Ron Artest scored 10 points at the Tri-State Classic in Harlem Saturday night.. (Getty Images)
Ron Artest is always looking for places to play in the summer. It’s what he’s used to. When the Los Angeles Lakers forward was a star at LaSalle HS he played all over the city in streetball leagues with Antonio (Mousey) Carela’s Bad Boys team.
“When he was in high school we used to go from tournament to tournament — like seven a day,” Carela said. “My record with me and him is 50-1.”
So it wasn’t a surprise that it was Carela, who runs the Tri-State Classic tournament in Harlem, that Artest called to try to get a game this weekend. He ended up playing in one of its biggest.
The 6-foot-7 Queensbridge native pulled up to West 145th Street and Lexon Avenue around 8 p.m. after playing earlier in the day in The Bronx. He could be seen leaning out the window of his black SUV before changing by the trunk into a red, white and blue Most Hated uniform.
“I kind of wanted to rest until the game started,” he said.
He made the slow walk to the court with Tri-State announcer 40 Cal yelling, “I see gold,” in reference to Artest winning his first NBA championship after 10 seasons in the league. He scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds in Most Hated’s 62-60 loss to Ooh-Way Records, in a game billed as Melvin (The Executioner) Creddle versus Adrian (A-Butta) Walton, in front of an energized standing-room only crowd Saturday.
“It was fun,” Artest said. “It’s always like this. I play here every year. It’s always like that every time.”
Artest played the entire game, hit his first shot, a 3-pointer, and completed a 3-point play to tie the score at 60 with 26 seconds left. Ooh-Way won on Rob Lewin’s tap in at the buzzer, a similar play to the one Artest pulled off in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals against the Phoenix Suns this season.
“I tried to get the rebound,” he said. “It just keeps me on my toes and helps me understand what I have to do next year, so I can have a good season.”
The former St. John’s star is coming off his most successful campaign. Artest averaged 11 points and 4.3 rebounds a game during the regular season in his first year in LA following stints in Chicago, Indiana, Sacramento and Houston. He averaged 14.3 points per game in the conference finals and hit a huge 3-pointer versus the Celtics in the Finals to clinch a Game 7 win. His single focus is to repeat that feat.
“It did already,” Artest said after being asked if winning his first ring has sunk in yet. “Now it’s over. Now I’m trying to get another one.”
That’s one of the reasons he continues to return to the streetball circuit each year. Artest always has his Queensbridge team in Nike Pro City, where he played earlier this week. He will then search the city for games elsewhere. He says its good competition and enjoyable.
“That says a lot,” Creddle said of Artest coming back to his roots. “He just won an NBA championship and yet he is [playing] streetball on the concrete. He showed love, one of the only NBA players who show love.”
Streetball is in his basketball blood, almost a right of summer for Artest. He couldn’t help but enjoy the scene at Tri-State and the legendary streetball players in attendence, only amping up the energy that comes from him making an appearance – albeit an unexpected one.
“It was supposed to be like that,” Artest said. “A-Butta is one of the best players for a long time. [Corey] Homicide [Williams] was out there today, DP [Darren Phillip] was out there today. There were a lot of good players.”
But only one champion.