We've said it before, but Newsday is on top of the internet sports report game. A couple of days ago Ken Berger got a phone call from Kenya from... Ron Artest (on his iPhone). Ron Artest is out there traveling with Kermit Washington's organization:
"Kermit Washington, he's the one that put all of this together. He's the one who had the famous fight with Rudy Tomjanovich, and he's deeply sorry about that. But he put all this together. He has an AIDS clinic right in the middle of the slums."
"Kermit built a classroom for young HIV kids. He's doing a great job giving them medicine."
In his phone call to Berger, Ron Artest talks a lot about Larry Jones:
"Larry Jones has a community center in the middle of the slums, and a slum meaning, people live in dirt.
And we also met little babies that their mothers abandoned. They brought them over to Larry Jones' complex in the slums, and some of the babies had broken legs, broken arms, heads damaged. And Larry Jones is just taking care of all of these babies, as many as he can. He's actually going to help me get an orphanage in my name in Kenya. I appreciate that. It's pretty creepy right here."
That last sentence definitely sounds out of place, but keep in mind Ron called from a tent near Nairobi, at 4 AM. So cut him some slack for being on some Blair Witch sh*t... I know my urban ass would also be creeped out if I was camping in Kenya. Or anywhere else. Hell, being in the country freak me out... all the quiet, the crickets!
Oh, Larry Jones is the founder of Feed The Children, an organization that does a lot of work in Africa. They are apparently teaming up with Kermit Washington's organization (Project Contact) on this trip. Feed The Children is "an international nonprofit organization providing aid and assistance to children and families in need in the U.S. and around the world." According to their website, Feed The Children joined forces with Taiwan and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) to create the "Feeding One Million" initiative to provide 5,000 metric tons (11 million pounds) of rice to aid victims of the drought in Kenya. The government of Taiwan donated the rice. This isn't the first time the government of Taiwan has donated rice to help Feed The Children do it's work in Africa.
More Artest:
"When the sun comes up, the guards come and they have their guns and stuff because we have hippopotamuses right next to us. You know, hippopotamuses kill people. So it was pretty freaky. We had bats in our tent. The guards come and wake you up. They give you wake-up calls, you know, just, "Wake up!" There's no phones or nothing. They escort you around the property.
There's monkeys. Oh, my goodness. Elephants have come around here. Bats, mongoose, it's so crazy. So crazy. Cheetahs and lions are like literally right down the street and they can get in here. It's so crazy like that.
We went over the gate right next to where the crocodiles and the hippopotamuses were, and I almost fell in the damn lake. I was scared for my damn life. In my mind, I was like, "What would have happened if I fell up in there?" So I had to make sure I don't walk too far past that gate."
Like I said, I'm a city guy. Me and Ron Artest actually grew up in almost identical places - he grew up in the Queensbridge Houses, I grew up Alphabet City - at around the same time (I'm actually older - I remember watching Artest when he was a freshman at LaSalle, while rooting for Shammgod Wells). So yeah, I find bats, cheetahs, lions a little freaky, too. I like how he said "fell up in there"... apparently Ron Artest's clumsiness defies the laws of gravity. But on the real, I can totally relate to his unease with that kind of nature.
Ken Berger also has collected some great quotes from Artest on other topics, including his relationship with the Kings' owners. Or really, their mom:
"The Maloofs, Mama [Colleen] Maloof, she's been a beautiful lady, a beautiful friend to me. All the Maloofs have been good people to me. So that's what the people of New York City don't really see. They only see a player. They see an opportunity for a trade. But it's important that I tell them more so they really see what has to go into all of this."
Mama Maloof! Oh, and Artest address the trade rumors involving the Knicks, particularly their supposed refusal to including David Lee in a trade:
"If some crazy scenario happened where I was with the Knicks, I would want David Lee there," Artest said. "I love David Lee. I played with him in the 'hood last summer, and he showed so much heart. They were trying to rough up David Lee, but David Lee got rough right back. And this was the projects, you know? And I respected that.
"I wouldn't trade myself for David Lee at all. I love his game. I love how he rebounds. To come off the bench and average close to 10 rebounds, you can't trade a guy like that. You don't trade a guy like David Lee, and Isiah made a great call. I would have done the same thing."
Great quotes all around. I'm hoping to check out some streetball this weekend, especially over at the Kingdome Classic (the one on 115th and Lennox), since it's near where I used to live and still spend a lot of time at (East Harlem). Hopefully I can catch some NBAers at the games.
But a larger point I want to make is this: Ron Artest's reputation as a trouble maker is well known, and well documented. It's well deserved, too - I won't argue too much if you want to call Ron a "thug". It's ironic that he's rolling with Kermit Washington, in that the two of them have each been involved in the two worst incidents of on-court violence in the NBA's history. And they have both been demonized for their involvement, whether fair or unfair.
But let's also remember that Ron Artest is now 26 and getting older. It reminds me of what I've said before about another "thug" - Allen Iverson. AI is now 30, man. He's a family guy. He's not the same guy who got into a brawl at 15, or did the crazy things that he did at 20, or even 25. People get older, and they mellow out.
Growing up in NYC, it's hard to let go of some of the things you have become conditioned to doing. For example, I still can't ride the subway without keeping my guard up, okay? I've been riding the subway since I was little, everyday, and I've seen a lot of stuff in my days. On the subways I've seen people getting beat, robbed, smoking crack, sliced across the face with a razor (yes, I've seen that on the subway), you name it. To this day, if I feel someone brush up against me, my first instinct is to check for my wallet. It's years of conditioning.
Ron Artest and people like him (Iverson, Marbury, etc.) grow up in places that require building defensive mechanisms into your pysche. I'm not giving him a free ride, or excusing his past transgressions. Here's what I'm saying: Sometimes it takes a while to grow out of your old "bad" habits. Sometimes it takes a long while (years) of living away from the scene, away from the trouble, to finally mellow out and lower your guard a bit. Stephon Marbury has been getting a lot of slack lately because of his "odd behavior", but it seems to me like someone that has turned 30, and is finally accepting his new world. Finally accepted that he made it out of the hood, and more importantly is trying to figure out how to thank the world for picking him to be the one.
Marbury's story is especially interesting if you keep in mind all the previous Marbury brothers (he was the fourth, I believe), and their struggles as they tried to make it out the hood by being blessed with tremendous basketball skills. Despite all their skills, everyone of Marbury's older brothers fell short of making it in the NBA, for various reasons. I'll delve into his story some other time, but keep it in mind when you read about Marbury, and how happy he is now. He's overcome obstacles, and made the most of his one opportunity, and did so with tremendous pressure on him, from his family to the entire neighborhood.
Ron Artest is 26. He's made mistakes even in his very recent past - he is suspended for the first seven games of next season, due to an assault & battery charge filed by his wife earlier this year. This phone call or story doesn't mean that Ron Artest is suddenly wiser, or that he's learned from all his mistakes, or that he won't make another dumb decision down the road. But maybe it a sign of someone realizing a bit more about the world, and his place in it, and how blessed he has been:
"Some people, they're good guys and want to be bad boys," Artest said. "I've already got that hard core in me, but I'm trying to be a good guy. And I think I deserve to try to change the views of people about me."
I hope so, Ron.
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Ricky, it's good to hear a fellow blogger who doesn't just assume all athletes are dumb, unable to do good things, or just there to be mocked. I'm not saying we should worship athletes, either, but I don't need to make myself feel big by tearing athletes down.
Yeah, Kenya is in bad shape. The first line of the Artest article said something like "Ron Artest grew up poor, but he's never seen this kind of poverty before" or something to that effect. Its very true.
It's also true that here in the U.S. people don't sometimes don't realize ro appreciate the conditions that our poor people grow up in; I've spoken to many people who have come back from trips to South Africa, and spoken of the crime, the danger, the fear that people live with. That people get their homes broken into regularly. And it often reminded me of growing up in NYC in the 80's. It's not the same thing, but there are plenty of people who have grown up in places like Newark, Detroit, etc. that can probably sympathize with those people living in the large cities of South Africa.
Thanks for your feedback, it's alway appreciated.
u r welcome
I've never been to a bad area in a big US city but I assume african slums are a lot worse, unfortunately
I feel you about the consideration we should have for athletes. One more example.
I used to HATE, and I mean HATE, jugoslavian bball star Drazen Petrovic (former Blazers & Nets player in the mid 90's) when he was playing vs my teams.
First he was an absolute beast, always dropping 40-50 (even 62 points in a final) vs italian teams or Italy's national team, second because his behavuiour on the court was really annoying: he used to made fun of his opponents with trash talking, ignite his crowd with gestures, bitching with refs etc
Then I spoke to a very good friend of mine who knew Petrovic personally very well. He said: "I had your same opinion. Then I spent a week with him (with his national team, FYI) and discovered he is the nicest and sweetest person in the world. He is almost ashamed of himself when he sees his games on tv. Now I would throw myslef in the fire if Drazen asked me to"
talking about dr. Jekyll and Mr Hide personalities: on the court arrogant & annoying, off gentle and polite, and mainly with people he was close to.
How many Drazen Petrovics are out there? And I'm not talking only about sport stars, but also actors, rock & pop stars, artists in general, maybe politicians...
A thoughtful piece of writing on Ron Artest. I've always been an Iverson fan and the comparisons personality wise and the way they are perceived in the media are striking. Both deserve to be seen as more than thugs. Good job, SML.
SML,
This is a great post and I also like Ken Bergers columns on Artest. And interesting commentary from Artest on David Lee. It seems to me that Artest just might sign as a FA next year.
Finally, its good to hear that I'm not the only one scared in the country and crickets...
Ricky,
I just gotta ask..
Is the shit robbery story for real? These kids rob people using shit and then sniff glue in the sewers all day?! (Isn't shit throwing what chimps use as a weapon too?)
JJ,
yes the shit robbery story is true. That friend of mine who lives in Kenya told me, no BS
and yes, those kids become junkies at 6-8 y/o, and since they don't have money to buy more expensive drugs, they snuff glue... how sad is that
they live in "slums" that basically are open air sewers, with no water, toilets, electricity etc. Kinda like "favelas" in Rio de Janeiro
Found your blog and decided to have a quick read, not what a normally do but nice one. Nice to see a blog for a change that isn’t full of spam and rubbish, and actually makes some sense. Anyway, nice write up.
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nice reading, thanks SML. few observations
I have a close friend who lived in Nairobi for 5 years and just left town. he says slums are so bad and dangerous that make NYC, LA, Oakland or any other US town's ghettos look like Wonderland. You might think you grew up in a tough place until you get there.
You have 8-10 yrs old kids there who do the "shit robbery": u r walking or driving and u stop at a semaphore, and they attack you holding a shit (real one) in their hands and threaten you to spread the shit in your face unless you give them money, your watch or whatever. Imagine that. No guns, no knifes. A shit. That's their "weapon".
Those kids are junkies, sniff glue all day and live basically in open air sewers.
Now Artest discovered this stuff and is somehow helping those people. He finds this "creepy". I say: nice. Let's hope more professional athletes, artists, testimonials send this message to the world. Often those guys are so narrow minded it's unbelievable, they live their (lucky) lifes and don't even know what the "creepy" world outside looks like. A reality check helps.
I also have a problem with the "thug" word, even is it's written between "...".
I think many of these "troubled" guys are way better than the average fan thinks of. Probably they are surrounded by fake "friends" or receive bad advices by their wives, agents, relatives etc
If we spend a dinner talking to Iverson or Artest we would probably be amazed by their "normal" and "good" personalities
take care bro