The Billiken's Bluff

I’ve found it very interesting to watch how the media has handled the Indiana/Detroit brawl on Friday night. It was the most insane sports footage I’ve seen since Joe Namath’s sideline interview with Suzy Kolber. The brawl should have been pretty straight-forward. As Artest said yesterday during an MSNBC interview, “just look at the tape.” And he is right, it is all there captured on ESPN cameras. However, the footage that is replayed on loop isn’t showing everything. Instead it has shifted the spotlight solely to Artest. Artest is the most sensible story. He has the past, the background, the history of run-ins with NBA brass. His story makes some sense to the media, to America. The Man Needs Anger Management Therapy. The Spoiled NBA Star. That is why Jermaine O’Neal and Stephen Jackson have received a relatively free passes in the melee. Their stories aren’t nearly as good as Artest’s.

It’s not some media/NBA conspiracy. The 3 stooges from this fight are complicit in this media event as well. O’Neal and Jackson want this to go away, so the media isn’t focusing on them. Artest wants the bad attention and is receiving it.

So what exactly happened, and what exactly are they showing? Granted, Artest did jump in the stands first, but that hardly seems like a plausible excuse why Stephen Jackson jumped in the stands a half step behind Artest and started throwing windmill punches (before Artest had thrown a single punch). But if you aren’t an avid NBA fan, you have no clue who this Stephen Jackson character is, therefore the media isn’t interested in him.

Then there is Jermaine O’Neal. He is a top 15 player in the NBA, the type of player you take in the first round of your fantasy draft, the type of player featured in Nike commercials. The first time I saw the footage of the fight I seem to remember O’Neal throwing some wicked punches at fans who ran on the court. Vicious punches from a man who is 6’11’’ and 270lbs. But those images have largely disappeared from the coverage of the story. Jermaine received the most lenient suspension of the three players, 25 games. It is almost as if the media and the NBA’s commish David Stern realized that they will have to deal with Jermaine in the future. They realized that Jermaine will continue to be a star in this league, a franchise player, so they will have to focus on the Queensbridge pariah Big Ron Ron.

The attention has all focused on Artest, and that is no accident on Artest’s part. Artest made headlines a week ago asking Indiana for time off (a reasonable request when you work at Kinko’s, but not so reasonable when you are Defensive Player of the Year and your team is competing for the Conference title) so he could focus on the release of an R&B album he produced. Much like Dennis Rodman (another infamous #91), Artest wants the spotlight. He wants the infamy and the anti-hero status. Rodman used his bad boy image to get up close and personal with the likes of Carmen Electra and Madonna. Artest is translating his image into record sales.



During an interview yesterday with MSNBC, Artest appeared soft-spoken and almost contrite, that is until the end of the interview when he said what he was truly concerned with was that Allure’s (the R&B group, whose album Artest produced for his fledgling record label Tru Warrier Records) record was being released today. 'It’s got some hot tracks and you should all go out and buy it.' Artest held up the CD and smiled. End of interview.

This happens all the time with news stories. The media needs to construct a narrative out of chaos. A history to attach to the events on camera. They went to press with the best story. So instead of Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O’Neal and Ron Artest all receiving equal billing in this brawl for the ages, the news story turns into The Artest Incident.


A Few more things to consider...

1. I reject any notion that Artest is crazy, or as N. Dot suggested that Artest is no longer on his A-game. If he is crazy, he is crazy like a fox!!! Artest is a big guy, but dwarfs in comparison to Big Ben Wallace. After Wallace shoved Artest nearly off his feet, Artest knew he was outmatched and lay down on the scorer’s table, waiting for a more palatable 5’8’’ 150-pound white guy to throw a cup of water at him before pouncing. Prudent.



2. The Artest/Jordan connection. I forgot to mention in my comment a few days ago that Artest changed his jersey number from his college #15 to #23 in honor of Jordan. This season he changed his number to #91 in honor of Dennis Rodman. Life imitating Art. I guess in this case, the art being Rodman’s dyed hair.

3. I’ve read many editorials and fan letters lamenting the decline of the NBA, and calling the brawl an outrage. I agree, but I would also say I was excited to watch it. It was pure entertainment.