Last month marked 20 years since the ‘Malice at the Palace’ incident, where Metta Sandiford-Artest was coaxed into inciting a brawl with fans and the opposing team in Detroit. In a recent episode of his podcast, Metta revealed that his last conversation with Michael Jordan was in the aftermath of the incident. He added that Jordan was the only player who called and expressed support for him.
“The last time I spoke to [Michael Jordan] was after the brawl. He was the only player who called me. He said, ‘Don’t worry, young fella, I’m gonna try to get you back.’ When he said that, I thought, ‘Wow, if MJ believes in me, I’ll be back.’ But not even Michael could fix things with David Stern. He was tough.”
It turns out that despite having the support of Michael Jordan, Metta Sandiford-Artest was not shown leniency by then-NBA Commissioner David Stern. Stern infamously handed Artest an 86-game suspension. To this day, it is the largest suspension in the history of the NBA. This suspension also cost him almost $5 million in salary.
The Malice at the Palace is one of the most infamous moments in NBA history. To see players openly brawling with each other and fans in attendance was a horrifying sight to see. While the blame isn’t solely on Artest, as an NBA player, he had to be held to a higher standard by league officials.
Metta Sandiford-Artest Redeemed A Troubled Career
The man formerly known as Ron Artest had a very troubling start to his career. He used to have several skirmishes with NBA players. And he had behavioral issues during his early years in the NBA. In fact, he once admitted to drinking Hennessy at half-time during NBA games.
However, after Malice at the Palace, Artest was seemingly on his best behavior, not getting into trouble much after 2005. While his play wasn’t as scintillating as it had been prior to the incident, he was a far more valuable player as he wasn’t causing problems on or off the court.
Artest would still have a successful NBA career after the incident. He would eventually get the chance to win an NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2010. He played a key role on the team and made one of the most important shots in the NBA Finals.
Very rarely do we get to see players who struggle to keep things steady early in their careers turn things around and redeem themselves. But Artest was able to create the blueprint for doing just that.
A player like Ja Morant, who has had his share of behavioral problems during the early years of his career, can find his way back to redemption by following the blueprint that Artest created for him.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We really appreciate your support.
