2007-08: Averaged 20.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 57 games (54 starts) with Sacramento … Recorded 133 total steals, ranking him tied for second in the league in steals per game (2.33) … Was one of only six players in the NBA to average at least 20 points and two or more steals per game … Missed first seven games of the season due to an NBA suspension (10/31/07-11/12/07) … NWT (personal reasons) for one game (11/21/07) … DND (bone chip in right elbow) for two games (12/28/07-12/30/07) … Missed seven games (1/2/08-1/14/08) after surgery on right elbow … DND (sore right foot) for two games (3/5/08-3/7/08) … DND (sore right elbow) for one game (3/22/08) … DND (sprained left thumb) for five games (4/5/08; 4/8/08-4/11/08; 4/14/08-4/15/08) … Recorded 35 outings of 20-plus points and four 30-point performances (33 on 11/20/07 vs. Phoenix, 30 on 2/13/08 at Houston, 32 on 3/2/08 vs. Miami, 30 on 4/1/08 vs. Houston) … Grabbed 10 or more rebounds in five games and dished out at least 10 assists once to finish with six double-doubles on the season … Tallied a season-high 33 points (12-23 FG, 3-5 3FG), 12 rebounds, two assists and two steals 11/20 vs. Phoenix … Handed out a career-best 11 assists with five steals 12/8 at Denver … Matched career-high with four blocks 12/10 vs. Milwaukee … Grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds to go along with 23 points, three steals and two blocks 2/9 at Golden State ...
– Ron Artest drank cognac during games in his first few NBA seasons with the Chicago Bulls, the volatile forward tells the Sporting News. “I used to drink Hennessy … at halftime,” Artest, now 30 and with the Los Angeles Lakers, says. “I (kept it) in my locker. I’d just walk to the liquor store (near the stadium) and get it.” More nuggets from the conversation: On the 2004 brawl in Detroit, the so-called “Malice at the Palace”: “It wasn't my fault. … I don’t see anything I could have done different. The only thing I could have done was have God pause time so I could have said, ‘Oh, look, you’re about to run in some stands, so stop.’” On early stints in Chicago and Indiana: “In Chicago, I was a head case. I worked really hard but still had this ghetto thing in me that I could not get out. … I could’ve stayed at Indiana my whole career, but I said I wanted to be traded. I was getting more stable, but I was still unstable and I was a bad teammate. They had to get rid of me.”