FOXSports.com
Posted: 2 minutes ago
As if there wasn't enough criticism heading Team USA's way these days, Pacers forward Ron Artest has decided to pile on.
Artest's critique of the underachieving Americans? He wasn't asked to join them in the Athens.
"I was the Defensive Player of the Year and didn't get an invite," Artest said while speaking Monday at the Park Avenue Country Club in Manhattan, where he was promoting the 12th annual All-Star Classic to benefit Wheelchair Charities. "It's frustrating not to have gotten a phone call."
Given the United States' defensive liabilities so far at the Olympics, where the Americans have lost twice before the medal round, Artest's abilities at that end of the court certainly might have come in handy.
And it's not as if Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant or Jason Kidd bumped Artest from the squad. All four of those superstars turned down invites from USA Basketball, opening the door for a trio of players — LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade — who just completed their rookie seasons in the NBA and one who's yet to play a single game as a professional (Emeka Okafor) to make the team ahead of the Pacers All-Star.
"I was one of the guys who wanted to be there," Artest said. "Look, so many guys turned it down. After all the top guys, there's room for me.
"I don't know what it was. All I know is it's something that only comes around every four years and I would have liked to have been part of it. I'd have been the water boy or the manager or whatever. I wanted to go."
Posted: 2 minutes ago
As if there wasn't enough criticism heading Team USA's way these days, Pacers forward Ron Artest has decided to pile on.
Artest's critique of the underachieving Americans? He wasn't asked to join them in the Athens.
"I was the Defensive Player of the Year and didn't get an invite," Artest said while speaking Monday at the Park Avenue Country Club in Manhattan, where he was promoting the 12th annual All-Star Classic to benefit Wheelchair Charities. "It's frustrating not to have gotten a phone call."
Given the United States' defensive liabilities so far at the Olympics, where the Americans have lost twice before the medal round, Artest's abilities at that end of the court certainly might have come in handy.
And it's not as if Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant or Jason Kidd bumped Artest from the squad. All four of those superstars turned down invites from USA Basketball, opening the door for a trio of players — LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade — who just completed their rookie seasons in the NBA and one who's yet to play a single game as a professional (Emeka Okafor) to make the team ahead of the Pacers All-Star.
"I was one of the guys who wanted to be there," Artest said. "Look, so many guys turned it down. After all the top guys, there's room for me.
"I don't know what it was. All I know is it's something that only comes around every four years and I would have liked to have been part of it. I'd have been the water boy or the manager or whatever. I wanted to go."
