In a trade that will inevitably shake up the power rankings of the super competitive Western Conference, The Sacramento Kings sent Ron Artest to the Houston Rockets in exchange for the draft rights to Donte Greene, a 2009 first-round pick, and veteran Bobby Jackson. The trade will not be official until August 14 because Greene was drafted on July 14 and is not eligible to be traded until then.  Rumors that “chemistry issues” brought up by Yao Ming after the deal was announced will not deter either team from finalizing the deal.

Despite the deal being supposedly final, it took Artest less than a day to stir up controversy. Well, thats not entirely fair, in essence it was Yao Ming doing the stirring, but nevertheless, Artest, if by name only, was involved.  Although after reading all of the comments in their entirety this story has been overblown by the media, Yao did have a few concerns about chemistry, and Artest did have a few concerns about Yao’s concerns.  Yao was quoted as saying “Hopefully, he’s not fighting anymore and going after a guy in the stands”. 

While that was only part of the statement, Artest wasn’t thrilled about the comments, and in typical Artest form, he responded. “I understand what Yao said, but I’m still ghetto,” Artest said. “That’s not going to change. I’m never going to change my culture. Yao has played with a lot of black players, but I don’t think he’s ever played with a black player that really represents his culture as much as I represent my culture. Once Yao Ming gets to know me, he’ll understand what I’m about. If you go back to the brawl, that’s a culture issue right there. Somebody was disrespecting me, so he’s got to understand where I’m coming from. People that know me know that Ron Artest never changed.”

Well Ron, you are right, Ron Artest will never change, and I think that may be why Yao fears the chemistry issue a bit. Still, to be fair to Artest, is he a good team player and a great basketball player.  Overall its clear that Artest should help the Rockets on the court.