Ron Artest Says He Might Go Play in Europe

The continual Ron Artest quotefest lives on. A day after thoughts of retirement filter out, a source close to Ron-Ron tells Sam Amick of The Sacramento Bee that Mr. Artest may leave the NBA to play in Europe.

"According to the source, who didn't want to go on record for fear of reprisal, Artest plans to play overseas for a year or two, with hopes that he can put the seemingly nonstop turmoil behind him in a more discreet environment while leaving open the possibility of a return to the NBA."

Kings GM Geoff Petrie doesn't sound like he's buying Ron's wolf tickets, and neither do I. Ron says a lot of things he doesn't mean, like Barry Bonds. He has what my high-school French teacher would call diarrhée de la bouche.

And despite the big win over Phoenix yesterday afternoon, this new drama brings into sharp focus the futuristic struggles which await the Kings franchise: The best two things that could happen to the team this summer are Ron retiring and Mike Bibby opting out of his contract. When you need your two biggest stars to go away in order to make progress, things are dire.

(Another quizzical note: Two of Amick's sources -- one a friend of Ron and another with the team, assumedly a player -- withhold their identities for fear of reprisal. Ron's friends and teammates are afraid he will beat them up for spilling the beans on his crazy plans. I love this game.)