Ron Artest

When Blood Comes to Town

Rockets Acquire Forward Artest in Deal

Five Spot: Ron Artest Is Not Too Busy to Be a Meh Rapper

Whole Offense, Hole Defense: The Houston Rockets Preview

Houston Rockets: This Needs To Be Yao's Team

Coming off a 2-3 road trip, plus wins over OKC and the Hornets, the Rockets make me feel the same way I did a few weeks back. Good, not great. They convincingly won the games they should have, home or away (Clippers, Thunder, Suns), and lost the games they should have (Lakers and a pretty dece ... More >>

Top Ten Houston Sports Moments of 2008

10. I never really followed the Houston Comets, who folded several weeks ago. By the time they came on the scene I was getting pretty sick of professional basketball. So I never became invested in the team, and I can't feel any real loss behind their demise. Still, unlike the Rockets and Astros ... More >>

The Rockets Get Some Times Love, The Only Love They Apparently Can

The Houston Rockets are quickly becoming an afterthought in town as Spring Training opens and their tedious soap-opera mediocrity gets pushed to the sidelines. (All of which will change in a blink, of course, if they put together a streak.)But they're getting noticed elsewhere.The New York Times' Su ... More >>

The Rockets Get Some Times Love, The Only Love They Apparently Can

The Houston Rockets are quickly becoming an afterthought in town as Spring Training opens and their tedious soap-opera mediocrity gets pushed to the sidelines. (All of which will change in a blink, of course, if they put together a streak.)But they're getting noticed elsewhere.The New York Times' Su ... More >>

Tracy McGrady Out For the Season; Yes, It's the Knee Again

Photo by mtkopone For those who haven't heard the news yet, last night, Tracy McGrady told ESPN screamer/reporter Stephen A. Smith that he will be missing the rest of the season because he is having microfracture surgery on his troublesome left knee. The Rockets are refusing to comment on the story. ... More >>

Rockets Fast Break: Adelman Stresses Consistency at Point

To Rockets coach Rick Adelman, consistency trumps contrast. When fans initially heard the Rafer Alston trade Thursday afternoon, much of the immediate reaction was negative. In addition to questioning the team going forward without an experienced starting point guard, many wondered why the team w ... More >>

Rockets-Bobcats: Yao-Artest Form Improved Dynamic Duo

At some point during the will he, won't he saga of Tracy McGrady's ongoing knee problems, the heart and identity of the Rockets shifted from a Yao Ming and McGrady-led team to one led by Yao and Ron Artest. So far, the Rockets seem all the better for it. Artest scored 26 points on five three-point ... More >>

Rockets-Pistons: Can Yao Be the Closer?

Photo by Wootang01 Remember the notion from earlier this week that the Rockets' late-game offense might be better off without Yao Ming? That didn't last long. With the Rockets trailing by four late and in the midst of yet another fourth-quarter funk, Yao snapped the Rockets out of it in a major wa ... More >>

Ladies & Gentlemen, Your Ron Artest!!

Here is the Rockets' Ron Artest, responding to....somethingAll we know is that "there was nothing hood about my tone" when he said it, and he did not "speak corporate." Oh, and 12-year-olds maye selling dope instead of thinking about getting to the NBA, but he's not going to disrespect them.Or so ... More >>

Rockets-Pistons: Can Yao Be the Closer?

Photo by Wootang01 Remember the notion from earlier this week that the Rockets' late-game offense might be better off without Yao Ming? That didn't last long. With the Rockets trailing by four late and in the midst of yet another fourth-quarter funk, Yao snapped the Rockets out of it in a major wa ... More >>

Rockets-Bobcats: Yao-Artest Form Improved Dynamic Duo

At some point during the will he, won't he saga of Tracy McGrady's ongoing knee problems, the heart and identity of the Rockets shifted from a Yao Ming and McGrady-led team to one led by Yao and Ron Artest. So far, the Rockets seem all the better for it. Artest scored 26 points on five three-point ... More >>

Rockets Fast Break: Adelman Stresses Consistency at Point

To Rockets coach Rick Adelman, consistency trumps contrast. When fans initially heard the Rafer Alston trade Thursday afternoon, much of the immediate reaction was negative. In addition to questioning the team going forward without an experienced starting point guard, many wondered why the team w ... More >>

Tracy McGrady Out For the Season; Yes, It's the Knee Again

Photo by mtkopone For those who haven't heard the news yet, last night, Tracy McGrady told ESPN screamer/reporter Stephen A. Smith that he will be missing the rest of the season because he is having microfracture surgery on his troublesome left knee. The Rockets are refusing to comment on the story. ... More >>

The Rockets Get Some Times Love, The Only Love They Apparently Can

The Houston Rockets are quickly becoming an afterthought in town as Spring Training opens and their tedious soap-opera mediocrity gets pushed to the sidelines. (All of which will change in a blink, of course, if they put together a streak.)But they're getting noticed elsewhere.The New York Times' Su ... More >>

Top Ten Houston Sports Moments of 2008

10. I never really followed the Houston Comets, who folded several weeks ago. By the time they came on the scene I was getting pretty sick of professional basketball. So I never became invested in the team, and I can't feel any real loss behind their demise. Still, unlike the Rockets and Astros ... More >>

Rockets-Hornets: Point Guards Finally Get Defensive

Photo by Aaron Sprecher(Note: This is written by Ben DuBose. We're working on that byline  glitch, honest.) At least for one night, the Rockets answered their only remaining defensive questions in a resounding way. Since dealing incumbent point guard Rafer Alston at the February trade deadline, ... More >>

Rockets Left To Wonder What Could Have Been

Photo by Keith Allison(Note: This was written by Ben DuBose.)The next time someone tells you that early-season games in sports like basketball and baseball don't matter, refer them to the case of the 2008-09 Houston Rockets.The No. 5-seeded Rockets were one game from having a dream path to the Weste ... More >>

Inside the Glide

Hometown hoops hero Clyde Drexler airs it out in his new autobiography

Rockets-Portland Game 4: Hayes Takes One For The Team

In a gritty comeback effort that epitomized a team win, it seemed only fitting that the game-winner came from a Rocket whose only contribution to the box score was a personal foul.With the Rockets clinging to a two-point lead with under 15 seconds left, Chuck Hayes read Brandon Roy's drive to the bu ... More >>

Do You Believe In Miracles? Rockets Advance

May 17, 1997.Aaron Brooks and Von Wafer were in sixth grade. The Oilers were only a year removed from their Houston existence. The Texans were still more than five years from their birth. The Astros had yet to make the playoffs in the Biggio-Bagwell era. Then-President Bill Clinton was still eight m ... More >>

Second Round Preview: Lakers Defense May Pose Biggest Threat To Rockets

The Rockets finally got the first-round monkey off their backs  last week, so what did the NBA give them as a reward? Only a second-round date with the prohibitive title favorite Lakers, beginning tonight at 9:30 in Los Angeles. It's a terrifying matchup by nearly every quantifiable metho ... More >>

Five Ways To Fake Your Way Through A Rockets Conversation

Photo by Keith Allison It's been a long time since the Rockets were of any interest to most of Houston, but now that they've actually advanced past the first round of the playoffs, the bandwagon is getting full.A Houstonian will now be expected to be able to talk confidently about the team in order ... More >>

Game 3 Preview: Rockets Need More From Wafer, On And Off Court

Photo by Jeff BalkeThe Rowdies get rowdy for the playoffsVon Wafer was a hero in the first round, scoring 21 points in 27 minutes in Game 2 and sparking the Rockets with an emotional return in the series-clinching Game 6 just two days after suffering a bulging disc in his lower back. He was suppos ... More >>

Game 3: Early Missed Opportunities Haunt Rockets

The box score to Game 3 shows the second period as the only frame in which the Rockets weren't outscored on Friday night at Toyota Center. But in reality, it proved pivotal in Houston's 108-94 loss, which allowed Los Angeles to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. The normally dynamic La ... More >>

Despite Loss, These Aren't Same Old Rockets

Photo by Katharine ShilcuttThe ending was all too familiar, but the ride was so, so different. Sure, history will show another Rockets season concluded without a title, this time on an 89-70 second-round, Game 7 loss to the Lakers on Sunday afternoon at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. And ... More >>

Oh, The Lakers Will Learn All About Ron Artest

On the way to his fourth championship, Kobe Bryant was guarded by Mickael Pietrus, Hedo Turkoglu, Courtney Lee, Dahntay Jones, Carmelo Anthony, Shane Battier, and all of the Jazz players whose names Jerry Sloan could remember. None of them had the combination of speed, size, and advanced weaponry ne ... More >>

Ron Artest Misses Michael Jackson Too, Y'all

Recently departed Rocket Ron Artest has never had any trouble making headlines on or off the basketball court, so it's easy to forget that occasionally he also fancies himself a musician. Now the ever-misunderstood Artest has put his feelings about Michael Jackson in song with "Michael Michael." Be ... More >>

Ron Artest Wastes No Time Getting Crazy In LA: He Releases A Michael Jackson Tribute Video

You're taking a shower after a hard day at work, fuming over things that went wrong, when suddenly, you hear someone approaching.You turn around and see a large shadow, and realize it's not a friend, family member or even co-worker. Ron Artest has broken in, is evidently staring at you, and says he ... More >>

Game Time: Time To Take Over

​I will get the pleasantries out of the way ....My name is Sean Pendergast, and I am a sports talk show host at 1560 The Game.I realize that sentence has the sound and feel of a self-introduction at an AA meeting (and carries with it more similarities than you'd think), but I figure simplicity is ... More >>

Game Time: Woke Up This Morning, Got Myself LeBron

​Those of you who listen to my show know that I am fond of placing the "occasional" friendly wager. While handicapping the day-to-day and week-to-week ebb and flow of a football, basketball, or (if you're really sick) baseball season can be enjoyable and, at times, lucrative (especially when betti ... More >>

In Make-Or-Break Year, Rockets' Landry Looks To Fill Low-Post Void

Photo by Jeff Balke​There's a popular belief in NBA circles that the third year is when a player makes the transition to stardom, if he's going to make it. Among point guards, that worked for Chris Paul and Deron Williams, and much has been said about Aaron Brooks making a similar - though sma ... More >>

Game Time: For Sale -- NBA Two Guard, 30 Y/O, Excellent Condition, Trades Accepted

​First, I want to thank everyone for their reaction, positive or otherwise, to my post yesterday which chronicled the high points of the era of Tracy McGrady's Expiring Contract I seem to learn something with every new post that I generate here on Hair Balls, and yesterday I learned that there are ... More >>

Ron Artest Releases The Song He Couldn't As A Rocket: "Champion"

No fans were injured in the making of this song​Former Rocket Ron Artest, the current Laker who thanked his psychiatrist after the Game 7 win, is celebrating his new ring with yet another rap song.The song has been written and sitting around for a long time, but Artest tweaked it to capitalize on ... More >>

Game Time: NBA DRAFT -- Worst Lottery Picks Of The Last 15 Years

cutline​As "must see" events on the sporting calendar go, the annual NBA Draft is highly underrated. If you ask the average sports fan his or her five most watchable sports nights of the year you'll probably get canned answers like the Super Bowl, a Game 7 in the MLB or NBA playoffs, and any inte ... More >>

NFL & College Football -- Weekend's Best Bets (with Tales of Deceit, Adultery and Ron Artest)

We see....FAIL in Ron Artest's future​Drayton McLane apparently has plans to sell the Astros. This comes as no surprise, those rumors have been swirling for some time. Now I don't know if he'll get his $800 million asking price, but I did call Drayton and make an offer and we now know that $9 ... More >>

More Rex Ryan, the Ryan Leaf Trilogy & NFL Best Bets

Rex Ryan: Can you smell them from here is the question​Two more shopping days left. I need money. You need money. So let's get to winning. And by winning let's find a way to weave more Rex Ryan "foot fetish" talk into a handicapping discussion. Can we do this? (Can we touch them? Can we sm ... More >>

Top Five Athlete-Rapper Team-Ups

​Speak of the devil... Give an NBA player a mike and he'll give you one of the worst performances of all time. Put the same athlete in the company of a decent rapper and the result might surprise you. If you're still haunted by the bitter taste of our worst rapper-athlete collaborations, here ... More >>

Ron Artest Splatters a Spurs Fan with Hot Coffee (w/ VIDEO)

I hear that train a-comin'​Why is it that the people who are the most clueless wind up with the best seats to sporting events? In theory, someone sitting courtside at an NBA game should be intelligent enough to (a) afford tickets that go for about a grand a pop, or (b) live in a neighborhood ... More >>

Ask A (Producer For) Rapper(s)

Chris Rockaway​The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place - lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good - so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email introd ... More >>

ESPN's Doris Burke's Difficult Week (w/ VIDEO)

Doris Burke and a moment of Zen​Of all of the on-air personalities who put their fingerprints on a sporting event -- studio host, play by play, color analyst, sideline reporter -- I've always thought that the sideline reporter has the hardest job out of all of them. It starts with the inhe ... More >>

For Vancouver: The Top 10 Sports Riots

twitpic/Chris WaltsNot bad, Vancouver, but you got some work to do​Oh, behave, Vancouver. Last night, a number of poor sports, distraught by the Canucks' loss to the Boston Bruins in game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals, went all kung fu on the British Columbia city. By past standards, Van ... More >>

How Not to Text a Teen

Lewd sexts to 14-year-old

Football! This Weekend's Best Bets, A Salute To TV Season Premieres

DWTS = this week's Philly-Giants game?​Television fascinates me. It seems like a new station pops up onto my channel grid every day to the point where I'm actually a little disappointed I haven't been approached by anyone to televise the Sean Network. I mean, doesn't everyone have their own ne ... More >>

Duane Brown Fined $7,500 For Not Punching Clint Session

Duane Brown has been defamed​"It's outrageous man. Like I said, I was trying to help on the tackle when he got the fumble recovery...I was getting up, pushing off my own leg to get up and one of his teammates came and gave me a little shove, and to catch my balance from falling back on him I p ... More >>

NBA Purgatory

Neither the best nor the worst, the Rockets remain stuck in professional basketball's great midsection.