Artest puts everything in jeopardy for Lakers

Michael Ventre

LOS ANGELES - Imagine if you will a basketball prototype, an NBA general manager’s dream: Big, strong, tough, competitive, can shoot from outside, can drive to the hoop, and best of all, plays defense as if the opponent insulted his mother.

The one drawback is availability, because he happens to be in an insane asylum.

That isn’t exactly the case with Ron Artest, but it’s not that far off, either. The Lakers and Artest reportedly have agreed to work together. And if Kobe Bryant thought the next great challenge in his illustrious career would be to repeat as NBA champion without Shaquille O’Neal, now he has the added duty of serving as therapist.

The Lakers sent some shock waves through the Association on Thursday night when it was reported they had come to terms on a three-year, $18 million contract with the free agent forward. That means they will let Trevor Ariza go, and Ariza seems poised to replace Artest in Houston.

On paper, it’s an upgrade for the world champions. Artest, 29, is more experienced and more tenacious. Although the 24-year-old Ariza was an excellent defender himself, Artest takes the art of guarding other teams’ stars to nasty heights. If Kobe is the Black Mamba, the most lethal snake in the world, Artest is one of those daredevils on “Animal Planet” who is able and eager to tangle with such a creature. He can now torment the other teams’ stars while dressed in Lakers finery.

And Ariza has tentatively proved himself, but not completely. After nondescript stints in New York and Orlando, he found a home in Los Angeles these past two years, and used that comfort zone to develop into a valuable outside shooter and an opportunistic defensive player. But it’s unclear whether he has the kind of talent that lasts, or if next year he would become another Sasha Vujacic, a player who exhibits his wares to get a chubby contract and then immediately disappears off the radar.

In a 10-year career with the Bulls, Pacers, Kings and Rockets, Artest has always averaged double figures, and has always been the best defender on his team (although Shane Battier was right there with him in Houston).

He has also always been a problem.

Unfortunately for him, Artest has received more attention for his antics than his basketball ability. The most infamous incident was the Malice at the Palace, the Pacers-Pistons brawl that saw Artest receive a suspension for 73 games and the playoffs. But he also flaked in Indiana when he asked for time off to promote an album on his rap label. Early in 2007 while in Sacramento, Animal Services took away his dog because it wasn’t being fed enough. Just over a month later, Artest was arrested for domestic abuse.

As recently as the 2009 NBA playoffs Artest went berserk in a game at Staples Center against the Lakers that the Rockets still had a chance to win; instead, he got himself ejected.

Ariza may not be Artest’s equal as a player, but he was a good citizen, quiet, unassuming and the last guy on the floor who would ever need to be restrained by teammates.

Now that Artest is a Laker, he isn’t just Jerry Buss’s problem, or Mitch Kupchak’s problem, or even Phil Jackson’s problem. He is, first and foremost, Kobe Bryant’s problem.

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