Artest: "I Used to Drink Hennessey at Halftime"
Ron Artest tells some stories from when he was 19. Turns out the reputation was right, he was pretty wild.
He is so hood.
Nobody is denying that years ago, Ron Artest loved to party and have a few drinks. Not even Ron Artest.
"I used to drink Hennessy ... at halftime," Artest said in an interview with The Sporting News, which is publishing the story in its Dec. 7 issue. "I [kept it] in my locker. I'd just walk to the liquor store and get it...""When I was a 19-year-old father, whew. I was a single pimp! I was wild," he told the magazine. "A lot of marijuana and alcohol -- even before [that age]. ... I [still] party and I have fun, but not like I used to. I used to drink every night and party every night."
Artest spent the first two-and-a-half years of his career in Chicago, before being traded to Indiana. He has also played in Sacramento, Houston and now is finding his way with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Artest was quick to add that the only alcohol involved in the famous brawl at the Palace in Detroit was the beer poured on him. He still sees himself as not at fault in that one, the one where he rushed into the stands to go after a fan. Artest sees it differently than you (and David Stern).
That’s because Ron Artest is different. He is not your everyday NBA player. He shows up on national talk shows wearing just some short shorts. He calls himself Tru Warrior. He has three twitter accounts going and uses them to talk to fans and promote his rap albums and all things Artest. He hangs out with models and artists, and shows up in Toni Braxton videos. And he admits he still likes to go out and party now and again.
But a few weeks back, he turned 30, and this is a more mature Ron Artest now than the 19-year-old single pimp. Isn’t admitting that you used to be out of control a sign of maturity? And you can be sure he is not drinking during games now, because Kobe Bryant would not allow it — and Kobe is the Alpha Dog in the Lakers locker room. Kobe would fly into a rage that would make is trade demand rants from a couple years back look like a kindergarten teacher talking to her class.
But more than that, Artest wouldn’t want to. Talking to Artest now you realize he is very self-aware, and a more intelligent and mature guy than he national reputation. He’s just a different cat. This is a guy who has both talked about and worked hard to fit in with his new team. He is acting and playing like a guy who can see both the end of his hoops career coming and the chance to win a ring. And he wants the latter before the former.
But, much like everyone who is 30, who he is today does not make the stories from when he was 19 any less fun to tell. Or any less fun for us to hear.
Kurt Helin prefers to drink single malt scotch while writing the NBA/Lakers blog Forum Blue & Gold (which you can also follow in twitter).
