NBA star Ron Artest interviewed Wednesday, November 18, 2009, after leaving practice with the L.A. Lakers.

Ron.

Hey man, I’m right here.

Hey man, what’s up?

Not much. Things are going alright.

You guys gotta be a little happy after last night’s win.

Yes. It was a great game. Great win for us. We definitely needed it. We’ve gotta bounce back slowly but surely from all those losses we had. We underachieved so to speak.

How does coach Jackson handle this particular team after a loss when it comes to things like practice?

He’s always trying to help us understand that we’ve gotta get better. He’s not the type of person to really get down on us that much. He’s more like ‘Guys will get better. Hang in there.’ He’s a veteran’s coach.

The other night you dropped 22 points on Houston and led the team in scoring. Would you consider yourself a guy motivated by playing a former team?

Na, not necessarily. I’m more just motivated just by playing basketball in general.

You’re playing with the defending champs and aside from Boston this is the team that most represents the NBA as a whole. Tell me what it was like to slip on that yellow jersey for the first time and do you still get excited on gameday when you’re putting that thing on?

Yeah, definitely. All the time. Sometimes you have to remember that you’re playing basketball and that jersey really has no meaning to it because when you’re playing and you take off the shirts and it’s just a bunch of men playing basketball. Sometimes you forget that to win the game and get so caught up in the moment.

On this roster, you’re the only player that wasn’t there last season. How has that transition been being the new guy on a championship team?

Yeah. It hasn’t been hard. It’s been pretty easy. Just kind of breaking in, coach has been helping me out a lot. Players have been real easy to get along with. It hasn’t been hard at all.

Obviously there was going to be some talk about how you were going to interact with Kobe, especially with that heated playoff series last year. How are things between yourself and Kobe and do you guys do anything away from basketball?

We go out sometimes. We go out together and eat lunch and meals and talk all the time. We’re around each other all the time while we’re playing and have a chance to communicate as a team all the time.

You guys get together as teammates for the first time, how are looking at him now that you’re not battling against him?

Now we’re teammates and you don’t battle against your teammate. I don’t know what team does that (laughs).

He’s your teammate now and you’re not battling. You guys are passing the rock to each other and are counting on each other. Describe your feelings now that you’re on that side of the ball.

It’s funny ‘cause I think had a dream one time that I was on this team and I was playing for the Lakers and I accidentally fouled him and we were on the same team (laughs) and I fouled him and he’s like ‘Ron, what are you doing?’ I’m like ‘You’re not scoring,’ and I’m like ‘Oh my goodness, we’re on the same team.’  That was kind of funny (laughs).

I wonder what that dream means (laughs).

I know, right? (laughs). That’s funny.

The other night against the Nuggets you get your fifth foul and you’re headed to the bench and Mark Jackson says that he feels you’ve matured so much because in years past you would’ve gotten very vocal about it or taken a little time to get to the bench but you sat right down. Do you feel like you’ve matured and if so, what do you think has been the cause of it?

I think I’m just getting older and understanding that life is bigger than basketball. Basketball it is some people’s life but life is bigger than basketball to me. Sometimes some things are not worth stressing yourself over. The only thing worth using some brain cells over is like family-type things but everything else is just rewards. It’s a reward that god gives you so you’ve gotta enjoy the reward. That’s how I look at it.

How much did your childhood on the playground influence you as an adult in the NBA?

I think as a kid it influenced me, as a young, immature NBA player it influenced me, as an adult, I guess I’m street smart. Where I grew up from, it helps you to be street smart. Other than that, it ends up preparing me for some of the things that I have encountered now. The lifestyle, the financial. It has prepared me for that. You’ve witnessed a lot of shit that no one could possibly comprehend. Going back to the days on the court as a young man, watching someone get murdered, playing the sport as tough as it get. Do you think people have underestimated what you’ve had to overcome in terms of understanding you as a basketball player and a person?

I think other people have had more tougher stories than what I’ve had. I mean I’ve seen a lot of things, but I’ve still lived a pretty smooth life. It was still kind of rough. I think a lot of people’ s stories worse than mine like Leon Powe from the Cleveland Cavaliers, he has a real interesting story but at the same time, I think people, they don’t necessarily take it for granted but they kind of don’t understand that it’s really not easy for somebody like me to play under certain circumstances and they kind of wrote people like me off immediately. Instead of understanding what’s the problem and actually understanding why a person feels the way he feels, some people know. That’s the amazing thing and the funny thing. They know why a person feels the way he feels and they just wait for them to mess up and when they mess up they act like they were the smartest people in the world. They act like ‘I told you so,’ when actually that person was never perfect anyway.

I remember Charles Barkley once talking about how NBA players should not be considered role models and how that should be your parents or your teachers and stuff like that. Early on a career I think a guy has to earn the role model role, not just by putting on the jersey but going through years of doing stuff on the court and off the court. What do you think of that and do you feel like you’re a role model for kids?

I think I created my own role model type of title. I think that I created a new type of role model because I’m like the role model that’s not perfect. I’m not the role model that’s not perfect that just don’t care and doesn’t want to be a role model. I’m the role model that’s not perfect that does wanna be a role model. I always go into a situation when I’m speaking to kids, when I’m speaking to anybody, let them know that I’m not perfect. I make mistakes and I might make another mistake. I also leave them with that. That I do care. Especially with the youth. That’s no bullshit. They’re the future. I’ve got kids. They’re the future. When we’re gone, the only people that’s gonna keep the earth green is the youth. It’s definitely important to me that this earth is green. I know that sounds kind of corny but it’s definitely important that this earth is green for my kids and my grandkids rather than being brown and full of dirt. That’s what’s really important to me along with my children being able to get along with other children. That’s also important to me too.

Was there a particular moment in your life, whether it be rock bottom or a revelation, but a point where you’re just like ‘I’ve gotta lift myself up and move on?’

I never had nothing to learn from. Like learn from what?

You were saying that you make your mistakes and you move on. Was there something that happened where you were you had to learn from something?

As a kid, you’re only influenced by adults and that’s it. Mistakes as a kid are really innocent mistakes. They’re not really mistakes. You do exactly what you’re preached and what you learn. When I grew up, I realized there were some things that I seen that wasn’t right. Something was wrong. I think as a kid you grow up with love in your heart, as a baby, as an infant, as a child. When you experience violence or hate, or you experience negativity, then your either not smart enough when you’re a kid to understand it’s wrong or you understand it’s wrong. Either or. That’s what influences you and that’s why you see people grow up how they grow up. That’s why you see people grow up as great leaders or great math teachers or doctors or some people grow up in jail.

Do you think the NBA tends to redflag outspoken guys like yourself and Stephen Jackson?

I think it’s the history of this being a corporate world. It’s no secret that when you’re loud, you’re automatically … you’re quicker to get in trouble, probably go to jail faster than somebody else. When you’re not how people want you to be, you’re quicker to be scrutinized by people who have an opinion on you. That’s just people being in a corporate world. I think it was an adjustment for the NBA. Before there were no blacks in the NBA. That was like, I don’t know how many years ago was that? That took awhile to adjust and then you have some of the owners and people going from team to team and people have that same standard of how the business should be run and after awhile, years and years they realize, ok, something’s wrong with how this is run. We’ve gotta change it a little bit. Then they allow blacks and they allow … then you see more, even with the quarterback situation in the NFL. It’s something you kind of get used to as far as being in this field, in this corporate world. I think the corporate world is slowly adjusting to the talent. There’s all type of talent from black to Asian with Yao Ming to white people. Now you’ve got this melting pot that the corporate world has to adjust to. Everything’s pretty much changing with the times. I wouldn’t past the NBA if that’s how it was at a point in time, maybe early in my career, but I can see some change in the NBA as far as people like me.

The one thing that comes to my mind is last year’s playoffs with quick to throw the whistle, quick to throw the T and quick to throw the ejection. You wonder, is that primarily because this person’s outspoken and they’re just saying ‘You’re out of here.’ Whereas if someone’s usually quiet, they would …

Na, I think that’s true. You’ve gotta look at the history. That’s how the referee’s and I think Stern’s said it before. He took all things into consideration when I got ejected and he said they were protecting the game. You have to take all things into consideration, what I’ve been through and what type of person I am, and that’s part of the reason why he ejected me so fast. At first I just thought they was kind of racist. Stern and the referee. A couple years ago, I thought Stern was a racist but after I read into the story more, I slowly kinda changed my view and I started to think maybe he’s just all business. Then with the referee situation, I thought that he was all business. Understanding that, I have to adjust to my environment as well as other people have adjusted to their environment. There’s an adjustment for everybody.

You were just talking a minute ago about how competitive this league is and the melting pot. This last offseason you were one of a handful of really coveted free agents. How do you stay on top as each year goes by as all these young guys are coming up?

I think you take care of your body. Eventually it’s gonna be where an old guy is not gonna have a chance to compete with the young guys ‘cause the young guys coming up like LeBron James and they’re taking care of their bodies. Eventually these guys are not gonna have a chance to compete with these young guys. Right now, us old guys, as far as NBA terms, we know how to take care of our bodies right now.

I heard you were interested in boxing down the road. Is that a real interest or just something that came up?

That’s definitely real. I’m gonna pursue it probably, I’ve got five years on my deal and I can opt out of my fifth year, so I’ve been training for the last two years. I haven’t been sparring, I’ve just been training, so depending on how I end in a couple of years or how successful I am in basketball, that will determine whether I give boxing a shot. It’s something my father did and something I’m gonna do also, eventually.

Did you do it as a young man?

A little bit here and there. The good thing about it is, I haven’t got hit a lot. That’s why I kind of like getting hit on the basketball court. I can hit my face, I can hit my ribs. I kind of like it. I kind of enjoy those moments. When I start boxing I’m gonna get hit a lot.

Are you thinking old school fighting or are you thinking mixed martial arts kind of style?

No this is boxing. No mixed martial arts. Definitely no mixed martial arts. Just boxing. I don’t even wanna mess with mixed martial arts (laughs). Just boxing and fighting people that’s on the same level as my skill, the same skill level. Nothing more, nothing less.

If you could take any NBA player when they were physically in their prime, which one would you wanna take on?

As far as boxing?

Yeah, you can have a dream boxing match with any player.

Playing basketball?

No, boxing. You have to box him.

Um. I think me and Ben Wallace would be a good match. That’d be a big money maker.

Do you sometimes get tired of your life being shined under a microscope being an NBA player, now you’re in L.A. of all places?

No, I don’t mind it. I think it helps the NBA, it helps the players. Lebron being famous helps me being famous and people looking forward to the matchup when I play against Lebron. It helps the game. It helps the ratings. All the players contribute to what the NBA is. I don’t mind being seen a lot.

Traditionally you have people not involved in sports gripping about the salaries of professional athletes, reading the newspaper, listening to it on the radio. In this crazy economy those salaries are staying pretty much on point. Are you experiencing the pinch of this economy or does it affect you at all?

It does affect me a little bit as far as the NBA. I do think some people are using the economy as an excuse not to pay. I think some people gripe at the salaries and you’ve gotta look at how much money the owners are making. The owners are making a lot of money so, some owners wanna give it to the players and then you’ve got people like David Stern who does a good job of protecting all his money. If I was an NBA owner, I think I probably would like someone like David Stern who’s gonna protect the owners from themselves ‘cause they might spend too much money. Then teams would be going under the cap and being sold and stuff. We don’t want teams being sold. That’s where Stern does a good job. At the same time, I think the owners make a lot of money, enough to pay the players that they’re given. If anybody gripes, they should gripe at everybody. Not just the players.

Are you still involved in music at all?

Yeah. Definitely.

How’s that going? 5:35

It’s going good. I’ve got my artist XX, from China. She’ll be here soon. She’s working on an album here in L.A. Then I have my rappers the Robot Warriors, we have a group of about seven of us and we’re working on an album together. I have another girl group called the Queen of Spades with one girl from Kenya, Africa, and they’re working on some projects. The music is going real good. It’s fun.

You’ve got your NBA side, playing basketball and you’ve got your artistic side, being able to really work with music. How does that rejuvenate you?

It’s fun because you’ve got a chance to rejuvenate your basketball career and then you’ve got a chance to be successful and then you have a chance to do your music career also. Something you’ve always wanted to do. It’s like you feel like you’re in a great situation.

Do you have any hobbies that you do away from basketball aside from work?

Mainly for fun, I just work (laughs). That’s it. I guess I pretty much just work and try to get better and try to continue to improve on my basketball and improve on my business.

After basketball’s done and over with, are you thinking of staying in the game at all?

I do wanna stay in the game. I might go away from the game for a little bit but I’d love to be a coach and then after that hopefully be a general manager one day also. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.

Obviously you’ve been involved in an notorious incident in NBA history and you’ve picked yourself up and moved on and continued your great career …

Yeah.

You didn’t let that define who you were as a basketball player and as a person. Describe how you feel knowing that you got through all of that.

It was pretty easy because I didn’t start it and I didn’t injure anybody. It was pretty easy to get through it. It was something that was outta my control. If it was in my control, it would’ve been a little more difficult handling it. It wasn’t in my control. There was nothing I could do. It was a situation that somebody else was supposed to control as far as security and other people. There was nothing I could do to control it.

We’re in an environment now where it’s constant ESPN, talk radio, newspaper columnists, where you have this event and it gets blown out of proportion and it’s something where you get in more trouble then maybe you should’ve. Do you look at it as being a fair environment for people to deal with?

I don’t know. It’s probably not fair but it’s definitely a situation and a circumstance that I had to deal with. It was definitely a big story and in being such a big story it went from selling news to contributing to losing someone’s job. As far as the TV world like CNN and Fox, ESPN, they’ve all gotta sell sponsorship. That story and that event helps sell sponsorship. That event selling sponsorship and people watching those channels, that helped me lose a job. It wasn’t even all my fault. It was something that growing up, it’s something that you kind of deal with that stuff. You deal with it and you move on. You always move on with your life. That’s how I get by things.

Ron, I appreciate you visiting with me. I’m a fan, but I’m a big Nuggets fan.

Ok (laughs).

I know you don’t wanna hear that (laughs).

Good.

I appreciate you sticking with this interview.

Ok.

Take care.

Bye.