Drop your agent, fine, but drop your agent and talk smack about the team that currently employs you? Not so bright. I have no problem with a player internally doubting whether he made a correct business decision to stay with a team, but to publicize your feelings to ESPN is not always a brilliant idea. Ron Artest recently told ESPN.com that, he immediately regretted his decision not to opt out of the final year of his contract to become an unrestricted agent. And then Artest decided to publicly bash his agent, ensuring that he keeps pissing as many people off as possible.
“My agent at the time [Mark Stevens] did not pay attention to the last minute of the opt-out hour and David Falk and all these other agents pulled a fast one. They were so smart to opt out [at] the last minute.
At least Artest provided some good press for Falk after he received a death sentence by the Los Angeles media. But if there is one thing that you do not do, it is bring Mama Maloof into the equation. Once Mama Maloof gets involved, you are asking for trouble. Here is what Artest had to say:
“I was blinded by friendship. Even Mama Maloof [Colleen Maloof, Joe and Gavin’s mother] told me she wanted me to stay. I never knew that meant one more year. I thought it meant several. When Mama [Maloof] talks, you listen, and it’s a must you consider and take heed to what she is saying.
Yeah…at least Joe Maloof is pissed…
“He has to balance the way he acts,” Joe Maloof said by phone. “He’s got to control his emotions a little better. You’ve got to try and keep your cool a little bit.
“Take a deep breath and quit flying off the handle with comments that don’t make sense. I hate to say it that way, but that’s how I feel. It doesn’t make sense to me.”
That’s basically a nice way of saying, “Hey Artest, STFU”. If there is anyone in the world who NEEDS an agent, it is a guy like Artest. The question is, who would actually represent a guy like that. Oh wait, who am I kidding?
