Artest Admits To Drinking During NBA Games

Sports News - December 2nd, 2009 - Written by John

As if we didn't already know, Ron Artest admitting to playing drunk during the early part of his career.

Or buzzed.

Either way, he played like a man liquored up (see: Malice at The Palace) on occasion and finally confessed to Sporting News that he spent several halftimes with the Chicago Bulls mixing up the medicine.

"I used to drink Hennessey...at halftime," Artest told the magazine for an issue to be released on Monday. "I (kept it) in my locker. I'd just walk to the liquor store and get it."

Artest has been involved in several on- and off-court incidents in his career, including an arena-wide melee in 2005 during a game against the Detroit Pistons. But this is the first time Artest has admitted to being under the influence of any substance at any point of his career. In that brawl, Artest added: "(it) wasn't my fault..I don't see anything I could have done different."

Cameras show Artest was hit by a cup of beer, and he instantly raced into the stands to find the culprit. The beverage was thrown after an initial fight with Pistons' center Ben Wallace escalated. Artest's current feelings about Wallace?

"I see Ben, I'm on my guard now. I'm always in the mood to fight him...I'll get suspended 10 games, 15 games (because) I'll just fight him right there. It won't go into the stands."

Artest has continued to show bad judgment in the NBA after becoming a star at St. John's University. That's where his problems with alcohol began.

"When I was a 19-year-old father, whew. I was a single pimp," he said. "I was wild. A lot of marijuana and alcohol -- even before (that age)...I (still) party and I have fun, but not like I used to. I used to drink every night and party every night."

He entered the league with the Bulls as the 16th-overall pick in the 1999 draft, and played there for three years. He was ultimately traded, mainly because he admitted to being "a bad teammate" and "a head case".

He is currently on the Los Angeles Lakers as the team's primary off-season acquisition in an attempt to repeat as NBA champions. He is considered to be one of the league's premier defenders, but averages exactly 16 points per game over his career. Let's hope that his halftime trips to the stores have come to a hault and they do not effect his future in NBA Basketball.