As aired on TNT Wednesday, May 6.
Ron Artest discussing the physical play and controversial calls that took place during Wednesday’s game 2 between Houston and Los Angeles. For those who may not know, Kobe and Artest got tangled up underneath the basket, both battling for position. It looked as if Kobe’s elbow hit Artest in the throat. Artest complained to the refs, who proceeded not to call a foul or stop the game. Artest then ran to Kobe and pushed his face nearly against his, letting him know how he felt on the altercation. Artest was separated from him, but Artest continued to plead his case. Then he got ejected.
Here are Ron Artest’s quotes from his post-game interview as aired on TNT with several questions coming from reporter Craig Sager.
“I knew I was gonna get a technical foul, you know? The point was to really, hopefully, let the refs know I’m pissed. I’m getting tired of this guy elbowing me. I think, through my whole career playing this whole game, I don’t think I ever elbowed him. One time he came at me, we got in a tussle, but I don’t think I ever threw a elbow at his face. Sometimes he played well against me, sometimes he didn’t. It was fair in square. I knew I went over there, no punches, no shoves to the face, just confrontation, and I backed off. So that’s a technical foul, I would think. An ejection, I didn’t go there with the intentions of being ejected. I went there with the intentions of just telling Kobe, ‘You gotta relax. You hittin’ the wrong person. Don’t you know you’re hittin’ Ron Artest?’”
“I’m not retaliating. I didn’t retaliate then. I didn’t do nothing the get ejected — a technical foul, yes. I’m not retaliating. I did that already. I done did that stuff when I was in high school, back in my neighborhoods. I did it when I was early in the NBA. I’m done with that.”
“We’re physical. We’ve been physical. We’re giving our best, so we’re gonna continue to give our best. So I think we’ve been physical. I’m naturally physical. How much more physical can it get?”
“I remember when I used to play back home in the neighborhood. It was always games like that. I remember one time, one of my friends, he was playing basketball and he was winning the game. It was so competitive, they broke a piece of leg from a table and they threw it. It went right through his heart, and he died — right on the court. So like, I’m accustomed to playing basketball really rough. When I came into the league, that’s how I was accustomed to playing. I’m used to fighting on the court, and that’s how I grew up playing basketball, and then it took me a lot of years just to really back off and understand that that’s not what the league’s about. The league’s different. So know this year, I played fair in square. I lose fair in square, and win fair in square. The first time I put my arm on Kobe, he touched it. You see your man and the ball, it’s basic defense. He hits my arm down, and I tell the ref, ‘Look, he’s hitting my arm, you can’t do that.’ You can touch your man, see the ball and see the man. It’s basic defense, and then he did it again. He did it again. I told the refs, ‘You gotta control this.’ And then he throws an elbow right at my neck . I told Kobe, ‘You could do whatever you wanna do. I’m not reacting.’ I’m gonna let the refs control it . What am I gonna do out there? Continue to get hit?”
“Even game one, he elbowed Shane. I think the league says, ‘He was just trying to get up.’ But in game one, he clearly was over aggressive on Shane. And my team, we’re not like that. My team, we’re gonna win fair in square, or lose fair in square. We’re not gonna fight. We’re not gonna initiate anything.”
Kobe Bryant
“I disagree with that. I don’t think he should have been ejected. We were just both fighting for position.”
Here’s another Ron Artest quote from these playoffs:
