So today (22 April, '12) there was a match between the Lakers and the Thunder.... it ran into double overtime after Oklahoma blew a HUGE lead near the last two regulation quarters of the game. It was just full of drama... and not just because of how the game played out (Ibaka had a ton of blocks; Ebanks and Hill stepped up big time for the Lakers; and Kobe was shooting clutch shot after clutch shot in the 4th quarter and double overtimes despite missing a ton of shots throughout the game), but also because of the flagrant foul Metta World Peace (aka Ron Artest) did to Harden during a "celebration" after MWP made a contested dunk. The other thing too about this foul is... it came about as Harden was getting a rhythm going and sinking basket after basket :(.
This isn't the first time Ron Artest has come under fire for his anger/emotion control issues. He tried to give an excuse to the referees, saying that he was just celebrating and hit him by accident; when you take a look at the video however, it's clear (at least to me) that he did this intentionally. As the commentators say during the video replay (which wasn't relayed to either the coaches or the audience), there's no way it was an accident because he felt Harden coming up to him after the play. If it wasn't intentional, he wouldn't have followed through that hit. Many suspect Ron Artest will get a multi-game suspension slapped onto his ejection. This is definitely going to hurt the Lakers in their quest to reach the Finals.
Some have given Ron Artest a bit of credit in terms of trying to rehabilitate his image and persona. This blow might make him lose all public respect... and perhaps that of his teammates/coach... what do you guys think of the whole situation?
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