Ron Artest

SAN ANTONIO -- Ron Artest's reputation might have caught up to him at a terrible time for the Sacramento Kings. The NBA suspended Artest yesterday for Game 2 of the Kings' first-round playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs. Stu Jackson, the league's top disciplinarian, said Artest's elbow to Manu Ginobili's head in the series opener was egregious enough to warrant another suspension for the man who missed 73 games and the playoffs last season after one of the most infamous brawls in sports history.

The new cast of "Dancing With the Stars" has been revealed. ABC says the 13th season of the hit show will feature a mix of actors, athletes and TV personalities. Set to tango and quickstep with professional dance partners will be basketball star Ron Artest; World Cup soccer player Hope Solo; reality stars Robert Kardashian, Kristin Cavallari and Chaz Bono; TV personalities Nancy Grace, Carson Kressley and Ricki Lake; singer-actress Chynna Phillips; actors David Arquette and J.R. Martinez; and Italian actress Elisabetta Canalis, who may be better known in the United States for being...

Jason Kidd had 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Nets to a 91-84 victory over Detroit last night in East Rutherford, N.J., snapping the Pistons' NBA-best 11-game win streak. Richard Jefferson and Nenad Krstic each scored 19 for New Jersey, which snapped a four-game losing streak. The Nets won their ninth straight game at Continental Airlines Arena. Chauncey Billups led Detroit with 30 points, and was 6 for 6 from 3-point range. Lakers 130, Knicks 97 -- Kobe Bryant scored 40 points, despite making only one field goal in the second half, to cap off his great month and...

Having experienced an NBA career in which he was transformed from rookie cornerstone to villain to sympathetic figure to league champion, Ron Artest not only welcomes change, he relishes it. So just when Artest's career leveled to the normalcy phase, he decided to give his image another jump-start with a name change. On Friday, Artest's quest to legally change his name to Metta World Peace was delayed three weeks because of traffic warrants, but he fully plans to use the name, to promote unity.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Ron Artest wants to change his name to Metta World Peace. Artest’s attorney filed a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday seeking the change. The 31-year-old NBA star was born Ronald William Artest Jr. In the court documents, Artest cites personal reasons for wanting to make the change. An Aug. 26 court date was set to consider the petition. The petition filing was first reported by celebrity website TMZ. Artest’s career has been filled with ups and downs.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- While most of the Indiana Pacers waited on the team bus, Ron Artest stayed on the court hoisting jump shots until he was drenched in sweat. Surprisingly, many of the shots went in. Unfortunately for Artest and the Pacers, the shots haven't been falling during the first three games of the Eastern Conference finals against the Detroit Pistons. Artest has taken 57 shots and made only 15, establishing himself as the poster child for the type of offensive ineptitude that has defined this series.

Kobe Bryant was suspended one game by the NBA yesterday for striking a player in the face, his second penalty for that action in a little more than a month. And if he does it again, he could be looking at a more severe penalty. "We considered suspending him for multiple games," NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson said in a conference call. "Certainly if this occurs again, most likely there would be multiple games. " The most recent incident came with 58 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of the Lakers' 117-107 double-overtime loss to Minnesota Tuesday night, when...

Ron Artest was booed and jeered. That sure beat his last game at The Palace of Auburn Hills, Mich., when he was hit by a thrown cup to spark one of the worst brawls in US sports history more than two years ago. Richard Hamilton scored 19 points and Tayshaun Prince added 17 to lead the Detroit Pistons over Artest and the Sacramento Kings, 91-74, last night. Artest had 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists before sitting out most of the fourth quarter of the lopsided game that Sacramento never led. Other than the boos almost every time Artest had the ball, fans teased him about his...

The San Antonio Spurs landed free agent forward Antonio McDyess yesterday in another big offseason pickup for the aging power that apparently isn’t ready to fade away just yet. McDyess, who despite being 34 was among the most sought players on the market this summer, is expected to sign later this week. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the Spurs, who traded for swingman Richard Jefferson last month, had their full midlevel exception, worth about $5.85 million, to offer the 6-foot-9-inch McDyess, who spent the last five seasons with Detroit.

Maybe the Sacramento Kings would've preferred being blown out again over what the host San Antonio Spurs did to them last night. Dominant early and resilient late, the Kings were forced into overtime by a 3-pointer from Brent Barry that hit the rim twice, went high and fell through with 4 seconds left in regulation. Then Manu Ginobili carried the defending champions to a 128-119 victory in Game 2 of their first-round series. Game 3 is Friday night in Sacramento. With so many days off, Kings fans might start wondering whether the Spurs could possibly find another way to break...

Los Angeles Lakers forward Ron Artest wants to change his name to Metta World Peace. Artest’s attorney filed a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday seeking the change. The 31-year-old NBA star was born Ronald William Artest Jr. In the court documents, Artest cites personal reasons for wanting to make the change. An Aug. 26 court date was set to consider the petition. The petition filing was first reported by celebrity website TMZ. Artest’s career has been filled with ups and downs.

Lakers forward Ron Artest has been suspended for tonight’s Game 3 of a second-round series against the Mavericks for hitting Dallas guard J.J. Barea in the face with a forearm. Los Angeles, already down, 0-2, now will be playing a pivotal game without its starting small forward. “No reaction,’’ Artest said yesterday in Los Angeles, prior to boarding a team flight to Dallas. “I’m just ready to move forward and play basketball.’’ Barea was dribbing around the Lakers’ Lamar Odom with 24 seconds left in Game 2, which already had been decided, when Artest...

LOS ANGELES — Aw c’mon, you knew this thing was destined for seven, didn’t you? It’s not as if this bunch of Celtics do anything easy. They’re the bounce-back kings. They’ve got short memories. It was an ugly score that fully represents the nature of this game, one in which the Lakers assumed complete control in the first period and never allowed the Celtics to get even a remote sniff thereafter. Los Angeles led by 10 at the quarter, 20 at the half, and 25 at the three-quarter mark en route to a crowd-pleasing 89-67 victory that sets up only the fourth Game 7 of the 2-3-2 era. ...

When he said it during the first-round series against the Heat, Paul Pierce and the Celtics were sitting pretty. Pierce had just sank a game-winning buzzer-beater to put the Celtics up, three games to none, with a chance to close out the series in Miami. The Celtics, Pierce said, had no plans to return to South Beach until the summer. Not wanting to return to Cleveland for a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference semifinals was a given. So the Celtics wrapped it up in six. But Pierce’s confidence overflowed in the conference finals.

LOS ANGELES — The Celtics woke up yesterday hung over, unable to accurately remember what occurred Thursday night in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Coach Doc Rivers was sober for the entire 102-89 drubbing, and to remind his team of its lethargic performance, he pulled out the video and the Celtics were again subjected to how the Lakers’ domination matched their apathy. The video didn’t lie. The Celtics pride themselves on precise execution, so the average fan likely doesn’t detect all those missed assignments.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Ron Artest wasn’t interested in reliving his winning shot. But all the talk about his Game 5 buzzer-beater in the Western Conference finals, all the congratulations from fans in the street made him curious. Over the holiday weekend, Artest watched the entire sequence again and again, sometimes going frame by frame. His dash across the paint for Kobe Bryant’s short 3-pointer. Pause. His backward-leaning shot as time expired. Pause. His leap into Bryant’s waiting arms.

LOS ANGELES — Ron Artest became a part of the Los Angeles Lakers’ playoff lore with a bank shot to beat the Phoenix Suns. Artest rambled into the lane and beat the buzzer with a wild shot after rebounding Kobe Bryant’s miss, and the Lakers edged the Suns, 103-101, last night to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference finals. Bryant had 30 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists for the Lakers, but Artest was the improbable hero of Game 5 with just his second basket of the night in an otherwise awful performance.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Ron Artest watched Game 2 of this series from an undisclosed location, banned from Conseco Fieldhouse because of a one-game suspension for leaving the bench during an altercation in Game 1. The four Pacers who usually start alongside Artest watched most of the fourth quarter from the bench, sidelined in favor of more-than-capable reserves with almost unstoppable offensive momentum. Artest or no Artest, starters or no starters, the Pacers outmanned and eventually outplayed the Celtics last night.

LOS ANGELES — Ron Artest became a part of the Los Angeles Lakers’ playoff lore with a bank shot to beat the Phoenix Suns. Artest rambled into the lane and beat the buzzer with a wild shot after rebounding Kobe Bryant’s miss, and the Lakers edged the Suns, 103-101, last night to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference finals. Bryant had 30 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists for the Lakers, but Artest was the improbable hero of Game 5 with just his second basket of the night in an otherwise awful performance.

The NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers - six words that bring a Johnny Most-like fury to any Celtics fan - enter TD Garden this afternoon very close to being the team that will try to defend its title in the spring. It’s Day 10 of a 13-day road trip for the Lakers, who were spoiled by an early-season home schedule that allowed them to pile up wins as well as confidence. So their 36-11 record may be a little deceiving, and that is not lost on the players or coaches. The road trip began with a loss to Cleveland, the Lakers’ second loss to the Cavaliers in four weeks.