LOS ANGELES — Phil Jackson was Zenned, completely serene as he walked out of the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers’ locker room Thursday, when a familiar voice came from down the hallway.
“Hey, Coach,” Ron Artest hollered. “Can I get a picture with you and my family?”
The Lakers forward requested a photo op, like a school kid with his teacher on the last day of class. So there, with seven smiling members of the Artest clan, stood Jackson and Artest, two of the NBA’s quirkiest personalities — yet completely different personas, who on this night were champions alike.
Last summer, when the Lakers signed Artest, some thought it was a brilliant move but others deemed it a gamble. Like hitting on 20. Could the wildest and weirdest dude this side of Dennis Rodman fit within the cosmos that is Kobe Bryant and the L.A. Lakers?
Wary of fierce forwards such as Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and, as it happened, Paul Pierce, the Lakers believed Artest could be a forward-stopper, and as seen, his defense is where double-doubles go to die. On Thursday, Artest cemented his legacy in L.A. with a superb performance in the NBA Finals’ Game 7 win against Boston — 20 points, five steals and a key 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.
“Ron Artest was the most valuable player tonight,” Jackson said after the game. “He brought life to our team. He brought life to the crowd.”
Fair or not, Artest will be remembered not just for Thursday, when he won it, but back in 2004, when he lost it.
That’s when he attacked a fan in an infamous brawl in Detroit, throwing a punch that gave the NBA a black eye.
But now he will be remembered as a champion too, that pesky intangible guy all good teams have. Sure, sometimes he backfired (or misfired). He took goofy shots, a few at key moments. And he was 7-for-29 from the field in the three games L.A. lost. But in Game 7, he made a clutch 3-pointer with a minute left via a Bryant pass, giving the Lakers a 79-73 lead.
“He trusted us,” Artest said of Bryant. “He never passes me the ball, and he passed me the ball. (And Jackson), he’s a Zen master, so he can speak to you, you can hear him in your head: ‘Ron, don’t shoot, don’t shoot.’ Whatever, pow, 3. I love ‘The Zen,’ though.”
Indeed, the Zen master wasn’t always pleased with Artest’s offense this series. And while many fans remember Artest’s buzzer-beating putback against the Suns in the conference finals, how many fans remember his bonehead jumper a minute prior?
But on the defensive end, Artest’s impact is similar to that of Kobe’s on the offensive end.
Pierce had an up-and-down series, rattled by Artest the way the Lakers rattled Anthony during a loss here in February, when Melo had eight turnovers and fouled out on an offensive foul — drawn by Artest.
In Game 7, Artest held Pierce to 5-for-15 from the field, and the two got tangled up in a double-technical situation that looked like two high school wrestlers, which, after the fact, seemed to rattle Pierce more.
“Artest was the difference in the game,” Celtics forward Glen Davis said. “He wanted it. He took it from us.”
In a postgame interview, after a few sips of champagne, Artest was hyper, rambling about his pride in being a Laker and shame over his behavior as a Pacer, back when he demanded a trade and left his teammates behind.
“I was so young, so egotistical, and I bailed out on Donnie (Walsh), Larry (Bird), Jermaine (O’Neal), (Jamaal) Tinsley, (Jeff) Foster, Stephen Jackson,” Artest said. “I feel sometimes like a coward when I see those guys, because it’s like, man, I’m on the Lakers and I had a chance to win with you guys, and I feel almost like a coward. I never thought God would put me in this situation again because of that. I’m blessed.”
By 12:50 a.m., the streets near the Staples Center were clear as a band of merry Artests came around the corner, led by the tallest one of all, his young daughter asleep on his shoulder. They were off to find more fun, and who could blame Artest for not wanting the happiest night of his professional life to end?
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
