Ron Artest Doesn’t Need Clothes
Ron Artest did his entire Jimmy Kimmel Live interview in his boxers. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Is this man wearing pants right now?
After a Lakers game a couple weeks ago, Ron Artest was asked to do a live local from-the-locker room interview on Fox Sports West. He stood up, put on his shirt and walked over to do the interview — sans any kind of pants. The rest of the assembled media laughed, but the cameraman shot from the waist up, and nobody at home knew the difference.
The general comment around the locker room: That’s just Ron. He’s a different cat.
Artest took the “different cat” thing to a whole different level Monday when walked out on the set of Jimmy Kimmel Live in just his boxers. And he sat down and did the entire interview that way.
For those in the know, Artest’s move was actually a reference to a story that made the rounds after Artest left the Houston Rockets last season, where that team said he rode the last team bus — filled with team advertising sponsors — in his underwear to a playoff game. ESPN.com writer and author Bill Simmons told that story on the Kimmel show last month.
Ron decided to play off that and when asked why he just wore boxers gave the excuse, “I was running late.” For good measure, Artest also had Jimmy Kimmel Live carved into the hair in his head.
While Artest remains a character off the court — and it’s all been in good fun so far — he has blended in well in the Lakers locker room. And even better on the court.
Artest has provided a defensive stopper for the NBA’s many good small forwards, something the Lakers needed. Most recently he caused a rough night for Kevin Durant (fifth in the league in scoring). Most nights he gets the Lakers most difficult defensive assignment.
On offense, he is starting to find his way through the complex triangle offense. He is spotting up and hitting more three pointers, and starting to attack the defense when he has a mismatch. The triangle offense can be a challenge to learn because there are no set plays — each action a player takes is supposed to be a reaction to what the defense does — and it relies heavily on the players knowing each other’s tendencies and preferences.
On the court, the Lakers are starting to figure out Artest’s preferences. Off the court, they may never quite figure him out. But as long as the team is winning, who cares?
Kurt Helin lives in Los Angeles, wears boxers and runs the NBA/Lakers blog Forum Blue & Gold (which you can also follow in twitter).
