:46,583 --> 01:24:48,500
And I wanted to stay there.

1991
01:24:49,083 --> 01:24:50,333
[whistle]

1992
01:24:50,834 --> 01:24:53,083
[cheering]

1993
01:24:55,583 --> 01:24:56,750
That was the only thing I was
trying to do was

1994
01:24:56,750 --> 01:24:58,959
protect the zone that I was in.

1995
01:24:58,959 --> 01:25:00,000
[Kobe] I think, for him, it was

1996
01:25:00,000 --> 01:25:01,917
the mental aspect of the game.

1997
01:25:01,917 --> 01:25:03,792
He used to let a lot of things
affect him.

1998
01:25:03,792 --> 01:25:06,750
Previous plays, uh,

1999
01:25:06,750 --> 01:25:09,291
bad shot turnover, he would
carry it with him

2000
01:25:09,291 --> 01:25:11,000
to the next play.

2001
01:25:11,000 --> 01:25:13,792
And what he saw from me is how
I wouldn't do that.

2002
01:25:13,792 --> 01:25:14,959
I'd stay in the moment.

2003
01:25:14,959 --> 01:25:16,542
[Ron] I was only different
psychologically

2004
01:25:16,542 --> 01:25:19,000
when I was a Laker because
I had more help.

2005
01:25:19,000 --> 01:25:21,417
So all the work that Donnie
Walsh did,

2006
01:25:21,417 --> 01:25:23,750
and all the work that my
counselors did,

2007
01:25:23,750 --> 01:25:25,250
it led me up to the Lakers.

2008
01:25:25,250 --> 01:25:26,917
[Donnie] Well, I hope that we
had something to do with that.

2009
01:25:26,917 --> 01:25:29,917
That was a -- a tough price to
pay for it.

2010
01:25:29,917 --> 01:25:34,500
Without your mental health, I
mean, you can't do shit.

2011
01:25:34,500 --> 01:25:35,792
You can't be yourself.

2012
01:25:35,792 --> 01:25:37,959
You can only be a shell of
yourself.

2013
01:25:37,959 --> 01:25:41,333
And I think Ron realized that
and he realized to

2014
01:25:41,333 --> 01:25:44,125
get where he needed to go
in life, he had to be right.

2015
01:25:44,125 --> 01:25:48,417
[Ron] It happened over time
for me. I was determined.

2016
01:25:48,417 --> 01:25:51,500
After I got over the anger
management

2017
01:25:51,500 --> 01:25:56,125
counseling sessions, it became
sports psychology because

2018
01:25:56,125 --> 01:25:59,500
I never had a chance to just
focus on the game.

2019
01:25:59,500 --> 01:26:04,166
You know? So when I was able
to get past everything else,

2020
01:26:04,166 --> 01:26:05,083
then it was like,

2021
01:26:05,083 --> 01:26:06,208
"How am I focused in the
fourth quarter?"

2022
01:26:06,208 --> 01:26:08,375
It became fun.

2023
01:26:14,875 --> 01:26:17,417
[Lamar] It's game seven in LA.

2024
01:26:17,417 --> 01:26:18,792
Paul Pierce is from LA.

2025
01:26:18,792 --> 01:26:21,250
There's no way we can let him
walk out there

2026
01:26:21,250 --> 01:26:23,333
with that trophy.

2027
01:26:23,333 --> 01:26:25,792
The night before, I called Dr.
Santhi and said,

2028
01:26:25,792 --> 01:26:29,208
"I need you to come tomorrow."
[laughs]

2029
01:26:29,208 --> 01:26:31,625
And she hopped on the flight,
came from Houston.

2030
01:26:31,625 --> 01:26:34,583
We had a session after the
shoot-around.

2031
01:26:43,333 --> 01:26:46,166
Well, we just talked about,
um, I hated Paul Pierce.

2032
01:26:46,166 --> 01:26:47,375
[laughs]

2033
01:26:47,375 --> 01:26:50,458
That's really what that was
about. I'm not gonna lie.

2034
01:26:50,458 --> 01:26:51,625
I hated Paul Pierce.

2035
01:26:51,625 --> 01:26:53,000
Not because I hated him
as a person.

2036
01:26:53,000 --> 01:26:55,834
On the court, like I said, I
have to build up hate.

2037
01:26:55,834 --> 01:26:57,417
But that hate, it -- it got in
the way.

2038
01:26:57,417 --> 01:26:59,959
I did not want it getting in --
in the way.

2039
01:26:59,959 --> 01:27:01,750
[Lamar] And it was -- it was
just real intense.

2040
01:27:01,750 --> 01:27:03,375
It was tooth and nail.

2041
01:27:03,375 --> 01:27:08,166
We couldn't rely on Kobe just
to get it done.

2042
01:27:08,166 --> 01:27:10,208
[commentator] Bryant nearly
falls, gets back up,

2043
01:27:10,208 --> 01:27:13,125
... puts it up, and it grazes
the rim.

2044
01:27:13,125 --> 01:27:15,208
Artest with the rebound!

2045
01:27:15,208 --> 01:27:16,875
[Ron] I just wanted to be
focused on the game.

2046
01:27:16,875 --> 01:27:18,125
That's all I wanted.

2047
01:27:18,125 --> 01:27:21,250
And one of the things that we
practiced was breathing.

2048
01:27:24,000 --> 01:27:26,166
Don't matter if you're
fighting for post position,

2049
01:27:26,166 --> 01:27:28,500
don't matter if it's shooting
a free throw,

2050
01:27:28,500 --> 01:27:31,333
don't matter if you're locking
somebody up or dunking,

2051
01:27:31,333 --> 01:27:33,583
the breath was always the
same.

2052
01:27:33,583 --> 01:27:36,333
[indistinct shouting]

2053
01:27:36,333 --> 01:27:37,583
-No more threes!
-Hey!

2054
01:27:37,583 --> 01:27:40,917
Kobe switched up, and then
when -- when ... came down,

2055
01:27:40,917 --> 01:27:42,917
you didn't switch!

2056
01:27:42,917 --> 01:27:44,709
Come on, now! This shit ain't
over!

2057
01:27:44,709 --> 01:27:46,291
Let's end it! We gotta end
it!

2058
01:27:46,291 --> 01:27:49,917
And I'm just taking the same
breaths. Throughout the game,

2059
01:27:49,917 --> 01:27:51,917
no matter how fast the game is
going.

2060
01:27:51,917 --> 01:27:53,750
It was a technique that we
practiced,

2061
01:27:53,750 --> 01:27:57,542
and it took me a while to
master, you know.

2062
01:27:57,542 --> 01:28:00,208
And I was able to do that
throughout the play-offs.

2063
01:28:00,208 --> 01:28:01,875
[commentator] Coming up on a
minute remaining.

2064
01:28:01,875 --> 01:28:03,375
I've had teammates in the past
that were scared

2065
01:28:03,375 --> 01:28:04,959
to shoot that ball.

2066
01:28:04,959 --> 01:28:07,500
And, uh... You know, when I
kicked it to him

2067
01:28:07,500 --> 01:28:09,083
and he loaded up to shoot
the ball...

2068
01:28:09,083 --> 01:28:11,458
[Ron] Paul, he took one step
back, I came back.

2069
01:28:11,458 --> 01:28:14,291
I was just kind of like, "Go
in, go in, go in, go in."

2070
01:28:14,291 --> 01:28:16,333
It wasn't so much like "Don't
shoot it."

2071
01:28:16,333 --> 01:28:19,542
It was more like "Just go in."

2072
01:28:20,125 --> 01:28:21,625
[commentator] Bryant looking.

2073
01:28:21,625 --> 01:28:24,500
Artest, that's a three.

2074
01:28:24,500 --> 01:28:26,667
[cheering]

2075
01:28:26,667 --> 01:28:29,250
Lakers by six...

2076
01:28:29,250 --> 01:28:30,542
[Lamar] I was right there.

2077
01:28:30,542 --> 01:28:32,625
I was ready for him to swing it
one more time, 'cause I was

2078
01:28:32,625 --> 01:28:34,208
ready to shoot that bitch.

2079
01:28:34,709 --> 01:28:38,208
And he got it, and he lined up
like he always does,

2080
01:28:38,208 --> 01:28:40,458
straight up, and he made it.

2081
01:28:40,458 --> 01:28:43,917
[commentator] The Lakers
repeat back-to-back titles!

2082
01:28:43,917 --> 01:28:48,125
The LA Lakers, the 2010 NBA
champions!

2083
01:28:49,125 --> 01:28:52,208
First, I want to thank
everybody in my hood.

2084
01:28:52,667 --> 01:28:56,000
[N.O.R.E.] When I seen him
do that -- [laughs]

2085
01:28:56,000 --> 01:28:57,750
I just...

2086
01:28:57,750 --> 01:28:59,709
...I just looked and I just
looked at all

2087
01:28:59,709 --> 01:29:01,667
my Queensbridge buddies,

2088
01:29:01,667 --> 01:29:03,750
And I just remember just

2089
01:29:03,750 --> 01:29:05,458
looking at my guys,
you know.

2090
01:29:05,458 --> 01:29:08,625
Being honored, like, how do
you -- how do you do that?

2091
01:29:08,625 --> 01:29:11,458
How do you win, like, one of
the biggest honors

2092
01:29:11,458 --> 01:29:13,166
and you shout-out

2093
01:29:13,166 --> 01:29:16,792
one of the craziest projects
in the world.

2094
01:29:16,792 --> 01:29:20,959
Notorious. People definitely
don't want to go there.

2095
01:29:20,959 --> 01:29:24,375
And you stand there and you
shout them out.

2096
01:29:24,375 --> 01:29:26,583
I definitely want to thank my
doctor, Dr. Santhi,

2097
01:29:26,583 --> 01:29:28,625
my, um, my psychiatrist.

2098
01:29:28,625 --> 01:29:30,709
I started laughing. [laughs]

2099
01:29:30,709 --> 01:29:33,417
Only Ronnie would get up and
thank his psychiatrist

2100
01:29:33,417 --> 01:29:35,834
for winning the championship.

2101
01:29:35,834 --> 01:29:37,625
She really helped me
relax a lot.

2102
01:29:37,625 --> 01:29:39,000
Thank you so much.

2103
01:29:39,000 --> 01:29:42,250
[Mark] To me, it was his
three-pointers

2104
01:29:42,250 --> 01:29:45,208
that saved the game,

2105
01:29:45,208 --> 01:29:48,542
beat the Boston Celtics in the
seventh game at Staples.

2106
01:29:48,542 --> 01:29:52,542
Saved Kobe's reputation. At
least, in part.

2107
01:29:52,542 --> 01:29:56,125
And what does he do? The guy
thanks his shrink.

2108
01:29:56,125 --> 01:29:59,667
If that's not an evolved man,
I don't know what is.

2109
01:29:59,667 --> 01:30:01,959
[Ron] So difficult to play...

2110
01:30:01,959 --> 01:30:04,291
And so much commotion going on
in the play-offs,

2111
01:30:04,291 --> 01:30:05,917
and she helped me relax.

2112
01:30:05,917 --> 01:30:07,250
I thank you so much.

2113
01:30:07,250 --> 01:30:09,458
-Ron, you were able to hit --
-I knocked down that three

2114
01:30:09,458 --> 01:30:10,500
just like you told me.

2115
01:30:10,500 --> 01:30:18,333
Who gets to have his worst part
seen

2116
01:30:18,333 --> 01:30:21,083
on national TV

2117
01:30:21,083 --> 01:30:23,333
and rescue himself

2118
01:30:23,333 --> 01:30:25,917
by copping to it?

2119
01:30:25,917 --> 01:30:28,875
"Okay, I'm a little crazy.

2120
01:30:28,875 --> 01:30:32,709
I -- I -- I don't use the term
casually.

2121
01:30:32,709 --> 01:30:33,875
But okay, you got -- I'm --

2122
01:30:33,875 --> 01:30:37,000
I gotta take my meds. I'm
gonna thank my shrink."

2123
01:30:37,000 --> 01:30:40,709
How many people are big enough
to say that?

2124
01:30:40,709 --> 01:30:43,041
[cheering and shouting]

2125
01:30:45,000 --> 01:30:47,166
One of the best defenders of
all time.

2126
01:30:47,166 --> 01:30:48,875
You saw it this series.

2127
01:30:48,875 --> 01:30:51,000
One of the best ever!

2128
01:30:51,000 --> 01:30:52,458
Ever!

2129
01:30:56,166 --> 01:30:58,375
[Ron] I got Wheaties!

2130
01:30:58,375 --> 01:31:02,709
I got a Wheaties box! Get my
Wheaties box.

2131
01:31:02,709 --> 01:31:04,458
I got Wheaties!

2132
01:31:04,458 --> 01:31:06,792
-You don't seem excited!
-[laughter]

2133
01:31:06,792 --> 01:31:08,750
I'm leaving!

2134
01:31:10,083 --> 01:31:11,917
Y'all don't seem excited. I'm
all excited.

2135
01:31:11,917 --> 01:31:14,417
I feel like a -- I feel like
the oddball.

2136
01:31:14,417 --> 01:31:18,250
I never saw Ron that happy or
that -- that excited.

2137
01:31:18,250 --> 01:31:20,250
Hey, people over there on your
laptops!

2138
01:31:20,250 --> 01:31:21,625
[laughter]

2139
01:31:21,625 --> 01:31:23,250
Hey!

2140
01:31:23,250 --> 01:31:25,583
Hey, all the way over
there on your laptop!

2141
01:31:25,583 --> 01:31:28,083
-Acknowledge me, please!
-[laughter]

2142
01:31:28,083 --> 01:31:29,792
Hey!

2143
01:31:29,792 --> 01:31:31,083
It was he was like -- Like --

2144
01:31:31,083 --> 01:31:33,250
like in a manic state, so to
speak.

2145
01:31:33,250 --> 01:31:35,000
This is Diamond, my daughter,
and my wife.

2146
01:31:35,000 --> 01:31:36,417
This my son, Jeron.

2147
01:31:36,417 --> 01:31:38,291
This is my sister, Angelica.

2148
01:31:38,291 --> 01:31:39,542
She got to meet Kobe, she's so
happy.

2149
01:31:39,542 --> 01:31:41,792
This is my mom.

2150
01:31:41,792 --> 01:31:44,083
This is my big daughter.

2151
01:31:44,083 --> 01:31:46,792
-Where's Ron-Ron?
-Ron-Ron's with Kobe.

2152
01:31:46,792 --> 01:31:47,875
Ron-Ron's with Kobe?

2153
01:31:47,875 --> 01:31:50,208
My other son's with Kobe instead
of me, huh?

2154
01:31:50,208 --> 01:31:53,166
All right, whatever.
This is my dad.

2155
01:31:53,166 --> 01:31:55,667
You see his muscles?

2156
01:31:55,667 --> 01:31:59,291
I think the championship
validated me because...

2157
01:32:00,917 --> 01:32:03,458
...the career that I was
supposed to have, I had.

2158
01:32:03,458 --> 01:32:04,959
I hit a big-ass shot.

2159
01:32:04,959 --> 01:32:08,583
He passed me the ball. He
never passes me the ball.

2160
01:32:08,583 --> 01:32:10,875
And he passed me the ball.

2161
01:32:10,875 --> 01:32:14,625
Kobe passed me the ball. And I
shot a three.

2162
01:32:14,625 --> 01:32:17,041
If ... shoot the three, I
heard him.

2163
01:32:17,041 --> 01:32:18,959
And he's the zen master, so he
can speak to you without...

2164
01:32:18,959 --> 01:32:20,291
[laughter] You know?

2165
01:32:20,291 --> 01:32:22,917
He can speak to you, and he
don't need a microphone,

2166
01:32:22,917 --> 01:32:23,959
he just -- You can hear him in
your head.

2167
01:32:23,959 --> 01:32:25,458
"Ron, don't shoot, don't shoot."

2168
01:32:25,458 --> 01:32:26,583
[laughter]

2169
01:32:26,583 --> 01:32:28,917
I said, "Whatever. Bong!"

2170
01:32:28,917 --> 01:32:32,333
Whoo! Yes!

2171
01:32:32,333 --> 01:32:34,667
[Stephen] Everything he does
is -- is sincere.

2172
01:32:34,667 --> 01:32:36,834
As misunderstood as he is,

2173
01:32:36,834 --> 01:32:39,166
I think he felt it meant more
to him,

2174
01:32:39,166 --> 01:32:40,709
and it would mean more
coming from him

2175
01:32:40,709 --> 01:32:44,583
to these people if I'm thanking
you at my highest point.

2176
01:32:44,583 --> 01:32:47,083
I'm winning the championship,
I got a ring.

2177
01:32:47,083 --> 01:32:48,875
I got all eyes on me.

2178
01:32:48,875 --> 01:32:51,834
When I was younger, I bailed
out on my Indiana team.

2179
01:32:51,834 --> 01:32:54,583
I was so young, so egotistical,

2180
01:32:54,583 --> 01:32:58,458
and I bailed out on Donnie, um,

2181
01:32:58,458 --> 01:33:00,834
Larry, Jermaine...

2182
01:33:00,834 --> 01:33:03,750
I wanted to let them know,
like, you know, on --

2183
01:33:03,750 --> 01:33:06,333
national TV, like, you know,
"Thank you.

2184
01:33:06,333 --> 01:33:08,667
Um, and I appreciate you guys
and always wish

2185
01:33:08,667 --> 01:33:09,959
I could've won with you guys,

2186
01:33:09,959 --> 01:33:13,041
and thank you guys." 'Cause
they was always there for me.

2187
01:33:13,041 --> 01:33:15,542
I think, at that time, in
2010, um,

2188
01:33:15,542 --> 01:33:17,375
it was still very raw.

2189
01:33:17,375 --> 01:33:19,667
You know, we were still, you
know, still on the --

2190
01:33:19,667 --> 01:33:21,250
on the probation.

2191
01:33:21,250 --> 01:33:24,041
You know, um, we were still
the team with a lot of

2192
01:33:24,041 --> 01:33:27,208
remnants of -- of -- of that
situation.

2193
01:33:27,208 --> 01:33:29,542
And then to see him do
everything he did

2194
01:33:29,542 --> 01:33:31,041
leading up into the brawl

2195
01:33:31,041 --> 01:33:34,583
and then basically have our
team dismantled

2196
01:33:34,583 --> 01:33:38,625
because of that, to go to
another team and win it...

2197
01:33:39,375 --> 01:33:41,583
That's a hard pill to --
That's a hard pill to swallow.

2198
01:33:41,583 --> 01:33:44,041
And I feel some -- sometimes
like a coward, you know,

2199
01:33:44,041 --> 01:33:46,166
when I see those guys, 'cause
it's like man,

2200
01:33:46,166 --> 01:33:47,333
now I'm on the Lakers, we got
a chance to win.

2201
01:33:47,333 --> 01:33:50,417
I had a chance to win with
you guys, you know?

2202
01:33:50,417 --> 01:33:52,834
And I feel, you know, almost
like a coward.

2203
01:33:52,834 --> 01:33:56,625
God says, "Forgive -- Forgive
everybody."

2204
01:33:56,625 --> 01:33:57,917
But at the time, I had never
even had

2205
01:33:57,917 --> 01:34:00,083
a conversation with Ron.

2206
01:34:00,083 --> 01:34:04,041
I was not happy for him when
he won the championship.

2207
01:34:04,041 --> 01:34:05,917
The next person I'm about --
I'm about to bring out,

2208
01:34:05,917 --> 01:34:08,583
I've known since I was 12
years old.

2209
01:34:08,583 --> 01:34:10,750
-Um --
-[cheering]

2210
01:34:10,750 --> 01:34:14,875
Uh, we come from the same
family tree in New York City

2211
01:34:14,875 --> 01:34:17,458
of basketball, and, uh, I just
want to let him know

2212
01:34:17,458 --> 01:34:19,458
that his family's proud of him.

2213
01:34:19,458 --> 01:34:21,750
The one and only, Ron Artest.

2214
01:34:21,750 --> 01:34:24,417
[cheering]

2215
01:34:33,625 --> 01:34:36,834
I really don't care about the
ring. I just wanted to win.

2216
01:34:36,834 --> 01:34:38,500
I hate losing.

2217
01:34:38,500 --> 01:34:39,583
The -- the ring's not
important.

2218
01:34:39,583 --> 01:34:41,458
I don't even wear jewelry.

2219
01:34:41,458 --> 01:34:43,667
So, um, so what else can you
do with the ring?

2220
01:34:43,667 --> 01:34:46,625
So I had interest in helping
people, you know, who --

2221
01:34:46,625 --> 01:34:49,125
or trying to bring awareness to,
you know, mental health

2222
01:34:49,125 --> 01:34:50,500
and everything like that.

2223
01:34:50,500 --> 01:34:52,208
And I was like, "Wow, you know
maybe the ring"

2224
01:34:52,208 --> 01:34:54,667
and then it was that simple.
I was like, "Yeah, it's perfect"

2225
01:34:54,667 --> 01:34:59,375
You know, uh, that's something
that can, um, help others.

2226
01:34:59,375 --> 01:35:01,291
Something materialistic, you
know.

2227
01:35:01,291 --> 01:35:05,125
We raffled it. The strategy
was to raise

2228
01:35:05,125 --> 01:35:06,917
enough money to give back to

2229
01:35:06,917 --> 01:35:09,125
some mental health
institutions.

2230
01:35:09,125 --> 01:35:12,792
P. Diddy said he would pay
$220,000 for it -- [laughs]

2231
01:35:12,792 --> 01:35:15,917
which is pretty cool. I said,
"That's not gonna be enough."

2232
01:35:15,917 --> 01:35:19,542
And I raised $670,000 in three
months.

2233
01:35:19,542 --> 01:35:21,166
And the person who won the
raffle, his mom

2234
01:35:21,166 --> 01:35:23,166
had mental health issues.

2235
01:35:23,166 --> 01:35:26,667
It's Ron being Ron, you know?

2236
01:35:26,667 --> 01:35:30,333
He -- he's gonna say or do a
lot of things that most people

2237
01:35:30,333 --> 01:35:32,834
would look at and be like,
"What?"

2238
01:35:32,834 --> 01:35:35,709
But he's doing it from his
heart.

2239
01:35:35,709 --> 01:35:40,125
Yes, how's everybody doing
today? Yes.

2240
01:35:40,125 --> 01:35:41,875
I went through, um, parenting
counseling,

2241
01:35:41,875 --> 01:35:43,834
I went through anger
management counseling,

2242
01:35:43,834 --> 01:35:46,917
I went through marriage
counseling, and I was like,

2243
01:35:46,917 --> 01:35:50,291
"It was so expensive, but it
helped me."

2244
01:35:50,291 --> 01:35:53,834
So I'm like, "How can a kid in
East LA,

2245
01:35:53,834 --> 01:35:55,542
in Queensbridge projects,

2246
01:35:55,542 --> 01:35:58,375
in Detroit, you know, in
Little Rock, Arkansas,

2247
01:35:58,375 --> 01:36:01,041
how can they get the same
help, you know,

2248
01:36:01,041 --> 01:36:02,458
that I've -- that I've gotten?

2249
01:36:02,458 --> 01:36:04,458
You know, without paying so
much."

2250
01:36:04,458 --> 01:36:07,875
You should never be surprised
with Ron Artest's --

2251
01:36:07,875 --> 01:36:09,542
what Ron Artest does.

2252
01:36:09,542 --> 01:36:11,542
You know, most of the things
that he does is --

2253
01:36:11,542 --> 01:36:13,583
is selfless.

2254
01:36:13,583 --> 01:36:19,250
Let's not lose sight of the
completely unpredictable

2255
01:36:19,250 --> 01:36:23,166
beauty in the arc of his story.

2256
01:36:23,166 --> 01:36:26,375
He starts off in Queensbridge

2257
01:36:26,375 --> 01:36:29,583
with his father beating him up
to toughen him.

2258
01:36:29,583 --> 01:36:33,750
We know that he's impaired,
and he ends up

2259
01:36:33,750 --> 01:36:37,667
winning the title, thanking
his shrink.

2260
01:36:37,667 --> 01:36:38,834
How great is that?

2261
01:36:38,834 --> 01:36:40,375
And when you think of mental
health, you know,

2262
01:36:40,375 --> 01:36:42,500
I don't think you have to
be, um,

2263
01:36:42,500 --> 01:36:44,709
you know afraid. It doesn't
mean you're crazy.

2264
01:36:44,709 --> 01:36:48,083
That just means that, you
know, um, you have

2265
01:36:48,083 --> 01:36:50,125
some issues in your life and
you're a young teenager

2266
01:36:50,125 --> 01:36:51,709
or a young kid,

2267
01:36:51,709 --> 01:36:56,709
you know, that does not know
how, you know, to handle it.

2268
01:36:56,709 --> 01:36:58,917
And...

2269
01:36:58,917 --> 01:37:01,333
This is gonna be a way where,
I think, you know,

2270
01:37:01,333 --> 01:37:04,375
you'll be able to talk to
somebody about your problems.

2271
01:37:08,917 --> 01:37:12,875
I reached out to some Twitter
followers saying,

2272
01:37:12,875 --> 01:37:16,250
"Anybody that can find me this
man, I'll take you to lunch."

2273
01:37:16,250 --> 01:37:18,333
I didn't say his name because

2274
01:37:18,333 --> 01:37:19,917
I didn't want people to think
I'm looking for John Green

2275
01:37:19,917 --> 01:37:21,083
for a fight.

2276
01:37:21,083 --> 01:37:22,417
It was in the summertime.

2277
01:37:22,417 --> 01:37:25,250
We were actually getting ready
to go out jetskiing.

2278
01:37:25,250 --> 01:37:29,542
This fan said, "I found a
number, you owe me lunch."

2279
01:37:29,542 --> 01:37:32,333
I called the number, his wife
answered.

2280
01:37:32,333 --> 01:37:35,083
I told her who I was, she was
like, "Get the F out of here.

2281
01:37:35,083 --> 01:37:36,667
Stop playing a prank."

2282
01:37:36,667 --> 01:37:40,625
She was like, "Excuse me? This
is who? What?

2283
01:37:40,625 --> 01:37:42,709
I'm -- I'm, like, looking at her
going, "Who is it?"

2284
01:37:42,709 --> 01:37:44,458
And, uh,

2285
01:37:44,458 --> 01:37:46,583
she looks at me with her
eyes and her kind of mouth

2286
01:37:46,583 --> 01:37:48,667
wide open and she's kind of
handing me the phone

2287
01:37:48,667 --> 01:37:50,792
and she goes, "It's Ron."

2288
01:37:50,792 --> 01:37:52,709
I said, "Ron? Ron who?" And
she goes,

2289
01:37:52,709 --> 01:37:54,250
"It's Ron Artest."

2290
01:37:54,250 --> 01:37:56,375
So I grabbed the phone, I
said, "Hello?"

2291
01:37:56,375 --> 01:37:58,959
So I hear this voice on the
other end of the phone,

2292
01:37:58,959 --> 01:38:01,041
real soft-spoken.

2293
01:38:01,041 --> 01:38:03,458
He says, "Hey, John?" And I
said, "Yeah."

2294
01:38:03,458 --> 01:38:05,166
And he goes, "Hey, this is Ron."

2295
01:38:05,166 --> 01:38:06,583
John answers the phone.

2296
01:38:06,583 --> 01:38:09,125
"Hey, Ron. What's up?" Like he
knew I was calling.

2297
01:38:09,125 --> 01:38:10,458
This guy's crazy.

2298
01:38:10,458 --> 01:38:14,333
I was amazed that this guy
actually went to the trouble

2299
01:38:14,333 --> 01:38:18,291
to pick up that, you know,
400 lb phone

2300
01:38:18,291 --> 01:38:20,041
and make a phone call to me.

2301
01:38:20,041 --> 01:38:22,125
I mean, I -- I thought about it
for a long time,

2302
01:38:22,125 --> 01:38:23,625
and I was like, "Man, that's
really amazing."

2303
01:38:23,625 --> 01:38:26,208
I reached out to John Green
because...

2304
01:38:27,291 --> 01:38:31,500
Just to, like, get rid of, um,
animosity and stuff.

2305
01:38:31,500 --> 01:38:35,458
I just don't like to hold
grudges too long.

2306
01:38:35,458 --> 01:38:36,709
Some things don't make it
right,

2307
01:38:36,709 --> 01:38:38,792
some things you take back.

2308
01:38:38,792 --> 01:38:44,000
John was a alcoholic and he
had taken AA meetings.

2309
01:38:44,667 --> 01:38:48,458
He was going through things
with his family.

2310
01:38:48,458 --> 01:38:50,834
And who knows what the kid who
actually made the bet

2311
01:38:50,834 --> 01:38:52,875
was going through.
[laughs]

2312
01:38:52,875 --> 01:38:57,834
So us three, we're pretty
stupid-ass people.

2313
01:38:57,834 --> 01:39:00,000
[John] We were able to talk
a lot about the -- the --

2314
01:39:00,000 --> 01:39:01,500
that night.

2315
01:39:01,500 --> 01:39:03,834
He shared with me that he's
gone through some

2316
01:39:03,834 --> 01:39:08,250
mental illness and, uh, he's
been seeing a counselor and

2317
01:39:08,250 --> 01:39:10,750
I've been through a lot of the
same situations myself,

2318
01:39:10,750 --> 01:39:14,667
you know, with, uh, I'm a
recovering alcoholic.

2319
01:39:14,667 --> 01:39:17,750
I remember turning on the TV
maybe four, five years ago

2320
01:39:17,750 --> 01:39:22,166
and I saw him and the
guy, um...

2321
01:39:22,166 --> 01:39:24,709
basically are friends now.

2322
01:39:25,375 --> 01:39:29,041
And that touched me the
wrong way.

2323
01:39:29,041 --> 01:39:33,208
Because that impacted a lot of
people.

2324
01:39:33,208 --> 01:39:34,709
That was very personal to me.

2325
01:39:34,709 --> 01:39:36,417
I watched -- I -- it's hard to
watch a city

2326
01:39:36,417 --> 01:39:37,959
be stripped down like that.

2327
01:39:37,959 --> 01:39:40,542
Out of all the times that I
tried to reach out to Ron,

2328
01:39:40,542 --> 01:39:42,709
I tried to be a good teammate
to him,

2329
01:39:42,709 --> 01:39:45,750
and then you go and you reach
out to this guy.

2330
01:39:45,750 --> 01:39:48,709
Literally reached out and
found -- found the guy.

2331
01:39:48,709 --> 01:39:51,375
But never spoke to me.

2332
01:39:51,375 --> 01:39:54,166
So that was -- that was a
problem.

2333
01:39:56,291 --> 01:39:58,917
[Ron] And Jermaine always,
always was there for me.

2334
01:39:58,917 --> 01:40:01,208
Always -- always was there
for me.

2335
01:40:01,208 --> 01:40:02,917
More than anyone.

2336
01:40:03,583 --> 01:40:05,083
[Jermaine] He got my number.

2337
01:40:05,083 --> 01:40:07,208
He's reached out to me
multiple times talking

2338
01:40:07,208 --> 01:40:10,333
about his regrets towards
me and the Pacers and --

2339
01:40:10,333 --> 01:40:11,583
And I knew it was really --

2340
01:40:11,583 --> 01:40:14,000
he's really thinking about
this.

2341
01:40:14,834 --> 01:40:19,375
And our friendship is now
just starting.

2342
01:40:20,542 --> 01:40:25,041
[Ron] It's years and years
and years of psychology

2343
01:40:25,041 --> 01:40:27,041
and then, um...

2344
01:40:28,583 --> 01:40:29,792
...and that's it.
"Content" is a great word.

2345
01:40:29,792 --> 01:40:31,458
I love content. Content is very
important.

2346
01:40:31,458 --> 01:40:33,542
A lot of people's not content.

2347
01:40:33,542 --> 01:40:37,875
Metta is receiving the mental
health heroes award

2348
01:40:37,875 --> 01:40:42,041
because of his courage and
willingness to come forward

2349
01:40:42,041 --> 01:40:44,750
and talk about mental health.

2350
01:40:44,750 --> 01:40:47,208
This is not common, as you
know,

2351
01:40:47,208 --> 01:40:49,542
amongst professional athletes.

2352
01:40:49,542 --> 01:40:52,917
But Metta is setting the tone
and bringing attention

2353
01:40:52,917 --> 01:40:54,792
to mental health disorders

2354
01:40:54,792 --> 01:40:57,458
and the importance of seeking
help.

2355
01:40:57,458 --> 01:41:00,709
So ladies and gentlemen,
please welcome

2356
01:41:00,709 --> 01:41:02,083
Metta to the podium.

2357
01:41:02,083 --> 01:41:05,208
[cheers and applause]

2358
01:41:08,750 --> 01:41:10,583
[Ron] I was affected by
mental  health.

2359
01:41:10,583 --> 01:41:13,041
Uh, my dad had functioned
on medication.

2360
01:41:13,041 --> 01:41:15,458
My auntie has been in
institutions

2361
01:41:15,458 --> 01:41:17,250
since she was --
since I was 10

2362
01:41:17,250 --> 01:41:19,291
and I'm 38 now. And, um,

2363
01:41:19,291 --> 01:41:22,417
and one of her sons has been
locked away in institutions.

2364
01:41:22,417 --> 01:41:25,208
My little sister is, um, uh,

2365
01:41:25,208 --> 01:41:27,583
been in and out of institutions
since she was 13.

2366
01:41:27,583 --> 01:41:29,792
She's about 23, 24 now.

2367
01:41:29,792 --> 01:41:32,625
And she's trying to get off
medication and

2368
01:41:32,625 --> 01:41:35,834
trying to make a life for
herself. And so...

2369
01:41:35,834 --> 01:41:38,917
I'm like, "The way I played
defense

2370
01:41:38,917 --> 01:41:40,792
is the way I attack this."

2371
01:41:40,792 --> 01:41:44,291
It was the last day of my game
with the Lakers.

2372
01:41:44,291 --> 01:41:47,458
I was post-traumatic syndrome.

2373
01:41:47,458 --> 01:41:49,083
I was going through a little
bit.

2374
01:41:49,083 --> 01:41:50,458
I'm like, "Oh, my goodness.
What am I --

2375
01:41:50,458 --> 01:41:52,000
what am I gonna do? I have
nothing to do this morning.

2376
01:41:52,000 --> 01:41:54,458
I'm not preparing for
a next season next year."

2377
01:41:54,458 --> 01:41:57,291
And that was kind of haunting.

2378
01:41:57,291 --> 01:41:59,333
I got myself together

2379
01:41:59,333 --> 01:42:02,792
and I called, uh, UCLA.

2380
01:42:02,792 --> 01:42:05,834
I said, "I want to go back to
school."

2381
01:42:05,834 --> 01:42:08,667
And I went to UCLA and took
digital analytics.

2382
01:42:08,667 --> 01:42:11,500
Then I signed up for a coding
class,

2383
01:42:11,500 --> 01:42:13,458
with technology being very
important.

2384
01:42:13,458 --> 01:42:15,333
So I got a digital marketing
team

2385
01:42:15,333 --> 01:42:17,750
and my digital marketing team,

2386
01:42:17,750 --> 01:42:20,166
I mean, we can do anything,
you know?

2387
01:42:20,166 --> 01:42:22,458
Books... [laughs]

2388
01:42:22,458 --> 01:42:25,542
...sneakers -- [laughs] We
can market anything.

2389
01:42:25,542 --> 01:42:27,500
Can I have a hug before you
go?

2390
01:42:27,500 --> 01:42:30,458
You all right? You good?
Give me a hug.

2391
01:42:30,458 --> 01:42:33,000
I'm happy with my kids. My
kids are doing well.

2392
01:42:33,000 --> 01:42:36,250
They're smart, and I'm so
proud of my children.

2393
01:42:36,250 --> 01:42:38,250
Happy with where -- where I'm
at.

2394
01:42:38,250 --> 01:42:40,959
I got a pretty simple
lifestyle. [laugh]

2395
01:42:40,959 --> 01:42:42,500
It's not too complicated.

2396
01:42:42,500 --> 01:42:44,875
Don't worry about fucking up.

2397
01:42:45,333 --> 01:42:48,041
Get your basketball body going.

2398
01:42:48,041 --> 01:42:49,834
If you've got two people in
front of you,

2399
01:42:49,834 --> 01:42:53,333
if you've got a little bit of
space, attack that shit.

2400
01:42:53,333 --> 01:42:56,792
Great thing to my mind about
Ron Artest,

2401
01:42:56,792 --> 01:42:59,750
the everlasting
accomplishment

2402
01:42:59,750 --> 01:43:02,834
is that you see athletes all
the time

2403
01:43:02,834 --> 01:43:07,959
come back from drugs, come
back from orthopedic ruin,

2404
01:43:07,959 --> 01:43:11,041
come back from jail time.

2405
01:43:11,041 --> 01:43:15,542
Who comes back from what we
dismiss as crazy?

2406
01:43:15,542 --> 01:43:19,041
You know how much balls it
takes to come back from crazy?

2407
01:43:20,542 --> 01:43:22,166
[Ron] People evolve, man.
That's -- that's it.

2408
01:43:22,166 --> 01:43:23,750
People evolve.

2409
01:43:23,750 --> 01:43:26,750
It took a long time to get
there...

2410
01:43:26,750 --> 01:43:29,625
...to be great. [laughs]

2411
01:43:29,625 --> 01:43:32,417
I never thought I would be
able to laugh about it.

2412
01:43:32,417 --> 01:43:36,125
And it wasn't a consistently
great career, stats-wise,

2413
01:43:36,125 --> 01:43:37,750
but it was definitely a great
moment,

2414
01:43:37,750 --> 01:43:41,333
and that's gonna go down
in history. It's recorded.

2415
01:43:41,333 --> 01:43:46,125
Interterrestrial aliens don't
really give a shit. [laughs]

2416
01:43:46,125 --> 01:43:49,125
But we down here on Earth give
a shit.

2417
01:43:49,125 --> 01:43:51,625
Hell of a moment.

2418
01:43:51,625 --> 01:43:54,125
Unless, somehow, all the
electricity goes out

2419
01:43:54,125 --> 01:43:55,333
in the world,

2420
01:43:55,333 --> 01:43:59,166
that moment's gonna be
replayed a long time.

2421
01:44:02,333 --> 01:44:04,875
♪It's the Q to the B
with the M-O-B-B♪

2422
01:44:04,875 --> 01:44:07,917
♪Queensbridge Brooklyn
and we D-double-E-P♪

2423
01:44:07,917 --> 01:44:09,583
♪Y'all wish I lived the
life I live♪

2424
01:44:09,583 --> 01:44:13,000
♪Ayo Prodigy, tell 'em what
this is Dunn♪

2425
01:44:13,000 --> 01:44:14,291
Somebody asked him one day,

2426
01:44:14,291 --> 01:44:19,333
"Who's the illest player you
ever played against?"

2427
01:44:19,333 --> 01:44:21,250
He said, "Mike Chatfield."

2428
01:44:21,250 --> 01:44:22,875
Yo, listen to me.

2429
01:44:22,875 --> 01:44:26,125
I was in DFY with Mike
Chatfield.

2430
01:44:26,125 --> 01:44:27,667
I could ne-- Listen.

2431
01:44:27,667 --> 01:44:29,959
I could never steal the ball
from him.

2432
01:44:29,959 --> 01:44:32,625
Like, I was good at, like,
getting the ball.

2433
01:44:32,625 --> 01:44:34,959
He would just be like this --

2434
01:44:34,959 --> 01:44:37,834
So when he said that, I was
like, "Ahh!"

2435
01:44:37,834 --> 01:44:39,208
He said Mike Chatfield!

2436
01:44:39,208 --> 01:44:41,166
He could've said he played
against Michael Jordan

2437
01:44:41,166 --> 01:44:42,625
was the hardest person he
played against.

2438
01:44:42,625 --> 01:44:45,291
He could've said Kobe! He
could've said LeBron!

2439
01:44:45,291 --> 01:44:49,458
He said Mike fucking
Chatfield, yo!

2440
01:44:49,458 --> 01:44:52,709
That's amazing! I was in jail
with him!

2441
01:44:52,709 --> 01:44:53,875
...I'm so sorry.

2442
01:44:53,875 --> 01:44:56,792
I went too far.
I went too far.

2443
01:44:56,792 --> 01:44:58,583
Okay, let's get back to the
question.

2444
01:44:58,583 --> 01:45:00,333
What was it? You didn't
even ask that question.

2445
01:45:00,333 --> 01:45:02,834
I'm so-- I'm so sorry I went
there.

2446
01:45:02,834 --> 01:45:04,500
[commentator] He's not the
perfect player,

2447
01:45:04,500 --> 01:45:07,583
he's not the perfect person,
but anybody who knows him well

2448
01:45:07,583 --> 01:45:11,667
swear by his loyalty and
what a big heart he has.

2449
01:45:11,667 --> 01:45:15,333
♪Yo, Sevada
d-d-drop that beat♪

2450
01:45:15,333 --> 01:45:19,000
♪minimal synth
beats♪

2451
01:45:24,291 --> 01:45:26,834
♪♪♪

2452
01:45:34,333 --> 01:45:36,834
♪ Artest, back to
three♪

2453
01:45:36,834 --> 01:45:39,125
♪ Artest, back to
three-three♪

2454
01:45:39,125 --> 01:45:41,709
♪ Artest, back to
three♪

2455
01:45:41,709 --> 01:45:44,041
♪ Artest, back to
three♪

2456
01:45:44,041 --> 01:45:46,875
♪ Artest, back to
three♪

2457
01:45:46,875 --> 01:45:49,000
♪ Artest, back-
back to three♪

2458
01:45:49,000 --> 01:45:51,041
♪ Artest, back to
three♪

2459
01:45:51,041 --> 01:45:53,917
♪ Back to three
back to three♪

2460
01:45:53,917 --> 01:45:56,333
♪ Artest, back to
three♪

2461
01:45:56,333 --> 01:45:58,709
♪ Artest, back to
three-three♪

2462
01:45:58,709 --> 01:46:01,208
♪ Artest, back to
three♪

2463
01:46:01,208 --> 01:46:04,375
♪ Artest, back to
three♪

2464
01:46:04,375 --> 01:46:07,875
♪minimal synth
beats♪

2465
01:46:13,875 --> 01:46:16,875
♪♪♪

2466
01:46:28,500 --> 01:46:30,917
♪♪♪