Ron Artest is pretty much the realest guy in the NBA (and maybe in all of sports), so it’s always worth listening to what he’s got to say.  Artest is never going to sugar-coat anything, and he told it like it is when asked about free agents signing with the Knicks.

In a morning shootaround rant at the Lakers complex, Artest told three New York writers, “I think people need to stop being scared and just go to New York. They’re so scared of the pressure and the media. I’m like, pardon my language, but [bleep] the media and [bleep] everyone that’s putting pressure on them.

“That’s the one thing I hear from the players recently,” added Artest, who signed with the Lakers in July. “People don’t want to play in New York. They fear having a bad game, fear the fans. If somebody does go there, you got to be able to have a heart.”

Of course Artest is right.  And I don ‘t necessarily think that not wanting to play for the Knicks means an athlete doesn’t have heart, it’s just that he doesn’t want to appear on the back page of the New York Post every time he takes a shit.  Alex Rodriguez, one of the greatest baseball players I’ve ever seen in my life, a guy who is going to go down in the same class as Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle, has had ten times more articles written about his dating life and psychological makeup than about his actual baseball skills.  One bad game by a New York athlete, and every dumb New Yorker with their stupid accents and tough-guy bravado has to call into a morning talk show and make a character assassination. The collective intelligence of New York’s fans is definitely missing a chromosome.

So, yeah, I can see why someone wouldn’t want to come play for the Knicks.  Sure, the Garden is legendary, but dealing with the media and moron fans – no matter what you do -has got to be draining.  Plus, the Knicks are so fucking crippled as an organization at this point that anybody who signs with them is in for years of losing.  That includes Lebron, too.

[NY Post]