Ron Artest and culture

Dennis Rodman and his FIVE NBA Championship rings might beg to differ.

I think Artest's similarities to Rodman might help explain why teams keep rolling the dice on him--they both got the same type of hot wired screw loose personality, they bring the same type of rare manic defensive energy, and as a bonus Artest actually has the offensive game too. Everyone thinks they're the ones who'll figure out how to control him like the Bulls and Pistons somehow did with Rodman.

 

Rodman was instrumental in the two Detroit championships, which also coincided with the time period in which he was relatively sane.

With the Bulls, he was just along for the ride, like everybody else. A dozen other NBA power forwards could have done the same job (just as a dozen other SFs could have taken the place of Pippen).

By this time Rodman was utterly useless at every single possible thing you could do on the basketball court, except rebounding. (Yes, including defense -- the late-career Rodman was actually a below-average defender, constantly losing contact with his man in his lunatic pursuits of cherry-pick rebounds, and giving up boatloads of putback baskets by unboxed opponents. But of course, rebounding was what they needed him to do, so nobody cared.)

You saw what happened to Rodman once he couldn't ride Jordan's back any more: Out of the league within two seasons (and a total of 30 games played).

Ron Artest would look like an effective player if he was playing on the same team as Jordan in his prime, too.

 

Rodman was also 38 his last season in the NBA and led the league in rebounds his final season with the Bulls. Don't recall any other power forwards leading the league in rebounds while playing with Jordan.

 

That's because the only time Jordan ever missed was in that Gatorade commercial.

 

That's good to know next time I go to a Rockets game. I'm going to disrespect him, put up my dukes, and enjoy my highlights on ESPN.

 

About Rodman being along for the ride, that's pure BS. Remember, the Bulls lost Horace Grant the season before Rodman was there, and the Bulls missed Grants rebounding and defense. Rodman was instrumental in filling the hole Grant left and then some, being the 3rd piece in the 72 win team's puzzle.

To say Rodman was along their for the ride is a pure nonsense.

 

According to certain people, not only do nut cases help teams win but the front office has an obligation to allow Manny to continue bein' Manny.

 

Funny, I thought Rodman was the NBA's leading rebounder every year that he was with the Bulls. How the hell is that "just along for the ride"?

 

Rodman led the league in rebounding with the Bulls, because he categorically refused to waste even one iota of effort doing ANY THING ELSE on the court. Offense, defense, Rodman wanted no part of it unless it showed up in the REB column.

Funny -- any player who ever categorically refused to do anything on the court than pile up numbers in certain other stat categories, such as, oh, let's say, POINTS, would have been scorched coast to coast as a selfish ballhog, yet all we heard about Rodman was what a great fundamental player he was.

The Bulls won because of Michael Jordan. Everybody else was riding his coattails. The utter dominance of Jordan, the greatest player of all time, was the reason the Bulls could tolerate Rodman's ego-tripping stat-padding, and actually put it to use.

 

Pippen had career highs in ppg, apg and rpg and received the most votes for the All-NBA team the year Jordan was retired.

He was also the MVP of the All-Star game and was one Hue Hollins Donaghy-ism from taking the Bulls to the finals. Instead, he had only 22, 18 and 6 in MSG in Game 7.

 

One Point Eight Seconds.

That's the end of the discussion of Scottii Pippen as a "great player."

 

Selling crack on Martin Luther King Jr Avenue in some city in the USA, while on parole.