On Pacer (and former Bull) Ron Artest's actions in game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals:
Tim Kraus at The End of the Bench:
Ron Artest displayed his usual sound judgment by giving Rip Hamilton a forearm shiver to the face after he thought Hamilton took a cheap shot at him with a butt bump. So everyone who picked 5 minutes left in Game 6 of the Conference Finals in the when will Ron Artest go upside someone's dome pool, you can come down to collect your prizes.
At Raptorblog under the title "Atomic Ron"
Ron ruined any chance of an Indiana comeback with 13 seconds left when he shot a wild 30-footer reminiscent of Chris Childs' senseless season-ending brick for the Raptors in the 2002 playoffs.
Artest had been pretty well-behaved up until he started throwin' 'bows at Rip's freaky Zorro mask. But it turns out he was merely calm like a bomb waiting to ignite.
at NBAWeblog.com, Scott writes under the title "What Was Artest Thinking!?"
What really hurt the Pacers in this game was Ron Artest's play in the final few minutes...I'm not saying Artest is the sole reason the Pacers lost, but he definitely decreased their chances of winning with his low basketball IQ late in the game.
I have respect for Artest as a player because he plays hard on both ends of the court, something the Bulls have lacked since Jerry Krause traded him in the middle of the '01-'02 season in the Jalen Rose blockbuster (or disaster). But like I have been telling everyone within earshot since then, Ron Artest is crazy.
While he has been relatively well-behaved this year, and received Defensive Player of the Year honors, you cannot simply have expected that to happen if he remained a Bull. On a winning, veteran team like the Pacers, Artest's...issues are somewhat placated. On a team like the Bulls the psychological explosions would've been both more frequent and damaging. And I would imagine both the Bulls and Artest wouldn't want to continue their relationship with a contract extension the way the Pacers did (and are kind of regretting now).
Sure this is just one incident and without Artest the Pacers would've never made it this far. But on the Bulls at that time with that team, "Crazy" Ron Artest had to go. And somewhere while watching game 6, Jerry Krause was smiling. And eating a Grilled Cheese sandwich.