Weekly Countdown (cont.)

3 thoughts from Ron Artest

Last summer Ron Artest believed he would be playing at Kobe Bryant's side this season, not against opposite him, in the playoffs. Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images Ian Thomsen's Mailbag Ian Thomsen will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

These quotes come from Artest's interview with me last month in Houston.

3. On scoring in the playoffs. Artest became more prominent offensively in February after Tracy McGrady was sidelined by a knee injury. Despite an early-season ankle injury, Artest had a strong second half to average 17.1 ppg overall this season:

"For some reason everybody was saying the Rockets are not good, but they were not taking into consideration that we were banged up," Artest said. "I heard that Charles Barkley went on TV [and] said the Rockets are horrible, they're not going to make it past the first round. He wasn't giving us any credit for the adversity that we faced. When I look at him, he was a guy who had a chance to win a championship, and when he faced adversity I don't think he overcame it. He had Michael Jordan in front of him; now we have guys like Kobe Bryant and LeBron in front of us, and we're still trying to fight for a championship. And he really didn't respect that. So I called him; I said, 'Why don't you respect us? Why don't you give us no props?' He said, 'I don't think you guys can score the ball enough to win in the playoffs.'"

I have to admit here that I agree with Barkley: I've written that the Rockets don't have enough scoring to beat the Lakers. Yet Artest has scored 46 in the opening two games at Los Angeles as the Rockets seized homecourt advantage from the Lakers in their Western semifinal.

"If Yao [Ming] averages 20, and I'm averaging 20, I don't know how we can't score the ball," continued Artest. "Look at me -- when I was playing after T-Mac left and my ankle got better, my numbers were right up there with some of the best. I just didn't see how we couldn't score the ball."

I mentioned that Paul Pierce contributed to a championship by defending more and scoring less. Artest replied that Pierce will enter the Hall of Fame someday because of that championship. "That's what counts, that's what's going to make you great," Artest said. "That's why Paul Pierce moved ahead of Charles Barkley. I don't think Charles Barkley is top 50 no more, I think it's Paul Pierce. I think Paul Pierce just knocked him out."

I asked Artest if he can be up there with Pierce.

"Got to get that ring. I mean, there's nothing without that ring. Got to get that ring."

2. On his emotions. Artest was ejected with 6:57 left in Game 2 Wednesday in the Rockets' 111-98 loss at Los Angeles. But he wasn't the only violator: the Lakers' Derek Fisher also was ejected, and a total of five players on both teams earned technicals in what was an emotional game.

"For the most part you've got to think the game," he said. "It's impossible to stay like this (low-key) for the whole time. But for the most part you've got to able to think, and you can't think with emotion.

"It's too hard, there are too many things that your mind has to be focused on rather than being caught up in the moment too much. There's always going to be a time for getting caught up in the moment, but emotion takes too much out of the game. Having a medium tone mentally, you're able to overcome any adversity during the game. And you're able to not get too big-headed, you're able to stay more level-headed during the game."

Artest was assessed just three technicals during the regular season. In his first year with the Rockets he avoided the inflammatory incidents that threatened his ruin in the past.

"Sometimes I want one, like when I'm not going to the free throw line," he said, smiling. "I let it slide all the time, every time. I let it slide so much that I think [the officials] know I'm not going to say anything to them. Because I don't really talk to the refs. I'm not going to say anything, so sometimes they miss a lot of calls. But that's all right."

1. On Kobe Bryant. When Artest heard rumors of a trade from Sacramento last summer, he assumed he would be going to the Lakers.

"I was playing in a streetball game in New York City -- I was in a gym playing with a tournament -- and after the game we went to eat at a Houston's restaurant. So we were going to Houston's and my friend said, 'Ron, you got traded.' The only trade that I knew of was the L.A. trade, and I'm like, oh, I'm going to L.A. -- let me call Kobe really fast to tell Kobe that I'm going to see him in a little bit. Then he said, no, I'm going to Houston.

"I said that's not possible. How am I going to Houston? That's like me going to San Antonio or Utah. I'm like, that's impossible -- those teams are not going to risk a Ron Artest. Even though I know I'm getting more mature and I know they can use a Ron Artest and I know I can adapt to that type of team.

"And I got a call that night from my agent (David Bauman), he said, 'You're going to Houston.' I was like, oh my goodness, these people don't even know what they done did. We're getting a ring. And then Mac got hurt, and I still say we're getting a ring."

Much is being made of Artest's attempts to create a rivalry with Bryant, but in our conversation he presented a different view of the relationship.

"We have a respect for each other, playing against each other over the years, that led to us really talking to each other," said Artest. "Kobe loves basketball. He probably thinks he loves basketball more than anybody. I don't think that he loves it as much as me. I mean, I don't know how much he loves it -- I don't work out with him in the summer. We just respect each other, and I love his game. You've got to love somebody who reminds you of Michael Jordan. Let's face it, when Michael Jordan left, something was empty in a lot of peoples' hearts, and now there's Kobe Bryant playing like Michael Jordan. You get a chance to see Michael Jordan every day."

2 thoughts on LeBron James

I asked an NBA advance scout who has seen a lot of the Cavaliers this season for his take on James' first (of many) MVP awards.

2. The hype. I used to hear league insiders grouse about James' fame while they complained about his inconsistent defense or his shot selection. But all of that has turned around this season.

"LeBron was probably the most built-up high school player of all time," the scout said. "Probably more so than even Lew Alcindor, given the way things are today as opposed to how they were back then."

It's a fair comment: Alcindor's high school games weren't broadcast on national television as LeBron's were.

"So he came into the league with all of that hype, and most guys are never as good as they're supposed to be. But when I look at LeBron now, he has exceeded that build-up. He is better than people thought he would be, and how often do you see that happen?"

The only other example I can recall in recent times is Tiger Woods.

1. Teamwork. "He is nothing like the kind of star Brett Favre is, when you think about how Favre separates himself from his team," the scout said. "When you watch that Cleveland team you realize how much those guys love him. Usually when you're that good, you naturally separate yourself from everybody else, but LeBron goes out of his way to be one of them.

"When he was named MVP, he had all of his team there with him. All of that stuff they do as a team before each game, that's LeBron's way of being one of them and being part of the team."

The scout referred to the time in the Eastern finals two years ago when James was criticized for turning down a contested layup in order to pass to teammate Donyell Marshall, who missed a wide-open three to lose the game. "That perceived weakness," he said of criticism that James didn't force himself to take the last shot, "is his strength. At this time of Jordan's career (in his sixth NBA season), he was being criticized for not trusting his teammates.

"LeBron has never been like that. He is so good that if he decided he wanted to lead the league in scoring -- that he was going to average 35 instead of the 28 he had this year -- that's all he would have to do. He would just have to decide he was going to score 35 a game and then he would do it, because that's how talented he is."

1 note of applause for the Atlanta Hawks

1. For signing Flip Murray and Maurice Evans. Last summer the Hawks were damned for failing to sign sixth man Josh Childress, who turned down five years at $33 million from Atlanta in order to sign with Olympiakos of Greece. But that move hasn't turned out so badly, has it?

In place of Childress the Hawks recruited Evans, an all-around swingman with three-point range who makes an effort defensively, and Murray, a ruthless scorer off the bench. As a result, they won 10 more games than last season and won a playoff series. Of course they might have done as well with Childress. But GM Rick Sund is to be congratulated for improving the team in spite of the Olympiakos move -- while spending a total of $4 million this season on the two replacements, with Evans signed for two an additional two years at his current salary of $2.5 million.