Ordinarily, Ron Artest would have been in his element last night with the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden, where he once starred for St. John’s. Maybe that’s what Artest was thinking when he telephoned teammate Stephen Jackson Friday night to say he’d like to rejoin the Pacers.
Since demanding a trade Monday, Artest has been placed on the inactive list and told to stay away from the team while team president Donnie Walsh and general manager Larry Bird pursue a trade.
The Queens native wasn’t at the Garden last night.
“I talked to Ron,” Jackson said. “Ron wants to play basketball. I know, as a friend and a teammate, he wants to play basketball, and he wants to win.”
Asked if that meant Artest wants to play for Indiana, Jackson said, “I think he does. I think he wants to play basketball with us. He loves his teammates. He has no problems with his teammates.”
Unfortunately for Artest, that horse already may have left the barn. Jackson said he would welcome Artest, but forward Jermaine O’Neal has said the Pacers are better off without Artest, who has been a disruptive force in the locker room and was suspended 73 games last season for his role in the Pacers’ brawl with fans in Auburn Hills, Mich. Jackson and O’Neal received shorter suspensions for coming to Artest’s defense.
Walsh was quoted in a published report yesterday saying he is encouraged by all the trade interest in Artest. But Jackson insisted Artest could return to the Pacers’ fold.
“He’s told me personally he doesn’t have any problems with his teammates,” Jackson said. “I talk to him. We have no problems. We’re on the same page.”
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle sounded far less certain about the possibility of a reconciliation. “We built an entire system around Ron and Jermaine O’Neal,” Carlisle said. “I’m disappointed because I’ve been one of his biggest supporters. The situation has gotten to where it is.
“It’s going to be a franchise decision. It’s in the hands of two of the best basketball men there’s ever been in this league, Larry Bird and Donnie Walsh, and I’ll put my faith in their judgment.”
