The Kings organization has always remained mostly mum during the adventures of Ron Artest. Geoff Petrie and the Maloofs typically support Ron-Ron, noting how damn good of a ballplayer he has been and injecting some understanding and context into his consistent e-mail blasts to the media. But the patience has dried up, apparently.A few days after Artest lit into the Maloof family -- basically calling them disloyal, uncommitted promise-breakers -- one of the billionaire playboys fired back in comments to the Sacramento Bee's Sam Amick.
"He has to balance the way he acts," Joe Maloof said by phone. "He's got to control his emotions a little better. You've got to try and keep your cool a little bit. "The depth to which the Maloofs welcomed Artest to Sacramento is famous. The best vignette is the story of when the brothers visited Ron's neighborhood in Queensbridge during an offseason. Coach Reggie Theus has been a part of the mattress-soft kowtowing to Ron-Ron too, insisting Artest is the only dependable scorer and best player on the team (alienating the real future of the franchise) just to keep Ron's head straight.
"Take a deep breath and quit flying off the handle with comments that don't make sense. I hate to say it that way, but that's how I feel. It doesn't make sense to me."
They have all forgiven a lot. But you just don't talk about someone's mom, man, and Ron apparently finally crossed a line. There's no flippin' way Artest is still wearing a Kings jersey in October. No flippin' way.
