Sacbee Blog: Artest Interview

"This is Tracy and Yao's team, you know. I'm not going to take it personal. I understand what Yao said, but I'm still ghetto. 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. Sometimes it's hard to get to know Ron Artest because I'm so down to earth to a fault...

"They would've been over the hump if Yao Ming hadn't gone down. They were having a great season. I'll come off the bench, I don't care. Let Shane start, and bring me off as a sixth man or seventh man. I would love to come off the bench in Houston. It doesn't even matter...

"It's his team, it's him and Tracy's team. But when I come in there, I'm definitely going to play my game and play to win. I'm definitely going to play with my ghetto and my hood roots. I'm going to play hard, and I'm going to play just like my culture taught me how to play...

"Yao Ming is a different type of person where he's not from a ghetto in America, so he doesn't understand how someone from the ghetto really acts. And I'm like one of the most ghetto-ist guys in the NBA...

"Whatever Yao Ming wants me to do, I'll be there. Whatever Tracy McGrady tells me to do, that's how it's going to go down. Ultimately, whatever Rick Adelman tells me to do is exactly what I'm going to do."