Artest paints with different strokes

Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2003 | 9:58 a.m.

In their daily cell phone talks, Ron Artest often tells little brother Danny, a nomadic power forward at the Community College of Southern Nevada, to do as he says, not as he does.

"He tells me, 'Don't ever do that,' but he goes and does it,' " said Danny Artest. "I say, 'You can't tell me ... you want me to listen to you, yet you're doing it. I'm going to do it.' It's just funny sometimes."

Danny Artest finds nothing funny about a checkered past in which he admitted spending maybe four total months going to class during his entire prep career, in which he switched schools four times.

He had never played organized basketball until he earned a General Education Diploma at CCSN, becoming eligible a month ago. Clashes with Coyotes coach George Tarkanian have become less frequent, as Artest has learned to take criticism.

There's much more to learn.

Artest has done pushups in front of the other team's bench after getting fouled on a layup. When another foe fouled out, Danny applauded into the ears of the opposing coach. Against Snow College, he admitted that his main objective was throwing elbows.

He will do that in his own practices, when he doesn't sleep in, to rile up fellow Coyotes.

"I think I'm a dirty player," Artest said. "I don't do it because I hate them, I do it because I want them to get better. I want them to hit me back with elbows, let them know ... challenge certain players who don't like to be challenged sometimes.

"You know, they've been challenging lately."

The Coyotes (15-12, 4-10 in the Scenic West Athletic Conference) have won their last three games and are in eighth place in their league, behind Eastern Utah (16-10, 5-7) and North Idaho (16-10, 5-8).

Only the top seven advance to the SWAC tournament that starts March 6 at the conference champion's gym. CCSN finishes at the College of Southern Idaho (23-4, 9-4) next Saturday and at Salt Lake Community College (19-8, 8-5) on Feb. 28.

Early last Thursday afternoon, Artest asked Tarkanian when practice would begin. In an hour, Tarkanian said. Artest left to take a short snooze in his apartment across the street.

Two days after chastising teammates who often miss practice, he slept through all of Thursday's session. Tarkanian benched him for the start of CCSN's last home game of the season last Saturday, against Eastern Utah, in the UNLV South Gym.

"The biggest thing he's had to do is control his emotions," Tarkanian said. "He was a lot like his brother. Now, I can get into his face. Before, he wouldn't accept criticism. He's not the first (vagabond) who kind of doesn't know how to play basketball, and he's not the worst."

Both Artests were born on Nov. 13 -- Ron in 1979, Danny in '82. Neither cares to make friends between the lines, Danny said, adding that he is worse than Ron. That is debatable.

A 6-foot-7 forward with the Indiana Pacers, Ron Jr. damaged TV equipment upon leaving Madison Square Garden after a loss to the New York Knicks on Jan. 3, drawing a three-game suspension from the NBA.

On Jan. 27, he verbally sparred with Heat coach Pat Riley in Miami. Ron told Danny that he told Riley to calm hyper rookie Caron Butler, and an animated exchange ensued between Ron Artest and Riley.

Later, Ron brushed up against Riley after flexing to the Miami bench. Artest then gave the Miami crowd twin birds after hitting a free throw. The league slapped him with a four-game suspension, and the two suspensions cost him nearly $150,000.

"He said he'd do it again, not the fingers but everything else," Danny said. "Like breaking that camera. He'd do that again. I knew what he was doing, like when he threw the camera at the Garden. It was funny, to me.

"He's always doing stuff like that. He's so competitive, he just does crazy things."

Which attracts some unwarranted attention. ESPN.com and the Dallas Morning News erroneously accused Ron of taking part in an altercation with Houston's James Posey at an All-Star party in Atlanta.

However, Ron, who considers Posey a good friend, had been at Disney World in Orlando with his family that weekend, returning to Indianapolis the day of the All-Star game. He first heard about the fighting allegation when Danny rang the following morning.

Danny said Ron is a target because the Pacers are one of the NBA's best teams and he is beginning to make a name for himself.

"He's a good guy, a very good guy," Danny said. "On the court, he's not. I'm not. I think half the NBA is scared of him right now, and he's using that to his advantage."

Danny Artest lived with his mother, Sarah, in Queensbridge, a rough section of the tough borough of Queens, when he started high school in 1997.

Over the ensuing three academic years, he darted from the all-boys Oakdale (N.Y.) LaSalle Academy, to Long Island City High, to Jamaica (N.Y.) Edison and then back to Long Island City.

Ron left St. John's early and was drafted sixth by the Chicago Bulls in 1999, and Danny and Sarah eventually moved to the Chicago suburb of Deerfield to be near Ron. Danny believed it would have been below him to play at Deerfield High.

"Too easy," he said. "I would have averaged, like, 100 points there. For real. Too easy. There was nobody my height. I was cheating myself, if I would have done that."

Ron was traded to the Pacers last season.

LaSalle Academy closed last June, and Long Island City coach Harley Watstein, Edison coach Guy Venezia and Deerfield coach Greg Kapsimalis did not return inquiries about Artest's pit stops at their schools.

"I didn't go to class, and I regret it," he said. "I knew where basketball could take me, I just didn't want to do the school part of it."

After Deerfield, Danny returned to the playgrounds of New York and was given a stern warning in a sit-down with Ron Sr., a juice deliveryman in the city whom Sarah separated from in 1989. Turn your life around, the elder Artest said, or you'll be in jail or dead.

In January 2002, with Ron's help, Danny left New York for Las Vegas, where he attended CCSN to work on his GED and befriended guard Dennaryl Rice. In June, he spent two weeks training in Greece, then he played in the famous Rucker Tournament in New York.

His team, Cash Money Records, made it to the semifinals. Ron's team won the title.

Danny called Tarkanian in August, on a Friday, ensuring him that he would return to Las Vegas. The next day, the flighty player departed New York for Marshalltown (Iowa) Community College.

Marshalltown swingman Dashawn Warren, whom Artest knew from Long Island City, convinced Artest to go to Iowa. Two months later, Artest was booted from Marshalltown for fighting.

"Let's just say," said Marshalltown coach Denny Aye, after a few seconds of nervous laughter and a pause, "it didn't work out."

Artest claimed he was dismissed from Marshalltown after he beat up someone whom he found stealing personal items from one of his gym bags.

Rice convinced Artest to return to Las Vegas. Artest called Tarkanian, who called Aye, who took Artest -- with a one-way ticket -- to the bus station.

A 6-foot-5, 260-pound low-post bull, Artest averages 16 points and 9 rebounds, shooting 58.2-percent from the field.

"He's definitely a talented young man, and he's very pleasant to be around when everything is going fine. But he's like a lot of other people in that, when the going gets tough they don't know how to handle things. It's a maturity issue," Aye said.

"When you do things like he did in the dorms, you have to make a stand. Fortunately, for him, he was able to go somewhere and play ball. I always have the best interest in the guys. I also have to do what's right. There are rules and regulations."

Aye declined to elaborate about Artest's dormitory actions.

Artest said he's on track for a "B" average this semester. His most interesting classes are history, of the United States, and rock music. Sleep, however, has always been his favorite pastime.

Over the last month, friends and relatives in New York -- even Ron in Indianapolis or from wherever he has been on the road -- have made regular wake-up calls to get Danny up and out to his first class.

In games, Artest awakes as if he is a one-man lounge act.

Against Eastern Utah, he flapped both hands like a bird, palms up, to rouse the crowd after CCSN made a defensive stop. After a layup, he circled by the stands, pointing at as many fans as he could. He cupped a hand to an ear, begging for more applause.

He missed a strong follow-up jam, but he still howled to the full moon outside.

"I love the crowd," Artest said. "I'm always talking to the crowd, always talking trash on the court. I'm energetic. My confidence is up there, and I feel like I'm the best player in this conference. For real.

"Everything I've gone through, I'd go through it again. It made me a stronger person, and playing in the streets made me a better player. If I would have played in structure, I wouldn't be the player I am. I'd be soft."

He recently decided to return to CCSN for his sophomore year, rather than transfer to CSI or Utah Valley State. Wyoming and Purdue have shown interest, but he yearns to play at UNLV.

He is most concerned with sending a message to children about staying, and thriving, in school.

"Don't go through what I went through," he said. "It's not cool at all. Stay focused. No stress, no success. Play hard, and whatever you think you can do, you can do, no matter what."

Do as Danny Artest says, not as he did.

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