Ron artest auction ring

Metta World Peace Just Auctioned His NBA Championship Ring to Donate Over $100,000 to New York Charities

Search iconA magnifying glass. It indicates, "Click to perform a search". Insider logoThe word "Insider".

US Markets Loading... H M S In the news

Chevron iconIt indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.HOMEPAGE

Sports

Save Article IconA bookmarkShare iconAn curved arrow pointing right.

Download the app

Metta World Peace is already living up to his newly bestowed moniker.

The basketball player formerly known as Ron Artest donated more than $100,000 to charities near his New York hometown.

Peace gave $65,000 to Long Island City’s Steinway Child and Family Services and another $55,000 to The Child Center of New York. After a tumultuous childhood, he’s intent on making life better for children facing similar setbacks.

“Queens is where I’m from,” Peace said at a Los Angeles ceremony. “I want to reach that kid in Queens who’s looking for that help.”

He raised the charitable donations by auctioning off his 2010 NBA championship ring.

Unfortunately, Peace’s generosity couldn’t sway the Dancing With The Stars judges. He became the first ballroom casualty prior to the charity presentation.

But the ceremony’s “perfect timing” helped him get over the disappointment.

Subscribe to push notifications

Hawthorne man wins Ron Artest’s ring – Daily News

Ron Artest spent 10 seasons with five different NBA teams working for a championship ring, an opulent symbol of the league’s top accomplishment.

And just four months after the Laker forward received the diamond-encrusted piece of hardware during an on-court ceremony in late October, he gave it away.

Raymond Mikhael, a 39-year-old Hawthorne resident, won Artest’s “Win My Bling” raffle, a nationwide contest benefiting mental-health charities.

Artest, who famously thanked his psychiatrist during a live courtside television interview in June after the Lakers won the 2009-10 NBA Championship against the Boston Celtics, announced in October on Larry King Live that he would give away his only championship ring.

The raffle generated about $651,006 for Artest’s charity, Xcel University. The money will help raise awareness of mental-health issues and provide mental-health therapy to at-risk youth.

And Mikhael, a lifelong Lakers fan and married father of four boys, knows firsthand the difficulties of dealing with mental illness. His own mother suffered from mental illness, at one point requiring hospitalization.

He bought 50 raffle tickets for about $2 each after hearing about the contest on a radio sports talk station.

“I thought it was a great cause,” said Mikhael, whose mother has recovered. “It was very taxing for my family to deal with the situation, financially and emotionally more than anything else.”

Artest, 31, a native of Queens, New York, signed with the Lakers prior to the 2009-10 season.

He has a history of eccentric behavior on the court, and has often battled personal issues off it. The controversy surrounding Artest culminated in 2004 when he jumped into the stands during a game in Detroit and confronted a fan he mistook for someone who threw a cup of Diet Coke at him. The altercation erupted into a brawl, and Artest was suspended for the remainder of the season.

Yet despite his past brushes with controversy, Artest has worked to change his image. Recently, he began advocating for mental-health awareness.

Just two months after announcing the unprecedented “Win My Bling” contest, Artest said he would donate a portion of his 2011-12 salary to mental-health charities. He is expected to earn about $6.8million next year.

Artest congratulated Mikhael in a statement issued last week through his publicist.

“I was really happy my ring was won by someone like Raymond Mikhael,” Artest said. “He’s a hardworking family man and father of four kids. It seemed especially fitting that he has a personal connection to the cause that the ring raffle proceeds will benefit, which is helping raise awareness of the importance of mental-health issues, and helping provide mental-health services to people who wouldn’t otherwise have access to them.”

Mikhael, a technician with a wireless communications company, received word that he won the contest on Christmas morning and was handed the ring during a ceremony at the Conga Room in downtown Los Angeles. Artest, however, did make one request before handing the ring to Mikhael: He wanted to keep the ring’s custom box, which features a rotating platform and LED lights.

After the ceremony, Artest spent some time with Mikhael at the club.

“He’s a real down-to-earth guy,” said Mikhael, a resident of Hawthorne for 27 years. “Ron Artest is a great basketball player in his own right. (The ring) is a piece of history. Every team’s ultimate goal is to win a championship. It’s the coveted prize. Now that I have this, it’s wonderful.”

The ring, created by Jason of Beverly Hills, features 16 oversized diamonds, representing the 16 titles the Lakers have won. There are two championship trophies made of 16-karat gold, along with a three-dimensional likeness of the player receiving it. A piece of the basketball used in Game 7 against the Celtics was cut up and a portion of the leather is featured under the setting and is visible from inside the band.

Each ring is valued around $26,000.

“It’s beautiful and heavy and big,” Mikhael said.

Mikhael also won a pair of tickets for two premium seats at an upcoming Lakers game at Staples Center, a hotel room for two nights at the Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills and a $1,000 allowance for expenses.

Since he received the ring on Christmas day, Mikhael has been featured on television news reports, fielded questions from reporters and brushed elbows with celebrities.

He said he hopes to return to school one day to study law and eventually open a foundation for children in foster care. Mikhael said he’s not sure what he will do with the ring.

“My family and close friends, we’re all trying to enjoy the moment,” Mikhael said. “I’m an average guy so this kind of stuff is in the stratosphere for me.”

[email protected]

The biggest psycho in NBA history: Artest or Rodman? - Personal foul - Blogs

November 13 marks the 38th birthday of such a character and former NBA player as Metta World Peace, who used to be called Ron Artest.

Or was it Ron Artest's 38th birthday who at some point changed his name to Metta World Peace?

This is a very important point, and you will see why later. Let's figure it out.

Whatever the name of this person, you can congratulate him on his 38th birthday. On a birthday, it is customary to look back at the achievements of the birthday man, and also wish him all the best in the future. What is the future for Ron/Metta? Well, he now holds a position in charge of player development at the Lakers' G-League farm club (formerly known as the D-League or Development League). Most likely, Ron and Metta will one day grow up to the position of assistant head coach, first in the G-League, and then, perhaps, try their hand at the Association itself. With Ron and Metta, you can never be sure because they've always been too unpredictable.

Ron and Metta have always been associated with all sorts of eccentric high-profile events, whether it's an innocent but eye-catching head-shaven pattern or being in the biggest brawl in NBA history. In terms of the number and resonance of scandals and antics with Metta and Ron, only Dennis Rodman can argue.

On this occasion, let's compare the top 15 high-profile and strange stories involving each of these comrades.

Ron/Metta

1. In his youth, he was a participant in a game on a street playground, as a result of which a man was killed with a table leg.

2. While playing for the Bulls, he tried to get a job at an electronics company so that he could take advantage of a corporate discount on goods.

3. Once he showed up to a Pacers practice in a bathrobe, and in 2010 showed up to the Jimmy Kimmel Show for the Lakers championship in his underpants.

4. Became a rapper and recorded an album called "My World".

5. Shaved the name of his music brand "Tru Warier" on his head.

6. Before the start of the 2004/05 season, he stated that he was tired of promoting his rap album and requested a month off from games. He ended up getting a two-game suspension from Rick Carlyle, then Pacers coach.

7. After the end of the 2008 final series between the Celtics and the Lakers, he went into the locker room of the Los Angeles, found Kobe in the shower and said that he could help him win the title (and he did, but two years later ).

8. Confessed to drinking Hennessy cognac in between games for Chicago.

9. Thanked his psychiatrist in an interview after winning the championship.

10. Played in the Chinese Championship wearing plush panda shoes and promised to change his name to "Panda Friend".

Coach Metta .. I celebrated my fiancé’s birthday for three days in Vegas with a panda head. Then got word I'm with South Bay. #Grateful pic.twitter.com/nCzz0nYUuu
— Metta World Peace (@MettaWorldPeace) October 24, 2017

11. Broke a couple of Jordan's ribs

Artest was playing for Chicago in 2001, and Jordan was preparing to return to Washington.

“In the summer of 2001, it was in a hall in Chicago. Rapper R. Kelly was there sometimes, Jordan and Barkley dropped in periodically. Well, and a bunch of other NBA players. They played harder than in the NBA - I liked that. Jordan tried to push me into the post, and I resisted with all my might. He clearly aimed at the throw and grabbed me with his hand. I tried to stop him from throwing and accidentally hit him in the chest with my elbow. It turned out I broke a couple of his ribs,” says Artset himself.

Other witnesses claim that Jordan out of habit verbally humiliated his opponents to the fullest, and after scoring through Antoine Walker of the Celtics, he told him to prepare for four losses to the Wizards this season. Then Artest switched to Jordan, who did not put up with the long tongue of His Airiness and gave Michael first from the elbow in the stomach, and then also with a fist in the face to complete the picture.

Artest himself later admitted that he was very sorry about what happened, because this injury did not allow Jordan to fully prepare for the season. According to Artest, Michael in 2001 looked so cheerful that he could score 35 points per game.

12. Elbowed Harden

In April 2012, in a game against Oklahoma City, Metta elbowed Harden in the head, for which he received an unsportsmanlike second degree and was immediately sent off the court. Harden suffered a concussion and Metta received a seven-game suspension, causing him to miss not only the Lakers' last game of the season, but several playoff games as well.

13. Picked Lakers number 37 in honor of the 37 weeks Michael Jackson's Thriller topped the US charts.

14. Sold his first and only championship ring for $500,000 (as a charity).

Rodman

Here I didn’t even go far, but took information from Kirill Sviridov’s wonderful text “25 most extravagant antics of Dennis Rodman before his trip to North Korea”.

1. Crying after blocking Olajuwon (as well as when signing his first NBA contract, during the Defensive Player of the Year award ceremony, and when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame).

2. Confessed that he lost his virginity at the age of 20 with a prostitute.

3. Claimed that Larry Bird was "overrated" because he was "white".

4. Suspended for one game and 10,000 for a run-in with Stockton.

5. In '96 he appeared on the show "News of the Week" completely naked, later appeared on The Tonight Show in a leather skirt and a gothic coat.

6. Hit three 3-pointers in a row to give fans free tacos.

7. Lost money on purpose in Las Vegas.

8. Presented his first book in a wedding dress and sort of even married himself, and Dennis Rodman presented his second book in a coffin.

9. Went to a wrestling match with Hulk Hogan before the finals of '98.

10. Created the site rodmantv.com, which broadcast live parties from his California mansion.

11. In 1997, Rodman starred with Jean-Claude Van Damme in the film Double Team. Rodman received three Golden Raspberries for his performance.

12. Founded the stripper basketball league.

13. Had sex live on the radio.

14. Befriended Kim Jong Un.

As for me, according to the results of 14 points in the fight for the title of the main freak of the NBA, Rodman definitely wins. Both of them have a couple of disqualifications, an unsuccessful career as a rapper/actor and confrontations with opponents/partners, but at the same time, Rodman did absolutely incredible game in places, especially in terms of dressing up and scandalous appearances in public, which were sucked not only by specialized sports journalists, but by yellow newspapers. In addition, Rodman continues to stay afloat in the tabloid headlines even after the end of his playing career, and Metta somehow lay low.

Rodman's victory? No, the 15th point turns everything upside down. Rodman's worst sin is nothing compared to the tragedy of Artest's entire career.

Dennis, #15. Kicked the operator on the end line for which he received 11 games of disqualification.

Ron/Metta, #15. Participant in the loudest brawl in NBA history. 86 games suspension, loss of approximately 7 million in wages.

On the one hand, Metta and Ron take the lead instantly. On the other hand, even a fight with Pistons fans in the stands does not allow Rodman to be removed from the throne of the main freak in the history of the NBA.

Because there was a clear difference between them.

Who was more crazy? The player is Artest. The man is Rodman.

Artest was 's top psycho in the NBA. Artest/World Peace's resume mostly consists of feats on site .

Rodman went crazy beyond . That is why he now continues to enter new orbits of madness.

Rodman's image was perfectly articulated in the film Men in Black ( — Call Dennis Rodman, he's from their planet. — Rodman? Are you kidding! — No. — And he's not disguised! ) When you look at Dennis, it seems that he is really some kind of alien. Artest was more of a ferocious dog, unable to contain his emotions.

It is this difference that explains why Metta settled down a little towards the end of his career, while Rodman became an increasingly surreal character. It is this difference that explains the fact that Kobe and Metta became friends, while Jordan and Pippen did not even communicate with Rodman.

(And if someone says that Michael and Scotty harbored a grudge against Denis since the confrontation with Detroit, then I remind you that Artest, during his performances for Houston in the playoff series in 2008, was also not bad hacked at Bryant physically and verbally, forced Kobe to get an unsportsmanlike foul, and Houston dragged future champions in seven games).

On the other hand, Rodman was a workaholic who could be found at the gym at 5am and would hit 15-20 rebounds after a night of drinking. Artest, in turn, asked for a vacation because of the rap album, and before one of the seasons for the Lakers, he appeared in a training camp overweight. Rodman portrayed a transvestite - Artest beat people with fists and elbows.

Don't get me wrong, Rodman wasn't a god of dandelions either, and also, especially during the Bad Boys period from Detroit, threw opponent players into the stands, drew fouls, and used other dishonest tricks. But at the same time, he always seemed to be a much more holistic person who understands his responsibility to the team and clearly distinguishes scandalous antics from basketball. Rodman received an elite basketball education from Chuck Daly, and even though he once decided to be, as he himself put it, a "colorful person," Rodman never carried his cockroaches to the locker room or to games.

Rodman was whole. What about Ron/Metta?

Artest/World Peace is rumored to be suffering from bipolar disorder. That would explain a lot. But what if he lived not with a "bipolar", but with a multiple personality disorder? You know, like in the movies "Split" or "Fight Club"? What if Ron Artest and Metta World Peace have been fighting for the soul of one person all their lives? What if Ron was Dr. Jekyll and Matta was Mr. Hyde? Once upon a time there was Ronnie Artest, who, under the influence of childhood trauma, split in two and since then was forced to share the body with Metta - the embodiment of folly, who solves issues with violence, thereby, as it were, protecting Ron?

Maybe on that fateful evening of November 19, 2004 at the Palace of Auburn Hills arena, under the influence of aggression from opponents and unflattering words from the fans, it was Metta who got out and went to bludgeon the first man in uniform that caught his eye Pistons?

You know what Ron Artest asked when he finally took control of his mind and realized what he had done?

As Stephen Jackson relates: “After all this turmoil, we finally made it to the locker room. We were sitting there with Ron and Jamal Tinsley when Artest asked, "Do you think we're going to get in trouble after all this?" I got a little crazy and said, “Trouble?! Fuck, Ron, we're actually lucky we haven't been fired yet!"

So Metta wanted the best, but it turned out as always. Since then, Ron Artest has been associated with exactly what Metta did. In a way, Metta won. As a result, he changed his name and became a dominant personality.

But there is a question that I wanted to discuss from the beginning.

What kind of player could Ron Artest be if he could continue to exist in peace with Metta?

If you don't like all this far-fetched sci-fi split personality bullshit, I'll rephrase a little more down to earth: What kind of player could Ron Artest be if he kept his dark side in check?

And a completely banal option: what if Artest had not climbed into the stands in Detroit in 2004 and put a greasy stain on his entire reputation?

To answer these questions, you need to remember what kind of player Ron Artest was.

It is difficult to compare it with any of the current players, so let's try to assemble it like Frankenstein's monster from a few pieces.

Physically, Artest at his peak in 2004 was similar to Draymond Green, with the difference that Green plays more under the basket and covers well, and in terms of playing on the perimeter, he is clearly not in the same category as Artest. Artest played defense with high dedication and did not let down a single opponent. Take a look at how he defended against Jordan in 2002:0003

Artest had one of the best combinations of footwork and handwork in history on defense. He sat at the feet on the perimeter with any even the most mobile player and at the same time managed to actively work with his hands, which constantly put pressure on the nerves of his opponents. Artest was Defensive Player of the Year with Ben Wallace, Duncan, Garnett, Bowen, Doug Christie and Marcus Camby alive and well.

Late Artest was replaced by Trevor Ariza on the Lakers, but that trick wouldn't work with Artest when he was young. Artest in prime was monstrously strong and weighed 30-35 pounds (approximately 13-15 kg) more than Ariza or Tony Allen. Due to his slightly boxy build (which became more noticeable in later years), even the young Artest was not the most graceful player. He always moved a little clumsily and played defense not as smoothly as, for example, Kawhi Leonard, but he took his will (like Patrick Beverley), as well as intelligence and hard work (like Sean Battier).

Offensively, Artest was a typical mid-2000s player, in the sense that even if he scored 20 points per game, it was not the most effective 20 points per game by modern standards. He didn’t really have a stable long-range during his performances for Chicago and Indiana, so he benefited in other ways - popular at the beginning of the century, throws from long-middle (5-6 meters) distance, as well as playing through the “post ".

Artest had his most efficient season in 2009year in Houston - 17 + 5 + 3 + 1.5 interceptions in 35 minutes per game. And all this at 5.6 three-pointers per game and an almost identical percentage of two-point and three-point shots (40.2 vs. 39.9). Could Artest have become a similar player five years earlier if his career had developed more organically?

So he became one! Yes, it's only seven games, but you can't even imagine how cheerfully Artest started the 2004/05 season. Over 20 points in 6 games (24.6 avg), nearly two steals per game, record highs in rebounding and shooting percentage. And all this with a phenomenal load - more than 41 minutes on average per game. Could Artest keep such numbers until the end of the season? Of course not. It's like prophesying Boston a place in the finals, giving Giannis the MVP and calling Embid the new Olajuwon after the first month of the regular season. But it still gives some idea that Artest had the potential for growth.

But Metta ruined everything.

If not for the fight, how would we remember Ron Artest? Rick Carlyle's 2004 Indiana, for a second, won 61 games in the regular season and went toe-to-toe with the eventual champions (Pistons) in the conference finals. In my opinion, the Pacers put up more resistance against Detroit than the Lakers did in the Finals.

Indiana was a deep, balanced team that, a year later, with the arrival of Stephen Jackson, had three players at once, capable of scoring 20+ points in completely different ways. Jermaine O'Neal was the benchmark 20+10+2.5 block power forward of the era, and even with a bunch of suspensions after a fight, they ended the year in 5th place in points per game.

Indiana had a real shot at winning the championship in the 90 possession era. And Metta helped the Pistons a lot by jumping into the Palace stands just 5 days after his 25th birthday. But he could be the second option in the championship team.

In this regard, I have a desire to fantasize about one more topic.

What if Artest ended up in Detroit instead of Indiana in 2002? 90,003 90,002 The Pistons lose to the Celtics in the second round of the 2002 playoffs (1-4). Joe Dumars calls the Bulls and offers, say, Clifford Robinson, Dana Barros, and the 23rd pick in the 2002 draft for Artest and a second-round pick in 2003. I don't know why it's "Chicago", but let's say they want to surround Jay Williams with hardened veterans who will keep him away from motorcycles within a cannon shot.

Next, Dumars pulls off all the same crazy deals that he does in real life and ends up getting Billups-Hamilton-Artest-Wallace two years later. Could this team take not one championship, but two, if in the 2005 final in the fateful fifth match, Robert Orry was held not by anyone, but by Ron Artest, the top 5 players in the league on defense? Could this dynasty of “bad boys 2.0” last a little longer if in 2006 Shaka took over Big Ben, and Wade was not Taishawn Prince (although he was also a great defender), but the more toothy Artest?

Potentially, the Pistons could claim a three-pit in the middle of the 2000s in this scenario. Artest could, in the right environment, burn out the perimeter in defense, take on the player of 1-4 positions and become a regular on the defensive teams.

Just like Rodman.

But something tells me Ron Artest was destined to be the man to break the fourth wall of an NBA game and receive the longest suspension in history. Something tells me that Metta inside Ron was bound to break free sooner or later.

To make Artest the biggest psycho in the NBA.

Photo: Gettyimages.ru/Kevin C. Cox, Brian Bahr/Allsport; REUTERS/Peter Morgan, KCNA; Gettyimages.ru/Kevork Djansezian, Ronald Martinez, Andy Lyons

Ron Artest | it's... What is Ron Artest?

Consequences and exchange

At the beginning of the 2005/2006 season, Artest asked the Indiana Pacers to trade him to another team. This wish of the player came as a complete surprise to his partners. “We felt disappointed, we felt betrayed,” Pacers forward Jermaine O’Neill commented on the situation. The team president, Larry Bird, also used the words "disappointment" and "betrayal" in his comment.0223 [2] .

On January 24, 2006, NBA sources confirmed that the Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers had agreed to trade Ron Artest for Predrag Stojakovic. However, before the deal went through, it was reported in the press that Artest had told his team's management that he didn't want to move to Sacramento ^[3] . Artest's agent said that Ron initially asked to be traded to another club precisely because he was upset about the pre-season rumors about his trade for Stojakovic. Artest did not deny the words of his agent, but said that he was ready to play anywhere, and on January 25 he officially became a Kings player ^[4] .

Sacramento

Although Artest joined the Kings during the season, he quickly found his place in the team and strengthened its defensive orders. Many feared that his harsh nature would be a problem for the team, but Ron got along well with partners and head coach Rick Adelman. Since the arrival of Artest in late January 2006, the Sacramento Kings had their best streak of 14 wins and 5 losses all season. As a result, the team achieved eighth place in the Western Conference, after which the channel [5]. Fox Sports also lauded the player's accomplishments: "Artest got the Kings back in the playoffs."0223 [6] .

In Game 2 of the first round of the playoffs against the San Antonio Spurs, Artest was sent off for an unsportsmanlike offense (elbow to the head) against Manu Ginobili. The Kings lost to the Spurs in a 6-game streak.

After the playoffs, Artest offered to give his entire salary to keep Bonzy Wells on the team, who became a free agent at the end of the season. He even jokingly promised to kill Wells if he didn't renew his contract with the Kings ^[7] . However, Wells moved to the Houston Rockets. Artest also offered to give his salary to keep coach Rick Adelman on the team, whose contract was also ending, but Adelman also left Sacramento.

In mid-August 2006, Artest completed part of the community service assigned to him by the association, holding educational talks with Detroit children. However, journalists again criticized him for his unwillingness to admit that he was wrong in a scandalous fight two years ago, and also for telling the children about his past, in which he sold cocaine after his parents divorced (Ron was then 13 years old).

In the 2006-2007 season, Ron Artest expressed a desire to leave Sacramento, mainly due to conflicts with Kings leader Mike Bibby and new coach Eric Musselman. It was believed that the Los Angeles Clippers would use Artest's services and trade him for Corey Maggette. However, Clippers general manager Elgin Baylor told Los Angeles Times , “Everything about Ron Artest is a dead number. We are not negotiating with Sacramento to move Artest ... this will not happen.0223 [8] .

On March 5, 2007, Ron Artest was arrested by police on charges of domestic violence. Sacramento Kings CEO Jeff Petrie has ruled out the team's basketball player pending clarification. On March 10, the Kings announced that Artest would return to the team while his case was pending in court. ^[9]

Houston

On July 29, 2008, it was reported that Artest, along with Patrick Ewing Jr. and Sean Singletary, were going to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Bobby Jackson, Donte Green, a first-round draft pick, and a cash settlement. Only on August 14 this transaction was carried out ^[10] . One of the leaders of the Rockets, Chinese center Yao Ming, in an interview generally positively assessed the transition, but expressed the hope that Artest would no longer fight and conflict with the fans. Ron himself, in response to Yao's statement, said that he was a guy from the ghetto and would not change ^[11] .

In the 2008/2009 regular season, Artest did without scandals and played 69 matches for the Rockets, 54 of which were in the starting five.

Learn more