May
13
Once Ron Goes Roy, He'll Never Go Bryan
By caseyholdahl Posted in: Blazers, BrandonRoy
At first, it seemed as though Ron Artest's declaration that Brandon Roy
was "probably the best player I've ever played against" was a bit of a
farce; an attempt at reverse psychological warfare. Artest
backtracked the next day,
declaring, in jest, that he was the best player in the league. Who
knows what Artest was getting at, if anything, but if nothing else, you
got the feeling Ron-Ron had a healthy respect for B.Roy.
And
now, even though the Rockets have moved on to playing the Lakers,
Artest can't stop giving it up for Roy. And what's even sweeter, Artest
is talking up Roy at Kobe Bryant's expense. From
J.A. Adande's article in today's Daily Dime on ESPN.com:
Artest wasn't rescinding his remarks that Portland's Brandon Roy is the best player he's gone against. He even expanded on them.
"Brandon
Roy ... that comment was made because I really enjoy watching young
fellas in the NBA," Artest said. "And I really enjoy just how talented
they are. I mean, I'm 29, these guys come in, LeBron came in, I guess
he's five years younger than me, these guys are coming in getting MVPs,
playing great and leading their teams. I look up to that. I'm finished
looking up to Kobe. That was a couple of years ago. There's young guys
in there to look up to now. Like Brandon Roys and LeBron Jameses and
Dwyane Wades, you know? O.J. Mayos ... I would like to give those guys
all the confidence in the world, I want to see them do well."
So not only is Artest looking up to Roy, he's also mentioning his name in the same breathe as LeBron and D.Wade. High praise.
And there was a little extra nugget from Artest regarding Roy in Shelly Smith's writeup, also on ESPN.com's Daily Dime.
"I
wish I would have matured as fast as guys like LeBron, Dwyane Wade,
Brandon Roy," he said. "When I got a little college fame, got into the
NBA, I veered to the left and wasn't focused on team so much, was
focused on myself. It took me 10 years, unfortunately took me so long
for me to understand that."
Better late than never. I'd
like to cordially invite Ron Artest to become a card-carrying member of
the Brandon Roy Fan Club, if he isn't already.