Those of you who watched the Suns-Lakers game on NBA League Pass Sunday night will recognize this as something the Suns' commentators pointed out during the game. The truth is, I've been planning on posting this since the moment it happened on the court — it's just been a bit busy around here, what with Kobe throwing rocks at telephone poles, and all.
Aaaaaaanyways... watch this video, in which Lamar Odom gets his second technical and is ejected from Friday's game against the Heat, and tell me what you see.
What do you notice, here? After the jump, I'll tell you the first thing I saw...
Okay, so the title of this post probably gave it away, already. But without my very obvious title, I'm guessing most of you would have seen one of the following:
- Jermaine O'Neal was a jackass on that play. He deliberately hung on Odom, and he also threw the first shove.
- Odom has reason to be upset. Jermaine clearly started this.
- Still, Odom needs to know better. He needs to keep his cool when he's already got one technical — especially in a close game.
But what I saw was Ron Artest, infamous for basketball-related fighting, bored out of his mind by the entire situation.
Check it out: When the shoving begins, pretty much every player on the court immediately gravitates toward the fracas. Heat players run in to break it up. Lakers players run in to break it up. Even Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher, who are fairly far away from the action when it breaks out, eventually walk over to make sure everything is taken care of. Or maybe just to see what the deal is, hear what guys are saying, etc.
But not Ron Ron. He's looking the other way, standing there bored with his hands on his hips. Then, he finally notices what's going on — and still doesn't move an inch. He just stands there. It's like he can't be bothered. Maybe the thoughts going through his head, completely unrelated to the event, were just that much more interesting?
Also, I'd just like to point this out: so far, the fighter on the team appears to be Lamar Odom. While he seemed justified here, though still foolish for not controlling his anger (justified or not), it seems that of all the Lakers, he gets into "tense situations" with guys from the other team more than anyone else in purple and gold. And a whole lot more than Ron Artest.
Also, Ron Ron is tied four only third-most technicals on the Lakers, with only two thus far. Kobe has five, Bynum has three, and Ron and Lamar both have two.
Maybe that sports psychologist is really working? If this mentality remains constant for Artest throughout the entire season, I think the jock shrink should raise his fees.