Click here for Ron Artest's interview with Matt Lauer on the Today show this morning.
No apology. No contrition. And absolutely no clue.
UPDATE: Here's an AP account of the interview, one that can't communicate just how mind-numbing an experience it was. Watch and see for yourself.
The guy is a thug, always has been, always will be. More disturbing though is the face of the Players Union, Billy Hunter, defending Artest in his interview that immediately followed that of Artest. If Hunter thinks that putting Artest out in front of a national audience and allowing them to decide on whether or not the guy is deserving of his punishment, he is making a huge mistake. I don’t buy into the “fan resentment of the players” argument, but trust me, you keep Artest out in front of the nation and it won’t be long before I am reversing my position.
Oh. my. god. Did he seriously use that as an opportunity to hawk his cd?
Also, did he seriously tell People Magazine “I’m a big fan of the Nobel Peace Prize”?
Why doesn’t his agent get him a media coach? It’s one thing to feel no contrition. It’s another to not even try to appear contrite. That interview is just stupefying.
Two things stand out from the interview, aside from the CD push:
1) He wishes it had never happened. Wha? Waddaya mean, you wish? Like it was out of his control. This betrays an inability to understand his own role.
2) He wishes some of the other fans with whom he was talking earlier in the night could tell everyone what a good guy he is. OK, everyone thinks that they are a good person. But you are defined by your actions. Being able to yuk it up in shootaround does not counterbalance violently pursuing fans. It seems this does not enter his mind. Further inability to take responsibility for his actions.
I doubt this will ever change.