He has a CONTRACT (you know, a piece of paper that say he PLAYS FOR THE INDIANA PACERS) He can do whatever he wants on the side, and if he can manage his time and promote his CD, then awsome. He doesnt need time off to WORK on his album. If he wanted that then he shouldnt be a NBA player, and sign that contract. carlile did what he was supposed to. IF this teams wasnt so ****ing injury depleted he (Artest) would still be riding the pine
Oh wait, there is more to the story. He sat with the fans after getting pulled out of the bulls game and then had a physical confrentation with JO (you know, the teams LEADER

I wont debate if they can win without him, I have been debating that at the Pacers forum I visit the last two days. I personally feel that them going 9-0 wihtout him last season and then beating Minny with out him this years proves they can. You can argue he carried the team in the playoffs last season again the Heat, but I will argue who says his replacement(s) wont be able to carry the load. The question comes down to is managment (BTW, Carlile is the coach, Larry Bird and Donnie Walsh are managment

I've seen how bad behavior can ruin a working environment for everyone. Trading an incredibly talented jerk for a hard-working slightly less talented person can in fact be a major upgrade for the team, because everyone performs better when the jerk is gone.
With Stephen Jackson here and Fred Jones developing far more than I thought possible, Ron might be a luxury, not a necessity for this team to be a contender.
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