Why Getting Ron Artest Was the Best Move By Any NBA Team
Each year, the NBA’s contending teams make moves they hope will pay off with a title. This past NBA season saw a flurry of activity, with each move trumpeted as “the one” to push that team ahead of the others.
In San Antonio, the addition of Richard Jefferson was supposed to add offense and athleticism to the (aging) Big Three (Duncan, Parker & Ginobli). The Spurs never have replaced the lockdown defense that Edison (Fresno) High’s Bruce Bowen gave them. With Jefferson, a hard-to-guard three man, moving into the lineup, the thought was the Spurs would be a formidable threat.
The Cleveland Cavaliers picked up Shaquille O’Neal and Antawn Jamison. People who praised the move said he’s still a beast (for brief periods) and one who could guard Dwight Howard. In addition, the big guy wanted to show he’d gladly be regulated to sidekick so he could to bring a championship to the Cavs (mainly LeBron) like he did for DWade. Critics of O’Neal said opponents would put him in pick & roll situations, a fact not denied by anyone in basketball. Jamison was supposed to take some of the scoring load off of James.
The Orlando Magic, came so close last year to winning it all, but having lost Hedo Turkoglu, realized they needed serious help - which came in the form of Vince Carter. Never have fans and pundits swayed to and fro when it came to assessing whether obtaining VC was a good move or not. They’d win and - if Carter played well - the blockbuster move was brilliant. A Magic loss, or a few in a row, and VC was the on the receiving end of brutal criticism. One reason was that there was no move the Magic could have made that would have replaced what they lost in Torkoglu’s game.
Boston made a huge move when they acquired Rasheed Wallace. Sheed gets a bad rap from fans, mainly because of his on court rantings and the number of T’s he picks up. However, talk to any NBA insider and they’ll tell, to a man, what a great teammate and locker room guy Wallace is. Then, late in the season, the Celtics picked up controversial and talented Nate Robinson from the dysfunctional Knicks - a move that paid off exactly as Doc Rivers had predicted.
However, the Lakers addition of Ron Artest, also a lightning rod for controversy, paid off the most. Why? Because LA won the championship and as the saying in professional sports goes:
“Winning isn’t everything. It’s . . . Forget it, winning IS everything.”
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